Although it's been around since 1982, Burgertime still packs an addictive punch. A mischievous little Chef walks over hamburger patties while being pursued by hot dogs, pickles and eggs, while YOU scramble to collect the peppers in the ice cream cones, the coffee, and the French fries. The accelerating speed of the later levels (if you haven't been there, don't worry; not that many people have been there) along with the thrill of hearing that annoying but gratifying music when you finish off all of the hamburgers--all of these things have made Burgertime a classic. The game patterns are difficult to memorize so even after 17 years, people still haven't learned that little secret that lets you rack up the major points. The strategy is to tease your enemies into traps, which allows you to sneak past the eggs, squish the hot dogs, and throw the pickles down and out of sight.

General Tips

1. Patience - you're gonna need it. These bad guys will chase after you time and time again, but don't give up. When you mess with them just the right way, they will succumb. 2. These bad guys are not known for intelligence. For example, when you and an egg are on the exact same level and you step down a ladder only two steps, the egg will go down a different ladder if there is one in front of him. This will happen almost every time, and it's important to know this for survival. Also, most of the time they will go for the ladder that is right in front of them if they "think" it will get them to you faster. 3. As a general rule, only use the peppers in emergencies or to group the baddies together. Sometimes you will need to use one when they appear to be together but one is actually pulling ahead a little. If you time it right, you can group them again, but these tips will come later. 4. Your major points come from getting all of the bad guys on the screen onto one of the hamburger ingredients and slamming that ingredient down to the bottom. In the first two screens, if you do this correctly, you can rack up 4000 points for each ingredient. After that, you can rack up 16,000 points easily-and chances are, you'll get yourself an extra life! 5. Study as many of the experts' INPs as possible. If this strategy gets confusing-and trust me, it will-then chances are, the INP will show you just the way to gather the points. It might even show a better way.

NOTE: When I talk about what level to run to, I'm counting FROM THE BOTTOM the thick blue lines that you can run on. This also includes the bottom level. By the way, I learned most of my tactics from Andrew Bornstein. And I've refined some of his tactics to milk as many points as I can. Likewise, don't be afraid to alter these tactics after you learn them from me. Improvising while playing the game is what will make you a better player.

Mastering Screen One

When you start the screen, dash up the ladder that the Chef is aligned with, up to and slightly above the fourth level (see picture to the left). Now, do you see that hot dog on the left and that egg on the right? Wait for both of them to go up the ladder that they would be heading toward. When they finally do that (it'll take about two seconds after they head up the ladders for both of them to hit their destination levels), dash down to the second level and stand perfectly still (see below to the left). All of the baddies will try to head down the ladder that you're on right now. When the hot dog on the top left starts climbing down from the fifth level (in the left graphic, he's climbing from the seventh level), run over to the ladder that's just to your right, and look down (see below). When the egg and the first hot dog start walking down and to the right (chasing right after you), just wait. In a split second, the right edge of the two of them will align with your left arm (your perspective, not Chef's). Just as they do that, throw ONE pepper. It might seem like you would never hit even one of them, but it will hit-and delay-both of them. Count to TWO. The next opponent should be aligned with the arm like that again, so hit him with the next pepper. (If you do this correctly, it will look like only one egg and one hot dog are stunned.) Then count to ONE. Hit the final hot dog with a pepper when it's aligned again, and then all of them should be aligned perfectly.

Manipulating for Game Points

    While the baddies are stunned, run to the bottom of the screen and run ¾ of the way across the bottom part of the hamburger bun on your left. By doing this (trust me, you'll be doing this a LOT), you'll set a trap to rack up the big points. The baddies will run down the same ladder you ran down, and right when they climb onto the bun that you're on, finish off running across. This will throw the baddies to the bottom and get you 4000 just from the baddies (you get 50 points for pushing each ingredient down).
    Dash between the 3rd and 4th levels on the ladder that you should be right next to right about now (follow the graphic shown). The baddies will climb up the ladder that they originally went down when they died, and then they will run up the ladder that you're on. Run ¾ of the way across the patty to your left to trap the guys, and, as you did earlier, snap down on them and rack up 4000+ points. (You can alter this pattern to get 100 more points but this takes up valuable time in this strategy. It's actually very easy, you just have to make sure that you don't squish the baddies with the ingredients.)
    Now run up the ladder to the 7th level and take down the lettuce one level. This will allow you to trap the baddies just as you did with the previous ingredient. Follow the above instructions to rack up another 4000+ points again.
    Now, head to that spot (that I mentioned earlier) between the 3rd and 4th levels to tempt the baddies. When they start to climb your ladder, run all the way up to the 4th level and run up the ladder immediately to your right ALMOST all the way. Now, the baddies will be easier to tempt. When they start to climb this ladder, finish climbing up (PLEASE don't get killed!) and climb up the ladder directly to your right (once again, don't climb all the way up, just most of the way). When they start to climb the ladder, run across the top of the bun ¾ to set the trap, and, well, by now you should know the timing to have them fall to the bottom.
This part is tricky. Run to the top part of the bun on your left and run across it to set yourself up to trick them easier later on. Immediately after doing this, run to the very center ladder to about where the picture shows. The advantage of taking your time just now and hitting that top bun is that when you run straight down, an ice cream should appear and disappear very quickly (it's timed to hit the ice cream RIGHT when it appears).
    Now, as you can see in the left picture, the bad guys are actually running up the ladder that they are programmed to. This gives you a few seconds to prepare the bottom bun to your left for trapping. The baddies will climb down the ladder that you were just on. And when the baddies hit, finish off the trap for 4000+, and, about now, an extra life.
    Run up to that hamburger patty above you and set up a trap from the LEFT side. Now, run down the ladder that you've just climbed (follow the picture to the right) to a certain point It's easy to do this incorrectly, which makes the baddies split, which means you don't rack up the points.
    Now comes another tricky part that's going to take some practice, so be patient. The baddies will start up the ladder that you're currently on. The moment this happens (and make sure that it happens, because these guys can throw you off easily), get into position to finish the ingredient. Right when they hit it, finish it off and run up that ladder to your right. Run across the lettuce and push it down a level. Run across it ¾ of the way (if you have enough time) and get into the position on the ladder. Follow the instructions above to trap the baddies on the lettuce, and then run up to the bun that you threw down earlier. (You see, if you didn't do this, then you'd be sunk, having to set it up just right so you can milk the points.) Throw down the hamburger bun and run back to the ladder in the middle of the screen so that you're on the same level as the bun. Now, stand still and hope that the baddies run up the same ladder (they get picky pretty often). When they do, they'll run up to the 2nd level, then they'll run to the ladder that you're on. When they do this, do the ¾ completion of the bun and wait a split second for when the baddies are ready.
    Now, when you spring the trap, run to the place on the picture shown to the left.An ice cream will appear and disappear (you'll grab it immediately, again, getting you 500 points and an extra pepper). Now run to the position shown on the right (yes, this gets tiring, but don't worry, you're now halfway done with the 1st screen). The bad guys will run up the ladder that you've manipulated them on, then they'll run up that ladder that will be on their right. When that happens, run down to that bottom bun to your left and ¾ prepare it. The bad guys will come right to you and you can slam them down to the bottom.
    Here come some more tight moments. Run up to the above hamburger patty and push it down one level, and then run to the right. The bad guys will run up the ladder on the right (they should be aligned with you by now). Prepare ¾ for the guys and slam them down when they come from the right side. Now run up to the 7th level and stand perfectly still on that level. You should look like you're on the ladder, but you're actually on the level. The bad guys will run up the right ladder, turn left, run up the ladder that they'll be right next to, then they'll turn right and run up the ladder that you're close to. Prepare the lettuce ¾ again, and trap them when they come in from the right again. Run up to the top level, slam the top bun down one level, and do the entire thing over again (stand still, tempt, ¾ prepare, and grab 4000+).
    Now run to the place where the ice cream appears at (if you've followed the instructions pretty well, then run to the place where "500" appears) and, once again, you'll be timed right to grab the ice cream with no threat. Immediately run to the spot shown to the left and be a little patient. The final tricky part of the 1st screen is coming up. The bad guys will run up the ladder that they are on (see example), they'll run up the ladder to their left. Right when they do this, run straight down to the bottom level and ¾ prepare the bottom bun. They'll come down perfectly and you can slam them down to the bottom.
    Now run up the left ladder, ¾ prepare the hamburger patty, and step down the left ladder a few steps like you did with the 2nd hamburger. If you've timed it right and you're in the right place, they should run up the ladder and you can trap them on the patty. When they start to fall, run up that ladder that will place you right in the middle of the lettuce, and then take that down a level. Stay on the 5th level until they run up the ladder that you just ran down, and then run straight down to the level of the lettuce and ¾ prepare it. They'll run down the same ladder that you just used, and they'll fall right into your next-to-last trap of this level.
    Here comes the big finale. Run up to the top bun and stand on the right side of it. The bad guys will come in one of two ways:
1. Up the left ladder, run to the right, climb up the ladder that is right next to them, go to the right again, climb up the ladder that you're on-and they can be easily trapped.
2. They climb up from the lettuce, run up the second-from-the-left ladder on the 1st level, run to the left, run up the ladder, run to the right, and they'll be on the same ladder as you again so that you can trap them easily.

Now you can take a quick break, because you just completed the 1st level.
Don't take too much of a break, there's a LOT more ahead of you.