Levels

A **Level** in Skitchy swap is a set of STAGES. Each STAGE occupies the space of the entire screen, and navigation to the next STAGES within a level is done via the "NEXT", "MAP", or "BOSS" sign depending on the LEVEL and/or STAGE, located to the right of the STAGE. Characters will always spawn on the left side of the STAGE, with the exception of the Town, Village, Resort and Island, where they spawn to the right of the Shop, and in the Memory Mines they spawn slightly to the left of the tree.

Each LEVEL contains enemies (not including the "Shop LEVELS," which are the Town, Village, Resort, Memory Mines, and Island). Players will start at the Town upon game creation. All other LEVELS have 5 to 13 STAGES, except for the Boss Levels with 3 STAGES. At the last STAGE of a LEVEL the player will encounter a boss or a group of bosses. Once all the enemies in the last STAGE of a LEVEL are defeated, a sign with the word "MAP" will appear, allowing the player to unlock the next LEVEL. If players return to the world map without using the "MAP" sign after defeating bosses, the LEVEL will not be counted as completed and You would have to start from the beginning.

## Advancement

Every LEVEL has a place on the world map and is connected to other LEVELS. To finish a LEVEL, all enemies in the last STAGE (boss area) have to be killed, inclusive of the boss (or bosses), and the player must complete the LEVEL guiding the character to the "MAP" sign. It is not mandatory to kill enemies on earlier STAGES of the LEVEL. Once a LEVEL is finished, the next LEVEL on the world map is revealed and the player is allowed to proceed onwards, or to revisit an earlier LEVEL. If the player finishes a LEVEL which is the final LEVEL of the game, the player returns to the title screen. The player can still load his or her game data and continue playing.

## World Map

Navigation between LEVELS is done with the World Map. The player is able to jump to any unlocked LEVEL, even if there are LEVELS in between the current location and the intended destination. A completed LEVEL is displayed as a Blue dot, while an unfinished LEVEL is displayed as a Red dot. The Town, Village, Resort and Island are displayed as a white dot, Caverns are displayed as the entrance of a cave, the Castles are always displayed as a miniature castle, Certain other levels have special Icons as well, while the hidden LEVELS are not shown on the map at all (even when unlocked and beaten).

The entire map cannot be seen in one screen, players must pan to see the whole screen.

## Terrain

The terrain of a STAGE or a LEVEL refers to the "ground", "walls" and "platforms".

### Tilesets and colours

The landscape is generated by using tilesets consisting of tiles 8×8 pixels in size. The ground in most LEVELS is tan, covered with green grass.

### Landscapes

Special STAGES, such as the Town, boss STAGES, as well as the mega bosses have a linear terrain (i.e. STAGE ground). Terrains of other STAGES are randomly generated through selecting an area 58 tiles in width from a long landscape. Thereafter, the columns on both ends of the terrain are extended by 3 tiles, to form the final terrain that is 64 tiles in length. The use of the extension mechanism is to allow for flat land on the far left and right sides of the screen for characters and the "NEXT" sign to be placed on.

Most boss STAGES are flat, with some exceptions, such as the Cavern levels.