For some players, just getting 1200 bubbles is enough of a challenge. However, the most unique and most difficult challenge any player will face will come once you've gotten all 13 challenge flies for our favorite African bullfrog Etude.

Each fly is acquired by fulfilling a certain condition in each level, minus the last one which you only get by beating Concerto Mode (an endurance run through all 12 stages on one life). This guide will give you tips and tricks for getting the challenge flies in the main stages as well as outline the EXACT conditions for acquiring them.

Tadpole Pond
Condition: Touch as many as your fellow tadpole friends as possible. (In this case, you only have to touch about 4.)

Definitely one of the easier challenge flies, and thanks to the fact that your tadpole friends don't do any damage and aren't really obstacles, you may get this challenge fly completely by accident! If not, just try to bump into about 4 or 5 of your tadpole friends and that's it, nothing tricky.

Trout Tributary
Condition: Pick up each golden trail of sparkles the rainbow trout leave behind (including the hidden trail).

I noticed some people having trouble with this one, and to be fair, the tip isn't THAT obvious at first. You may have noticed the golden score sparkles about halfway through the level are a different color than usual. That's because they're imperative to getting this challenge fly!

All you have to do is get each and every one of those golden score sparkles, including the hidden trail beneath that giant pipe right before the huge trout arrives, and you'll get the fly just fine.

Turtle Pipes
Condition: Hit all the cymbals in this stage.

This one's a little more cut-and-dry than the previous two. If you've gotten a hang of Tadpole Treble’s mechanics and have hit every cymbal in every stage anyway, then you'll get this challenge fly with no problem.

Chiptune Lagoon
Condition: Hit all the bamboo sticks in this stage.

This one's a little trickier than the generous cymbals of the last stage, considering the fact that there are many more bamboo sticks than cymbals in this stage, and you can't miss even ONE of them. Otherwise, you'll have to start over, and that's no good. Try not to move when a bamboo stick is coming up and just focus on hitting it.

Midnight Bayou
Condition: Hit every mosquito in this stage. (The mosquitos are along the cymbal paths, and you have to hit them to count towards this challenge fly.)

Similar to hitting all the cymbals in Turtle Pipes, this time you have to watch for the mosquitos along the cymbal paths and spin in mid-air to hit them. You have to hit all of them, so make sure to spin just before the mosquito is on top of you, because otherwise you'll just take a hit and it won't count. The spin animation is fairly generous, so you can afford to use it a few times in mid-air if you don't think you're going to make it. It's a pretty easy fly to get, all things considered.

Barracuda Caverns
Condition: Hit the coin at the bottom of the inside of the barrel, the X on the map, and the gold tooth on the skull.

Instead of hitting all the cymbals in this stage, you just need to hit 3 golden things! They stick out like sore thumbs, so it should be easy to spot them in the level, go to where you need to, and hit them with your tail to ensure you get this challenge fly! Don't miss any of the three and you're in the clear!

Snowfall Lake
Condition: Don't eat any food whatsoever in this level.

An interesting challenge fly, for sure, but it all makes sense considering this level introudces dangerous cold water territory that hurts you when you stay in it too long. There's also an abundance of food in one section that you must be VERY CAREFUL to avoid. Other than that, some cymbal paths have food on them, so stay away from those too if you want this challenge fly!

Gusty Rapids
Condition: Collect every gem in this stage. (the gems are at the peak height of some of the cymbal jumps. They are the little green gemstones shining that you have to hit to collect them.)

Just like the last level, you have to spin along the cymbal paths to collect the gemstones hiding in the statues. They're easy to spot once you know to look for their emerald green color, so just make sure to use that spin to hit them all and that's another fly in the bank!

Piranha Jungle
Condition: Never get hit. At all.

THIS is the one I'm sure a lot of people struggled with more than anything else. Thanks to the speed of this song, the diving bell spiders, and, most prominently, the Staccato gang chasing you, I can certainly see why!

First off, the song is actually fairly simple, and once you get used to that spot right on the dead center line of this song between the main notes, you'll have it down pat. As for the diving bell spiders, remember that they only reach half a bar below where they are, so if you stay a full bar below them, you're golden!

Lastly, there's a pattern to the piranhas that you can use to keep yourself in safe spots. With the gun formation, you want to dive down as SOON as you hear the gun clicking sound after you've been swimming up. Stay down for a bit, and when you hear the click again, dive straight up. As long as you focus on that sound cue, you should be alright!

The other big problem comes with forgetting where the piranhas land when they jump at you. This, too, has a pattern, and you'll do well to remember it!

1st: High
2nd: Middle
3rd: Low
4th: Middle-High
5th: High

Basically, after you dodge the third piranha that falls low in front of you, you can stay low for the rest of the piranhas and then the rest of the song is just dodging notes and knocking down the fruit to keep them away as usual! If you can do the whole level without getting hit AT ALL, then this challenge fly is rightfully yours!

Thunder Creek
Condition: Get every bubble inside the skeletons' eyes.

Thankfully, you don't have to get every bubble in this whole stage to get the challenge fly. Instead, you only have to get a few, and they're ones you have to look at the background of the level to see. Not up top, no, but right along where you're swimming.

You'll see skeletons of creatures that have bubbles over specific spots (their eyes) and those are the only bubbles you need to get to grab this challenge fly. Good luck focusing during Thunder Creek. I hear it's a rather shocking channel, so to speak!

Saltwater Cape
Condition: Stay in the saltwater throughout the whole stage. (Don't hit any cymbals.)

Now I know what you're thinking. "Are you CRAZY!? ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND? Didn't you see Baton struggling just to stay alive in this saltwater? She'll DIE if she stays in there." Not true, good sir/madam! As evidenced in the beginning of the stage, Baton will stay alive so long as you collect food pickups, and they are abundant in this stage.

While your score will suffer from the constant saltwater damage and you won't be able to fly through the air like usual, you will get the challenge fly for your efforts, and you'll get to experience the stage from a whole new perspective! This is the kind of unique challenge that I personally love to see.

Sunken Derelict
Condition: Defeat Elegy's 3rd Phase before it loops.

Thanks to the very kind and helpful devs at BitFinity (most likely Michael), I now know that the exact condition for this challenge fly is just to beat Elegy's 3rd phase before the song gets a chance to loop. If it loops (as in, Elegy starts spinning around and having trouble singing again), that's your clue that you missed the challenge fly and should start over. So that truly means don't miss any opprtunities to flick that lighter! Remember, if you flick it too early, you miss your chance, so look for that yellow and don't flick before you see it.

That's our last of the main levels, so just beat the whole game in one run through Concerto Mode and you'll be ready for the Final Challenge!

Upon acquiring all 13 Challenge Flies in the whole game, you'll be treated to a surprise nobody was really expecting! Bring the flies to Etude and he gives you a great little speech about expecting a reward for your efforts. I'll admit, a good deed is a good deed, but WHERE'S MY PRIZE? Apparently, it's on a part of the island that no fish dare go anymore, and for good reason.

YOUR PRIZE IS DOOM.

See this right here?

This is Duncan's Inlet, referred to in-game as "Conductor's Storm." Some would say its D shape stands for Duncan. I say it stands for DOOM.

You only unlock it by getting all 13 challenge flies, and even that does not prepare you for what is in store. However, you could say that this level is what the game has been training you for the entire trip. There are many familiar dangers and obstacles here, such as the thunder from Thunder Creek, the mudpuppies from Midnight Bayou, and even some new surprises thrown in!

Don't feel as if you have to complete it, however. After all, this level has no bubbles, no medals, and not even a score ranking. The only thing this level gives you is a congratulatory message in the locked bestiary entry for" The Conductor." It's just for masochists like us who want to look for the ultimate challenge in this game, and boy howdy, this is it!

This isn't a guide on how to beat the level, however, so if you want to do that... then play it on your own! And good luck to you, friend, you're going to need it!

That's it for my Challenge Fly guide, I hope everyone enjoys Tadpole Treble as much as I have, or at least a little more now that you know how to acquire those elusive little buggers.

A lot of love and passion went into this game, and it shows, so I wanted to thank the creators (the Taranto brothers and everyone at BitFinity who helped to ensure the best possible game could get out to people instead of a broken mess like a lot of other early access games), I wanted to thank everyone on the steam community discussion boards for allowing me to research how to get the challenge flies in the first place and comparing notes I've made with theirs, and lastly, YOU, for reading this guide and potentially helping me get better at making newer ones!

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

---LINKS---

The Facebook page for Tadole Treble where the creators usually post updates[www.facebook.com]
The Discussions community for Tadpole Treble