So, if you're reading this guide, you probably want a strategy to get loads of shells for a variety of reasons. With this strategy, it's finicky, but pretty simple! With decent optimization, you can get 50k shells per run, and each run takes ten minutes, so you'll be looking at around 300 thousand shells per hour! That's an insane production rate, ain't it?

Please note that you need the 4 pet limit to make this strategy work. There's an alternative strategy available for those who don't have all the bonus pets, but it doesn't produce quite as many shells.

For this strategy, you're gonna want to go to the Time Trial for Tank 4. You'll need to beat the final boss to access this, but I'm certain you've already done that by this point. For your pets, you'll want the following:

• Shrapnel
  
• Blip
  
• Walter
  
• Presto

After selecting those, press begin, and if Walter and/or Presto are near Shrapnel, then you're good to go! If not, just repeat until they are.

As soon as you begin, change Presto into Walter. With the Walters, you wanna keep punching Shrapnel. Once you've amassed a decent amount of money, buy three breeders, a single food upgrade, and maybe one extra pet if you have the funds. Make sure that you have enough money to feed your breeders!

Keep feeding your breeders, and more importantly, keep punching Shrapnel. You'll want 1,000 dollars by the time you get your first alien attack. The alien will usually be Bilaterus (Maybe always. I haven't encountered anybody but them for my first attack). When this happens, switch Presto over to Rufus (Gash might also work! Guppies aren't very important in this strategy) and push Bilaterus to the ground. Try not to let Bilaterus eat any of your breeders. If they eat one or maybe two, it should be fine. You'll probably be able to recover by buying a couple more breeders afterwards. If they eat three or, heaven forbid, four breeders, you're probably screwed, sadly.

Some notes based on what pets you may get: Since the pet you get from the extra pet upgrade will be random, you may get a pet that completely changes up your strategy at this point. If you get Gumbo or Rhubarb, this is good news! They can protect your breeders from Bilaterus once you push them to the ground, as Gumbo directs the breeders away from the aliens and Rhubarb forces fish off the ground. If you get Itchy, Rufus, Gash, or maybe Stanley, then instead of Rufus, you'll want to change Presto into Gumbo instead. If you get Nostradamus and he unleashes a Sneeze of Power, then buy the Carnivore early. Also, wait until you can confirm Bilaterus will be coming before changing Presto, as you could use this time to get a few extra punches on Shrapnel or a Carnivore.

Once Bilaterus is defeated, you can buy your Carnivore (If you haven't earlier thanks to Nostradamus). Now, change Presto into Nostradamus... so long as you don't have Nostradamus or Amp from your extra pet upgrade. If you have Nostradamus, then you don't need more of him. If you have Amp, the upcoming strategy isn't going to work. Otherwise, just feed your breeders and ignore the guppies. When the guppies get very hungry, they'll eat Nostradamus' snot, turning into a Nostradamus clone. Once this happens, switch Presto back to Walter. Note that this won't work if you got Amp, as they will kill your Nostradamus clones, and it's not feasible to not accidentally set them off (And the gems you get is too good to pass up). Don't forget to keep punching while doing this, but this time, prioritize your carnivores over Shrapnel, as their gems are more valuable than bombs. Buy more Carnivores as you go on until you get six. Your four breeders will be enough to feed your carnivores. Keep punching them to aim for 10,000 by the time of the second alien attack. If you want, you can buy a couple more extra pets along the way.

Once the klaxon plays, take note of where the two aliens are gonna appear. If they're at different positions vertically, they're gonna be Balrog and Psychosquid. Switch Presto over to Gash. If they're lined up so they're both on the ground, they'll probably be Destructor and Psychosquid. Switch Presto to Angie or Stanley, and also buy an Ultravore; it'll be reasonably safe from the duo. In the case of the former, don't worry too much about losing your fish, as they're gonna be replaced by Ultravores.

Now that you've gotten your first Ultravore (Before or after the alien attack), your goal from here is to get as many Ultravores as you can by the 2 minutes remaining mark. Also make sure to punch your Ultravores for extra money. Buy five Ultras before the third attack, then buy two (Just two for now) laser upgrades, and maybe 2 or 3 more extra pets, then go back to buying Ultravores. Keep switching to Gash, Stanley, or Angie depending on which aliens will be attacking. Once you get enough Ultravores that you can easily reach 100,000 dollars, then you can max out your lasers.

Once you finally reach the 2 minutes remaining mark, stop buying Ultravores. You'll probably have fifty by this point, so just focus on feeding them and collecting their money. I'd heavily recommend getting an auto-clicker for this part (Tho I recommend doing this for this game in general.), so you can easily collect the chests, but if you're apprehensive about doing that, then you can try buying extra pets until you get Stinky, Clyde, and/or Seymour to make it easier (But I wouldn't recommend trying beyond 99,999 dollar extra pets). When only thirty seconds remain, then stop feeding your Ultravores so you can squeeze as much extra money out of your run by the end. Maybe you can spare a carnivore if you're scared of getting a game over.

After all is said and done, you'll probably have close to a million dollars, or you might even exceed it. You get 1 shell for every 20 dollars you have by the end of the game, so if everything goes right, you'll be coming out with around 50,000 shells.

Don't have any of the bonus pets? Don't worry! I have a decent alternative for you lot!

For this strategy, you also need to do Tank 4 Time Trial, but this time, bring these three pets:

• Amp
  
• Blip
  
• Presto

Start by turning Presto into Shrapnel. Whenever Shrapnel drops a bomb, buy a Breeder. By the time Bilaterus strikes, you should have about four breeders. Switch Presto to Rufus and take them out. Then switch over to Angie and set off Amp. You'll have about seven guppies if none of them were eaten by Bilaterus, so use the gems to buy a Carnivore and two more breeders. Also consider buying a food upgrade and an extra pet. Switch Presto back to Shrapnel, or Zorf if you're struggling to keep your breeders fed, and buy some more carnivores. When an alien strikes, as usual, switch to Gash if it's Balrog and Psychosquid, or to Angie if it's Destructor and Ulysses.

Keep buying Carnivores until you have six, then switch to Seymour to make money collection easier. If you got Seymour from your extra pet upgrades, instead go with Stinky or Clyde. Around the 6:30 remaining mark, you'll be able to afford an Ultravore. Keep on collecting money, buy some more extra pets, and eventually get to 5 Ultravores. Then, buy two laser upgrades. Keep buying Ultravores until 2 minutes remain, then focus on collecting treasure chests and feeding your UItravores. If collecting money is a pain, buy some more extra pets in hopes of getting Seymour, Stinky, and/or Clyde.

Ultimately, the second half of the game is practically the same as it would be if you had the Bonus Pets, just with a slower start and not as effective bursts of money without Walter. With this strategy, I was able to rack up 760,000 dollars, converting to about 36k shells. Not nearly as much as the main strat, but with this money, you can buy a Bonus pet after each run, eventually reaching the 4 pet limit upgrade, allowing you to switch over to the original strat.

I hope this guide helps out! Happy shell collecting!

-Captain Demozan