Colony Flow! Level 987 Walkthrough: Clearing and Routing Order

To clear Level 987 in Colony Flow!, route isolated outer-perimeter ant paths into their matching destination nests before moving any central clusters. Level 987 funnels movement through two narrow central junctions where cross-traffic easily causes permanent gridlock. Emptying the perimeter first provides the necessary buffer space and keeps your limited holding slots open for the congested center.

Phase-by-Phase Clearing Sequence

Follow this three-phase priority order to prevent traffic jams across shared tiles:

Phase	Priority Targets	Main Hazard	Required Action
1. Opening	Outer-edge ant columns	Prematurely blocking central junctions	Route perimeter paths while leaving central units stationary
2. Mid-Stage	Shared central crossroads	Mid-junction collisions and full holding slots	Send the largest single-color group through before crossing lines
3. Endgame	Gatekeeper units at nest mouths	Stalled reserve waves behind entryways	Evacuate units closest to nest apertures to open run-off lanes

Step 1: Clear Isolated Outer Lanes

Begin by scanning the perimeter for columns that have direct, unobstructed lines to their colored nests.

Dispatch direct edge paths first. Removing perimeter ants immediately clears roughly a third of the active board space without creating cross-traffic dependencies.
Uncover bypass routes. Clearing edge units exposes secondary pathways that skirt around the crowded middle intersection entirely.
Leave central clusters locked. Do not tap or shift center pieces while edge units are traveling. Moving central units early forces them into temporary holding slots, consuming the safety margin needed later.

Step 2: Manage Central Crossroads and Holding Slots

After the outer perimeter is clear, the stage transitions into managing the core crossroads where two separate color paths share the same tiles.

Regulate flow by color: Never release competing colors into a shared junction at the same time. Allow the dominant color stream—the group with the highest unit count—to cross the intersection fully before starting the perpendicular stream. Halting a line mid-crossing strands trailing units across junction boundaries and freezes the entire board.
Treat holding slots as temporary relief: Use holding slots strictly as emergency overflow when an ant must briefly yield right-of-way. Divert only the minimum number of ants required to prevent an active collision.
Drain slots immediately: Empty any occupied holding slot the instant its downstream path clears to ensure room remains for future mistakes.

Step 3: Evacuate the Final Wave Inside-Out

The final section packs dense ant clusters behind alternating directional arrows near the nest entrances.

Clear the units closest to the nest apertures first, even if those groups contain very few ants. Removing these gatekeeper units opens continuous run-off channels into the nests. Once the entryways are open, dispatch the remaining back-row reserve lines in unbroken sequences. Always confirm that the final ant in a moving chain clears the intersection hitbox before releasing the next waiting queue.