Chain


 * Note: The combo is a similar concept, often confused with chain.

A chain is a step-wise arrangement of pieces such that the breaking of the first step causes the next steps to break in succession. This is key for high scores in sailing and shipwrightery, less important in bilging and navigation, and generally agreed upon as the most important part of swordfighting. Notices of more valuable chains have a larger font size than those for less valuable chains.

In most puzzles, there is a series of names for the different chains, as follows:


 * 2x: Double
 * 3x: Triple
 * 4x: Bingo
 * 5x: Donkey
 * 6x: Vegas

Anything after 6x is still referred to as a Vegas by the game, although players have taken to calling them Double Vegases, Triple Vegases, and so forth. Certain puzzles use exponents of Vegas to indicate the longer chains, such as Vegas2 for 7x and Vegas3 for 8x. It is significantly easier to score a Vegas in some puzzles (sailing, shipwrightery) than others (swordfighting, alchemistry).

Differences across puzzles
In shipwrightery, chains are multiple patterns placed on the board without moving any pieces.

In alchemistry, chains are accomplished by filling multiple bottles with the same correct color in one push of the 'fill' button. The terminology is expanded, with the usual Bingo -> Donkey -> Vegas sequence occupying spots 6, 7 and 8 in the chain rather than the usual 4, 5 and 6.

Bilging uses the above sequence for high-scoring clears, but the awards are made for combos instead (a Bingo is a three-way combo, a Donkey—renamed Sea Donkey—a four-way combo, and a Vegas a four-way combo including a length-5 component). Chains will still provide a small scoring boost accompanied by either the word 'Super' or 'Bonus', but should not be attempted at the expense of a good combo.

Navigation appears to use the usual sequence, although it is extremely difficult to build even a triple chain. Due to the small nature of the navigating board, scoring a Vegas is effectively impossible.

Carpentry and distilling do not follow the above scheme, instead merely appending a number to each successive masterpiece or crystal clear scored.

When foraging, there will never appear more than 3 containers at once. Because of that, a triple is the highest possible chain.