B.C. Bow Contest

B.C. Bow Contest is a multiplayer archery game released November 5, 2009. It is the second game involving MochiCoins and to include a Cheats n' Treats pack after Twin Shot 2. In the game, the player must shoot targets with arrows to win rounds and cups. The player must face a computer enemy or another player and shoot arrows at colored areas in targets to gain more points and win the round.

The game was updated on April 5th 2013, the purpose being to allow Nitrome Touchy support and to allow players to obtain arrows outside of MochiCoins (which, had been discontinued at the time of updating; another reason for updating B.C. Bow Contest).

Controls
Mouse:

- Adjust the angle of shot

- Click and hold to adjust power, let go to fire arrow

Levels
Levels in BC Bow Contest are displayed as "cups", divided among a number of stages. Throughout the stages, players can earn weapon arrows by beating opponents. The player must beat an opponent in a number of rounds in that stage in order to proceed on to the next one. The player will be able to shoot three arrows each turn. Each stage has three difficulties: Easy, Medium, and Hard.

Beginner's Cup

 * Easy: Missing Link
 * Medium: Cave-Girl
 * Hard: Dread

This cup, hence its name, is directed at new players of B.C. Bow Contests. This cup has only three rounds instead of the regular five rounds that are used throughout all other cups (with the exception of Balloon Cup). The rounds in this cup feature targets that are easy to hit, and do not require precise shots to hit (with the exception of round three's target).

First round
The Target is in front of the player. It is very easy because the player does not have to aim too far or too close.

Strategies
The Missing Link tends to play poorly and make bad moves; assuming the player always hits the middle of the target, passing this round with the Missing Link is a breeze. The Missing Link uses only regular arrows. Cave-Girl is smarter than the Missing Link, as she will tend to shoot arrows closer to the orange spot. Furthermore, on her second turn, she will regularly use a bomb arrow and blow all arrows away - even hers. She tends to use this arrow on her first turn of the second round.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrow
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, a single bomb arrow

Throughout the entire round, she will usually use only one bomb arrow, using regular arrows at all other times, and a bomb arrow on the second round. The player should use Multi bonus arrows for their entire turn or some sort of arrow to gain lots of points, after Cave Girl uses her bomb arrow, as this is usually the only way to gain enough points to surpass Cave Girl's score, as she usually gains enough points to pass the player's score if they do not use a special arrow in order to gain lots of points. Dread acts similar to Cave Girl. Unlike the previous two opponents, Dread's movements are hard to predict. He may use regular arrows on the first round, a single use of splitter arrows, or two splitter arrows. On the second round, he may use splitter arrows (if he has not used splitter arrows on the first rounds), however, he may instead fire a bomb arrow.
 * Hard:
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, one-two splitter arrows, a single bomb arrow

His fired bomb arrow may be high up on the target, or low on the target. This allows the player to have some of their arrows intact if they shoot them low down or low up. Finally, he may also use splitter arrows on the third round, or just regular arrows.

Dread seems to shoot regular arrows poorer than Cave Girl, but better than Missing Link. Dread may hit the rock the target is on (giving him no points), or hit sections that grant low points. Sometimes, most of his regular arrow shots will gain him low amounts of points. The player should use a multi-bonus arrow on the third round, but only if dread has not gained considerable amounts of points (500+). Furthermore, they should only use a multi-bonus arrow on the round after Dread has used a bomb arrow. First round in the below video starts at 0:00 and ends at 1:18

Second round
Same as the first except that the target is further away. Due to the distance, it is considerably more harder to get the orange part of the target.

Strategies
Yet again, the Missing Link tends to always miss the target. As with the first, completing the level is a breeze. In stark contrast to the previous round, Cave Girl tends to mostly miss the target - generally firing over the target or hitting the non-point rock the target is on.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, a bomb arrow

As in the previous round, she uses a bomb arrow to blow away all arrows on the target, however, due to her missing the target most of the time, the player will likely be able to gain significantly points without Cave Girl surpassing their score. Second round in the below video starts at 1:21 and ends at 2:59

Third round
The target is a bit far from the player, all parts of the target on the ground. Hitting the target is more difficult than the previous round, as the player has to shorten their aim a bit so that they can hit the middle orange colour of the target. Hitting the orange colour, also, is more difficult.

Strategies
The Missing Link's general poor archery skills allow the player to quite easily gain more points and win the round. Cave Girl's shots tend to be too short or too long, generally causing her to miss the orange spot of the target. She will aim upwards if trying to hit the orange spot. On the second round, she will also fire a bomb arrow (as in the previous rounds).
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows
 * Medium:
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, a single bomb arrow

Her poor aiming skills generally cause her to fire her bomb arrow far away from the orange middle, which backfires on her as she tends to knock her own arrows out. Arrows placed in the middle - or close to the middle - will generally not be affected by the explosion of the bomb arrows.

As Cave Girl tends to miss the orange middle of the target most of time, passing this level is usually easy and does not require the use of a special arrow.

Completion awards

 * Completing Beginner's Cup easy:
 * First time - Three multi bonus arrows, and Missing Link as a playable character
 * Second time - Three Boot arrows
 * Completing Beginner's Cup medium:
 * First time - Six stone arrows, three copy arrows, and Cave girl as a playable character

Rock Cup

 * Easy: Dread
 * Medium: Missing Link
 * Hard: Sabre-tooth

First round
This first round is the same as the first round in the Beginners Cup, but the player has to shoot over a low wall.

Second round
There are two Pterosaurs are moving up and down, holding two bags with the target on it. One bag is bigger then the other.

Third round
The third round has a target behind a brontosaurus.

Fourth round
The player is on a Brontosaurus, and there are two targets on the ground.

Fifth round
Similar to Round 2 of Beginners Cup except there is a pterosaur carrying a large skull flying up and down. Hitting the skull gives no points.

Balloon Cup

 * Easy: Baby
 * Medium: Sabre-tooth
 * Hard: Cave-girl

Balloon Cup is named for the only method of gaining points - balloons. The cup is only three rounds long, and the second cup (after Beginner's) to use three rounds instead of the regular five.

This cup is considerably easier than previous cups, as the player has to hit objects placed in the sky, does not have to (usually) make precise shots, and can make the obtaining of points harder for their opponent by popping balloons that give a high amount of points. Medium and Hard difficulties in this cup are unusually easy, compared to other cups.

Along with this, the entire cup can be completed without the use of any special arrows.

First round
There are multiple balloons that earn the player points when they destroy them. Different colors earn different points. The player should try to eliminate the yellow balloons so that their opponent can get the. For the highest up yellow balloons that form a triangle, the player should try to eliminate the two lowest yellow balloons, as the highest up one is difficult to hit. For the lower triangle's balloons, the two lower balloons of the triangle are easy to hit.

Once the two lowest balloons of the yellow balloons triangles have been hit, the player should try to burst the lines of balloons near them.

Strategies
The Baby will regularly fire upwards, not aiming at all for any balloons, sometimes hitting balloons. Sometimes he may aim horizontally, trying to hit balloons. ' Sabre-tooth does not act very smart, as he will always - save for one shot on turn two - shoot upwards when possibly trying to target a nearby balloon. Even when that nearby balloons is gone, he will still fire arrows upwards, likely just for them to impact the ground near him.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, a single splitter arrow

On turn two, during one of his chances to fire arrows, he will fire a splitter arrow upwards. As it is fired upwards, generally only two arrows - the middle on right most arrow - will impact a balloon, and these impacted balloons being ones that are very near. As he uses regular arrows all the time except once on turn two, the player does not need to use any special arrows to pass the round. Cave Girl tends to fire upwards mostly, however, she has much better accuracy than the previous characters. She will also try to fire at far away balloons. On turn two and three, she will use one splitter arrow, but fire it upwards. It is important for the player to pop all balloons that give lots of points, especially yellow ones, as Cave Girl can easily get at the highest up yellow balloon. If the player pops most balloons, this round is usually easy to complete.
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, two splitter arrows

Second round
The second round consists of multiple balloons of the different colors floating across screen. When trying to hit the one hundred point balloons, the player should always pull their bow string the farthest back when picking a place to fire.

Strategies
The Baby will generally get a considerably higher score in this round than the last one, due to the moving balloons. His tendency to fire upwards is seen once again in this round, this vertical firing method being the method he most uses when firing. Sabre-tooth will act intelligent on this round and try yo hit balloons. He also does not use any special arrows. Despite being intelligent, he does not fire very far from himself - he still fires arrows upwards when trying to hit balloons. If the player can eliminate most yellow balloons, they make ti hard to Sabre-tooth to get any points.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

As he fires his arrows upwards, and there is wind active, Sabre-tooth's arrows tend to be blown to the left off screen. Cave Girl will try to fire up at the high up balloons, and also is capable of firing an arrow in such a way that it goes up and hits three balloons, then goes down and hits three more balloons.
 * Hard
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, a splitter arrow

She will still fire straight upwards at balloons, even if there is nothing up in the place she is firing. On either turn two or turn three, she will use a splitter arrow. The player should try to eliminate a lot of balloons, especially the yellow ones. As in the previous round, she will try to fire at far away balloons.

Third round
This round features a large sphere made of different coloured balloons, a sphere consisting with a one hundred point balloon in the middle. Along with this are balloons in groups of four, these groups at various altitudes, with balloons granting more points found higher up.

The various balloons in the level will be caused to move by harsh winds, however, they will stop at certain points. Despite the harsh winds being active at only certain times, weaker winds are always active.

The player should try to eliminate one hundred points balloons fast, so that their opponent cannot hit these precious balloons.

Strategies
The Baby will fire upwards most of the time, this time trying to aim for balloons that grant more points. He will also try to hit balloons in the balloons sphere, and also aim for one hundred points balloons. Sabre-tooth will, again, fire only upwards. He will not try to hit far off balloons, only fire upwards and try to hit balloons. He will not fire during the strong wind, and on turn one will use a splitter arrow on the giant sphere of balloons. As he tends to always fire upwards, and tends to not get much points, if the player can hit a lot of yellow balloons, they can easily pass this round. Cave Girl will fire upwards, and also keep her aim upwards waiting for the giant balloon sphere. She will fire arrows also at far away balloons. As from previous rounds, she will also try to fire at far off balloons. Unusually, she does not use a splitter arrow on this round, at all.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, a single splitter arrow
 * Hard
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

Completion awards

 * Complete Balloon Cup easy:
 * First time: Three straight arrows
 * Complete Balloon Cup medium:
 * First time: Three magnet arrows and six splitter arrows
 * Complete Balloon Cup hard:
 * First time: Three golden arrows, six egg arrows, and nine shield arrows

Bone Cup

 * Easy: Cave-girl
 * Medium: Dread
 * Hard: skull head

First round
Target is on the Ankylosaurus' shell and everytime the player hits it (everywhere else on it too), it will move away from player.

Strategies

 * Easy
 * Used arrows: regular arrows


 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Boot arrows


 * Hard
 * Used arrows: Stone arrows, bomb arrows and Multi-bonus arrows

Second round
There's three targets: the first one is in ground, but the player must shoot up to get points from it, because there are bones in their way. The next target has only white and blue areas, the third is normal target and it looks like the target from the first round of beginners cup, but it is very far away from the player.

Third round
This round includes X targets, which will take from the player twenty-five points, if their arrows hit it. Difficulty of this round comes from the normal targets, which are between the X targets.

Fourth round
There is a rock in front of player, so they must shoot their arrow over it. Unfortunately, there is very strong wind, which blows the player's arrow to the right.

The strategy of this round is to shoot arrows as far as possible, so the wind can blow the player's arrow to the target on the ground.

Fifth round
There are three targets and the target with the most points is on the other side of the screen. To reach it, the player must use the strong wind present in the level to get their arrow there.

Fire Cup

 * Easy: Sabre-tooth
 * Medium: Dino
 * Hard: Missing Link

First round
This round has lava, which will raise the player's arrow up. There's also a target bag and also white, red and yellow balloons, but in lava.

Cursor strategy
Pulling the bow back completely and aiming up the white line with the top edge of the bottom rock, and firing the arrow when the pterodactyl moves the target bag a bit foreword past the background rock allows the player to score one hundred or fifty points per arrow shot, although the points earned (whether fifty or one hundred) depends on the time the player fires their arrow.

Performing this strategy to get one hundred points per shot is a bit difficult, however, the will always gain at least ten points per arrow.

Strategies
Sabre-tooth is somewhat smart - he is fully capable of obtaining the yellow balloons and can get a descent score. He tends to hit the fifty and twenty-five sections of the bag, and generally does not try to aim for the balloons.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

Second round
This round is very easy in all difficulties, because the player's contender usually is unable to get any points from this round.

The target is on a T-Rex's tongue. Shoot the target when it roars, but be wary of lava too.

Cursor position strategy
This round features a somewhat difficult strategy that allows the player to always obtain one hundred points with just normal arrows. If the player places their cursor next to the top games box, halfway beside the yellow and white section, and fires when the T-rex roars, they will generally always get one hundred points as the arrow will always impacts the yellow spot of the target.

This allows for the player to easily pass the round, as they receive fifty to one hundred points per shot.

Strategies
Sabre-tooth's shots for this round tend to be very poor, him mostly aiming to high and missing the target completely due to the high aim. He usually scores no points on this round due to completely missing the target.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

Third round
This round has earthquakes, which will hinder the player's accuracy. Try to shoot when the earthquake stops.

Cursor position strategy
The player can perform a very easy strategy that allows them to get one hundred points per arrow, with just normal arrows. On this round, if the player places their cursor under the "1" of "P1" when aiming, when they let go of their arrow, they will always get one hundred points as their arrow will always land in the middle of the target (see the picture on the right for the exact position).

Strategies
Sabre-tooth tends to shoot a bit horizontally over the bones in front of him, but usually aims upwards when trying to hit the target. He will sometimes even just fire his arrows into the bones in front of him. He tends to get a descent score in this round, regardless of his mindless actions.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

Fourth round
This round has earthquakes too, along with randomly falling rocks and targets. A target painted into a rock is placed very far away at the end of the stage. Due to the constant earthquake, it makes is hard to hit the middle of the target.

If a target is nearby, it is usually easy to hit the red fifty point area. However, with precise aiming, it is also possible to hit the one hundred point spot with non-upwards shots.

Strategies
Even if an arrow is right in front or close to him, Sabre-tooth will still try to hit far off targets, even trying to hit the wall-painted target at the end of the stage. Although this level is very unpredictable, Sabre-tooth still seems to always miss targets with his arrows.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

Fifth round
There are many targets, along with lava. To hit the targets, aim to shoot the arrow as high as possible.

Cursor position strategy
The player can perform a strategy that allows them to get one hundred points per arrow, with just normal arrows. If the player pulls their arrow back and has it so that the top of their cursor is under the highest ridge that is below the seashell that is below the player, letting go of the arrow will always guarantee the player will hit the yellow spot of the target right in front of them.

The reason this strategy is so good and can easily win the level is because it will likely be very hard for the opponent to dislodge the player's arrow. However, the downfall of this strategy is it is usually hard to place the cursor in the correct spot.

Strategies
Sabre-tooth tends to miss all the targets of this round. However, usually once or twice he will hit a target.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

Tar Cup
In this cup player can lose points, if arrow sticks into tar. Like in fire cup, you can earn extra points, by shooting balloons. You can also find poor animals from that pesky liquid.
 * Easy: Dino
 * Medium: Skull head
 * Hard: Old Man

First Round
The player is on a stone, and there are several Brontosauruses sunk in the tar pits. The targets are painted on the backs of the Brontosauruses. If an arrow touches the tar pit, it will sink, and the player loses 10 points.

Using the below cursor strategy, the player can easily get one hundred point per arrow - using just regular arrows. This strategy comes in easy for beating the Old man.

If the player cannot do the cursor strategy, they should try to hit the target nearest to them, as this one that does not open up the possibility to massive points loss. They should also try to hit the farthest off target, as it is also easy to get points from this one and not hit the tar.

Cursor position strategy
There is an incredibly easy way to gain around one hundred points per shot in this level, just using regular arrows. The player has to simply pull their cursor into the end of the "TOP GAMES" box of Nitrome.com 2.0, their cursor in such a way that it is inside the end of the box.

This allows for easy points on this level, especially helpful for beating the Old man. If the player's cursor is in the same position as in the picture when they are pulling back their arrow, they will always get one hundred points. The player should be wary of pulling their arrow back too far in the box, as if they do this, they will hit the head of the dinosaur in front of them (as the arrow goes very close to the dinosaur's head).

Strategies
Dino does not have poor aiming capabilities, rather, his arrows tend to land close to a target or hit the tar. If the player manages to get over one hundred points, they will likely pass the level, as Dino rarely ever gets one hundred or more points. Skull-head tends to have better aim than other medium opponents. He will try to aim for the closest target, however, he will also take shots to hit the second or third closest target. Much of his arrows do gain him some points, although other times they sometimes they miss a point-giving target.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

He is capable of difficult shots that go very close past the head of the first sad dinosaur. However, he is still capable of shooting accidentally shooting an arrow into the tar. He tends to be able to get a lot of points, such as 145 or 135. Passing this round can be difficult if the player does not get at least over a hundred points. The Old-man is a quite difficult opponent to beat, as he generally once or twice fails to earn points for an arrow fired. He will tend to hit the closest target and also try to hit the farthest one. From his usage of arrows, he possibly uses special arrows depending on how high the player's score is when compared to the Old man's. When using special arrows, he will generally use them on the nearest target, sometimes using a multi bonus arrow on the third farthest target.
 * Hard
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, three invincible arrows, two multi bonus arrows, one bomb arrow

He will use invincible arrows on the nearest target, sometimes even shooting two invincible arrows into the mentioned target. He tends to rarely ever shoot his arrow into the tar, sometimes shooting his arrow into the tar when trying to aim for the third farthest target. Similarly, rarely will his arrows ever impact a part of a dinosaur that does not grant points.

The Old man tends to always get scores that range from 325-500. If the player uses the cursor box method of getting points on this round, it is quite easy to beat the old man. Although it has not been tested, it is possible that firing a golden arrow into the dinosaur near the player and then firing arrows in the arrow will allow the player to pass, although it is not known if the Old man will also fire at this arrow.

Unusually, if the player manages to get one hundred points per shot across two turns, the Old man may act strangely. For those two turns, the Old man will use only multi-bonus arrows, and for the final turn use only arrows, and to have unusually good aim across all turns. In very, very, very rare situations, the Old man may use a bomb arrow if the player has a high score and a lot of arrows situated in a certain spot.

Second Round
Another dinosaur is sunk in the tar pits. The target is painted on its head. When the dinosaur is hit, it sinks and appears elsewhere. As the dinosaur is generally far away, the player should try to aim a bit upwards and shoot far. When the dinosaur is the farthest it can go, the player should always pull their bow back the farthest and pull higher up than usual when they want to hit the dinosaur's target.

It should be noted that when the dinosaur is very close, hitting the one hundred point spot is more easy to obtain by vertical shots than horizontal ones, as, although shooting an arrow horizontally can also get the one hundred points spot, it is very hard to do so this way.

Strategies
Dino tends to fire arrows that miss the target, and also his arrows may hit tar. As from the previous one, if the player can get fifty or more points, then they will likely pass the round. Skull head generally is not very good at this round, as he tends to miss the target and hit something else on the dino, or shoot his arrow into the the tar (which happens somewhat frequently). He will at one point of turn two fire a shield arrow on to the dino, trying to aim for a point giving spot.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, a shield arrow

If the shield arrow is on the ten, twenty-five, or fifty point line of the dino's head, it can be hard to avoid. When trying to avoid the shield, the player should always pull their arrow back the farthest and shoot aiming a bit upward, if the dino is far away and has a shield arrow covering the ten and/or fifty point section.

If the shield is covering the one hundred point section, the player should be able to get ten and/or twenty-five and/or fifty points sections without being much inconvenienced. As the shield arrow drops its shield after one turn, a shield arrow is only an inconvenience for one turn, before coming a regular arrow. The Old man is not as good in this round as he was in the previous one, several times he may shoot is arrow into the tar and lose points. He will usually use two invincible arrows, generally these striking the twenty five point spot of the target. When the target is near, the Old man may shoot his arrows upwards in an attempt to strike the one hundred point spot.
 * Hard
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, two invincible arrows, one multi bonus arrow

If the player can continue to hit the fifty point spot of the target, and not hit the tar most times, it should be easy the complete the round. Under very rare circumstances, the Old man may deliberately fire his arrow into the tar. Similarly, he may use multi bonus arrows if the player's score is greater than his.

Third Round
There are four platforms with two colour targets painted on them. With two arrows, the platform sinks in the tar.

On easy, if all the visible wooden targets are sunk, the player should fire their arrows into the rock in front of them, as even if they hit the pterodactyl, it will generally only give them enough points to cover points lost through tar.

Off screen (the player is unable to see these even if they pull their arrow the farthest back), there is a floating piece of wood with a red fifty point section and a middle one hundred point section. Finally, farther off screen is a non-sinking rock that has a regular vertical rock-painted target exactly the same as the one in Beginner's Cup round one.

The easy and medium opponents will not try to target these, even when all platforms have been sunk.

Strategies
Dino tends to have somewhat good targeting when trying to hit the wooden, tar based targets. However, after those are sunk, he tends to deliberately fire his arrows straight up so that they impact the tar. This can actually make the game easier for the player, as Dino will continue to lose points.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

This opponent will not target the off screen targets (see description of this round). Skull-head will try to aim for the first board that has a one hundred points spot; he will also try to hit the two nearer stuck wood. Once the three nearest stuck woods have been sunk, he will try to fire up at the dinosuar holding the target. Once all visible targets are sunk (except the off screen ones; see this round's description), he will aimlessly fire his arrows upwards so that they impact tar.
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

He will not try to hit off screen targets. The Old man will attempt to hit the stuck wood than grants points, usually the ones that grant one hundred points. Once the four nearest ones have been sunk, the Old man will, shockingly, aimlessly fire his arrow upwards into the tar and lose points. He will not even aim at the high up targets or the off screen targets, he will just fire aimlessly upwards. He will usually lose about sixty points per round, so if the player can get a score greater than his, they can usually win.
 * Hard
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

In an event such as this, they should fire their arrows into the stranded, nearby rock.

Fourth Round
Again, there are several platforms with two colour targets painted on them. But this time, there are geysers of tar that will hit the arrows. This round features an off-screen stone, non-sinking target that appears exactly like the target in Beginners Cup round one, however, there is a geyser in front of this target.

Fortunately, this geyser goes down when all the other ones go down. This target is not visible if the player pulls their bow all the way back, rather, they have to shoot far in hopes of hitting it. Notably, the geyser in front of this target is visible when the bow is pulled all the way back.

Strategies
If the player can sink all visible wooden targets, Dino will not even try to hit the target painted on a rock off screen, rather, he will fire arrows upwards so that they impact the tar. Sometimes he may try to aim for the rock-placed target, but geysers will usually knock his arrow out so that it fails to reach its target. Medium Skull-head will, unusually, fire arrows straight upwards so that they hit the tar or the rock he is on. It is not known why he does this, but it is possible this is done when the first near wooden target is sunk.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows

On round three, he will try to hit the stuck board that has a fifty and one hundred point spot, however, he will not notice the geysers. Thus, he will even fire when they are high up, with it being possible for his first arrow to be knocked away by the nearest geyser. It is not know whether he will attempt to hit the second stuck platform at random, on the third turn, or once the player hits the platform.

Fifth Round
The player has to hit the same balloons of the Balloon Cup, and the only way the arrows do not fall in tar is to hit the rock when they fall.

Strategies
Dino will not even try to hit balloons, even nearby ones. If the right-most yellow balloon has not been popped, Dino will attempt to hit that balloon. Once it has been popped, he will still continue to fire upwards, usually at the cost of losing points. Passing this round with Dino as the opponent it rather easy, as large amounts of points can be obtained while Dino shoots at the sky. Skull-head tends to act poorly on this round, he will fire his arrows straight up just to hit a vertical line of balloons. Furthermore, he will also fire a shield arrow trying to hit a vertical line of balloons, although this shield arrow actually is more of a blessing than a curse for the player.
 * Easy
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows
 * Medium
 * Used arrows: Regular arrows, a single shield arrow

If the shield arrow impacts a rock, the player can easily make vertical shots to pop balloons, and if their arrow impacts the shield of the shield arrow, their arrow will be knocked away while still retaining the gained points.

It is not known if these poor actions are based on balloons or if Skull-head just performs these actions, as he will still fire straight upwards even if there are no balloons. Skull-head will even use this vertical shooting method to hit balloons right next to him, able to be popped by a horizontal shot.

Skull-head will repeat this poor behavior even on turn two, however, on turn three, he will actually try to shoot at far away balloons, usually missing them.

Completion awards

 * Easy:
 * First time: Three boot arrows
 * Medium:
 * First time: Six splitter arrows and three bomb arrows
 * Hard:
 * First time: ?

Arrows

 * Main Article: Arrows (B.C. Bow Contest)

Normal Arrows
These arrows can be accumulated over the course of the game as players progress through stages.


 * Normal arrows - Acts like a regular arrow
 * Bomb arrow - Explodes on contact with a surface; blows all arrows away that are caught in the blast
 * Shield arrow - Erects a temporary shield over the targeted spot.
 * Splitter arrow - Splits into three arrows when shot.
 * Stone arrow -  Solid as a rock
 * Multi-bonus arrows - Bonus increases for each shot that hits a target, up to three in a row.
 * No wind arrow - Unaffected by wind; useful in wind.
 * Boot arrow - Smells a bit but does a good job of hiding the target.
 * Straight arrow - Straight flying arrows that are not affected by gravity or wind.
 * Copy arrow - Copy the last shot (even the opponent's).
 * Invincible arrow - Cannot be blown up by other arrows.

During MochiCoins
Players could receive some premium arrows for free by registering for MochiCoins. Other arrows could also be purchased and could not be gained in the game.

However, on April 5, 2013, Nitrome made premium arrows free, so that they could be unlocked by completing cups.

Free Arrows
These arrows could be obtained free by
 * Mine arrow - Fire this object on a spot that the player wants to protect. Blow other arrows up when they land nearby.
 * Golden arrow - Add a new target worth 1000 points! Try to place it where the player's opponents cannot reach it.

Premium arrows
Arrows in this section required the player to buy MochiCoins and then spend the aforementioned coins on the arrows. All arrows in this section cost four hundred coins, with the exception of extinction arrows, which cost six hundred coins.
 * Spirit arrow - This will float through solid objects but it will still hit targets and the ground.
 * Banana arrow - This arrow will keep bouncing until the player clicks.
 * Director arrow - Click to direct this arrow's direction while in flight.
 * Magnet arrow - After firing this arrow, the subsequent arrows fired will be attracted to the spot of the magnetic arrow
 * Dragonfly arrow - Click and hold the mouse button while in flight to make the wings flap and adjust the flight path of the arrow.
 * Egg arrow - Click to activate this arrow and grow it into a giant egg barrier to block the opponent's arrows.
 * Smart bomb arrow - Smart bomb arrows blow up all of the opponent's arrows away but leave the player's intact.
 * Infection arrow - Infect nearby arrows and steal the opponent's points.
 * Air strike arrow - Click the mouse to explode this arrow into more arrows.
 * Extinction arrow - ?

Post MochiCoins
Once B.C. Bow Contest was updated on April 5th 2013, the methods of obtaining arrows changed - arrows and Cheats n' Treats are now unlocked by completing cups. Now, whenever the player completes a cup, they will receive arrows that can be premium arrows, although they are not always premium arrows. As the the difficulty of the cup gets higher, the more arrows they receive.

Arrows obtain chart
Upon completing a difficulty level of a cup, the player would be awarded arrows depending on the difficulty. Completing an easy mode would yield three arrows of one type, while completing a medium mode would yield six arrows of one type and three arrows of another type, while completing a hard mode yields three arrows of one type, six arrows of another, and nine arrows of another arrow type. The player receives different arrows if they beat an already beaten difficulty setting of a cup. Beginners Cup Rock Cup Balloons Cup Bone Cup Fire Cup Tar Cup
 * Easy - Three Multi bonus arrows
 * Second time - three boot arrows
 * Medium - Six stone arrows and three copy arrows
 * Hard - ?
 * Easy - ?
 * Medium - ?
 * Hard - ?
 * Easy - Three straight arrows
 * Medium - Three magnet arrows and six splitter arrows
 * Hard - Three golden arrows, six egg arrows, and nine shield arrows
 * Easy - ?
 * Medium - ?
 * Hard - ?
 * Easy - ?
 * Medium - ?
 * Hard - ?
 * Easy - Three boot arrows
 * Medium - ?
 * Hard - ?

Hazards

 * Lose point spots: Lose twenty-five points.
 * Walls - Blocks arrows.
 * Lava - Arrows will melt if touched.
 * Wind - Moves arrows depending on direction.
 * Earthquakes - Shake screen randomly to ruin aim.
 * Tar - If arrow gets shot in, lose ten points.

Cheats 'n treats

 * Main article: Cheats n' Treats (B.C. Bow Contest)

First appearing in Twin Shot 2, Cheats 'n Treats reappears in B.C. Bow Contest. This pack which sold for a price during MochiCoins allowed the player to modify certain things in the game (such as length of line) and also other exclusive content.

During MochiCoins
Cheats 'n Treats cost US $3.75. When purchased, the player had access to all the cheats and content.

Post MochiCoins
After MochiCoins was disbanded, when B.C. Bow Contest was updated Cheats 'n Treats content was unlocked for completing hard difficulty on cups.

Cheats unlocked
Below lists the cheats unlocked for completing a cup:
 * Completing Beginners Cup hard: ?
 * Completing Rock Cup hard: ?
 * Completing Balloons Cup hard: ?
 * Complete Bone Cup hard: ?
 * Complete Fire Cup hard: ?
 * Complete Tar Cup hard: ?

Strategies
This section lists strategies that can be performed in B.C. Bow Contest across multiple stages, or other helpful ideas. It should be noted that all strategies are done without the aid of a cheat from Cheats 'n Treats.

Arrows
This section lists strategies that can be done with two or more arrows.

The egg-in-the-way technique
The player needs egg arrows. They have to score at least ten points with two shots. On the third shot, the player should use an egg arrow and click the mouse as soon as they fire the arrow. The egg should block all ways of arrows getting out unless the player uses spirit arrows.

There is a slim chance the the opponent (or the player) can shoot straight up or right below the egg. See the "dragonfly directional technique" for more information.

Dragonfly/Director arrows technique
Use the "egg-in-the-way technique". Obtain dragonfly arrows. If the player can shoot just below the egg or straight up, they can control the dragonfly to go towards the target. Also works with director arrows.

Arrow harvesting
Arrow harvesting is the method of obtaining a large amount of different arrows from a certain difficulty setting without having to use any special arrows, or very little special arrows.

Balloon Cup hard
As hard mode of Balloon Cup hard can be completed without the use of any special arrows, and is rather easy, this difficulty setting allows the player to obtain three types of arrows in different quantities, three of one type, six of another, and nine of another type.

The player can also get to hard mode easily without the use of special arrows.

Updated
B.C. Bow Contest was updated on April 5th 2013. This update allowed arrows to be obtained outside of MochiCoins, which, had been discontinued. Many changes were made, along with support for Nitrome Touchy.

Nitrome Touchy version
On April 5th, 2013, B.C. Bow Contest was made Nitrome Touchy compatible for up to two players. The bows and arrows of the yellow and green cavemen, as well as all other characters, are controlled with an arrow on the screen of the device. The arrow on the screen can be pulled back, resulting in the character pulling pack the arrow on the game screen. When the device is tilted, this will make the character on the game screen tilt the bow and arrow. There are only six positions in which the arrow can be in on the device screen. Weapons can also be selected from the device screen.

In multiplayer mode, the weapon setup screen is also accessible from the device. Both players can use the same device or separate ones. However, no matter what character player one or two decides to choose, their bow and arrow will always be yellow.

Trivia

 * B.C. is based on the abbreviation Before Christ (the game's setting) and Bow Contest (what the game is about), which included prehistoric times. It is now officially called Before Common Era or B.C.E.
 * The music for Bow Contest is the same as the music in Parasite, just played with different instruments.
 * The banana arrow and mine arrow are the the exact same sprites from the game Mutiny.
 * There is a glitch in the game when Nitrome.com 1.5 was around. If the player pulls the mouse to a point just above the left side of the bottom of the screen, they will hit the arrow.

B.C. Bow Contest