Hello, welcome, and thank you for reading this guide for Sweezy Gunner Challenges. This is my first guide ever on steam so I hope you’ll enjoy it!

In this guide, I’ll only give you general tips to help you define strategies that will allow you to clear the challenges. If I have enough time (and if I feel enough people want such a thing), I’ll write another guide with precise strategies for each challenge. If you need more help, you can still check my videos on my youtube channel where I clear every challenges :
Playlist link

The challenges are a fun addition to the game if you crave… challenge. To be quite frank, I liked the adventure mode but as an hardcore player and achievement hunter, I wouldn’t have loved the game that much if this mode wasn’t here. The adventure is a breeze compared to this, so if you struggled clearing the game (and/or if you are a casual gamer), let’s be honest, you have little hope to clear the challenges. You’ll die a lot so if you don’t like that, run away!

Are you still here? Ok good. Before we begin, a little reminder of what the challenges are about: you are given a limited amount of time to collect all the blue coins and reach the exit on a small sized map. Simple right? Oh wait, I forgot one thing: you only have 1 hp, so any hit means insta death. And of course, the map is full of deadly enemies firing a ton of bullets at you. At first, it may seem very tough, but do not worry: with a little bit of practice, you’ll quickly understand how the maps are built and design efficient strategies.

You’ll find below the general concepts I applied while playing. They helped me clear every challenges even though I’m not one of these gamers with crazy reflexes that can dodge any bullets coming at them (I always sucked at scrolling shooters :D). Nevertheless, you still need a good amount of reactivity, otherwise you’ll quickly be overwhelmed by what’s happening on the screen.

I know, that’s obvious. Clearing a challenge the first time you try it is very unlikely (unless you’re a god at this) since you don’t know where the exit and the coins are. Don’t hesitate to play super safe and take your time to explore the map as much as you can. Once you understood the general setup, you can devise your strategy.

Clearing the adventure first is crucial since you’ll meet almost every kind of enemies that the game has to offer. Knowing their shooting pattern is the most important thing of all because it will dictate how you move. Some enemies just shoot bullets in predefined directions so you can stand still while killing them, whereas others will aim directly at you, forcing you to be on the move all the time. And of course, let’s not forgot about melee enemies like slimes.
When these elements (almost all the time) are combined, things get pretty hairy. Sometimes it’s really hard to understand what’s going on on screen.

Never release the fire button. Ever. Well, unless you are saving a bonus shot that is worth it. Otherwise, you must be shooting at all time. Never be passive makes your defensive move transform into offensive move as well: even if you are escaping shots, you can kill enemies in the process making it a valuable move.

Yup, that’s right, you must learn to aim without looking where you are shooting! That may sounds crazy at first but with enough training, you’ll quickly get the hang of it. You must spend the majority of your time looking your tank to be able to properly dodge anything coming at you. If you are too focused on the aiming, you’ll often be taken off guard by a rear bullet lost in the mess on the screen.
Of course, when need be, you can take your eyes away of your tank for one second or so. But with a little bit of training, you’ll know where you aim by looking the direction the trail of missiles is taking.

Rushing through things doesn’t (always) help in Sweezy Gunner Challenges. Even though you are under the pression of the timer, you must learn when to take your time to clear enemies in sight to make your progression as safe as possible.
The best way to do this is to move only a few inches at a time and kill the foes appearing on the border of the screen. This is particularly true for advanced foes like clowns or the diamond-shaped robots that must be killed as soon as possible since they shot tons of bullets. It also helps a lot with packs of blue circles that can be really annoying since they aim straight at you.


Kill these clowns on sight!

You don’t have to kill every single enemy of the map to clear the challenge. Knowing when to skip foes is essential to buy yourself some vital seconds. Most of the time tho, you’ll skip static or melee enemies because mobile foes can reappear unexpectedly and take you off guard.


At the start of challenge 11, just skip the row of cactus on the bottom

Use your shield! Don’t save it with the purpose of evading attacks when you are cornered. Shield is so much more than that. It can help you save several seconds when used properly. For example, you’ll often see blue coins under the fire of several “towers” or blue circles: don’t kill them, just rush through with your shield, pick the coins and get the hell out of here (skip your enemies… remember? :D).
Of course by doing so, you’ll use lots of shield, half of it most of the time. But if you planned your route correctly, you’ll often alternate phase when you need your shield with “safe” phases (like the ones where you kill enemies on the edge of the screen): use these phases to reload your shield.
Last but not least, l often do what I like to call a “safety shield burst”. When I don’t feel safe about dodging bullets or I’m afraid of getting hit by something hidden by an obstacle, I quickly use my shield for one second. It doesn’t use much shield and can save your life way more often that you can imagine. See it as a panic button of some sort.


Don’t bother killing these foes: shield, pick the coins and run!

You can actually shoot while you are using your shield! It doesn’t work with your regular weapon but it does with any bonus weapon. Shielding then going in to wipe out a large pack of foes is very effective.

In the process of making your way through the horde of foes, you’ll often see some at the other side of a pit. Kill’em! By doing so, you create a safer path. You’ll thank yourself when you don’t have to kill a pack of dry clay heads in a corridor because you safely nuked them from the other side of a pit.


Kill these foes now or you’ll have to deal with them in the cactus corridor later.

This situation often happens when the screen is filled with foes aiming directly at you. By moving (or not moving) the right way, you can create a temporary safe spot while they are “reloading”. Use this opportunity to wipe out anything you can.


Everyone is aiming at you? No problem, just move a little bit down and wipe them!

Once you’ve defined the path you’ll be taking to collect all the coins, don’t be afraid to go off track when that is possible. By doing so, you can snipe a few foes then run away before the bullets reach you. Even if you lose a few seconds by doing this detour, you’ll be rewarded when you come back later. That can even help you manage your shield if your hit and run is executed properly.


Challenge 13: my path implies going to the right, but first I’m going to snipe a few foes by going off track

Some bonus can be pretty bad depending on the situation you pick them in. For example, don’t pick a flamethrower if you want to kill your foes from a safe distance. But using it on a pack of enemies can be super effective.
What’s more, don’t be greedy: don’t rush the bonus as soon as it appear. In the process, you can get killed because you’re losing focus. Sometime saving a bonus for later is the best option.