Obstacles and Gimmicks are various objects and features that change how puzzles are completed or hinder the players progress in Toro and Friends: Onsen Town. Obstacles can usually be dealt with by using Booster Items or clearing fruit near them, but some of them cannot be cleared at all. Gimmicks and items tend to add variety to the puzzles, and often are included in the puzzle clear requirements.
List of Items and Gimmicks[]
Chestnuts: Nuts that act similarly to fruit and usually must be cleared as one of the goals of the puzzle. They can be cleared by clearing fruit near them, or by using Boosters (note that Rocket-Bombs are stopped in their usual path of destruction when they destroy or damage a Chestnut). Sometimes they can be seen covered with various layers of protection: multiple lines of fruit must be cleared next to them to clear these Chestnuts. A Rainbow Star can be used on Chestnuts, and it will clear or damage all Chestnuts in the puzzle.
Golden Cat Plate: Golden Cat Plates are always a part of the requirements for beating the puzzle. Whenever they appear, they are always hidden under Grass, which are set under fruit and can be removed by clearing fruit above them, thus revealing the Golden Cat Plate underneath. Golden Cat Plates come in various sizes. Sometimes Grass can be thicker than usual, and not only can they not be seen through, they require two clears of fruit on top of them to clear.
Ducks: Ducks are always a requirement of the puzzle when they appear. They fall down when fruit or obstacles beneath them are cleared, and they must reach the bottom of the board to clear them.
Bubbles: Bubbles are usually needed to be cleared to beat the puzzle whenever they appear; sometimes they can be a part of the Sub Goal. They appear under fruit, and fruit must be cleared above them to get rid of them. If no Bubbles are cleared within a turn, they begin to multiple by one. Sometimes they require two clears of fruit above them to be fully removed.
Webs: Webs act just like Bubbles, but they appear on top of fruit, and limit the fruits movement when on them. While they are usually a requirement of the puzzle like Bubbles, sometimes they instead act as an obstacle.
Clay Pipes: Teleports anything that drops into them to another Clay Pipe emitting light of the same color. There are three colors of Clay Pipes, so if there are only six Clay Pipes it will be easy to tell where the Clay Pipes lead, although occasionally more than six Clay Pipes may appear in a puzzle so there will be multiple Clay Pipes that use the same color. In this instance, the player must closely examine where the fruit ends up when they fall into a Clay Pipe to determine which Clay Pipes lead where.
Lanterns: Lanterns are difficult gimmicks to deal with, as they require three hits by explosive Boosters to clear. They first appear with grass and stones covering them: one hit knocks off the grass, the second hets rid of the stones and lights the Lantern, and the last collects the Lantern and removes it from the board. They can serve as a requirement, a Sub Goal, or just an obstacle.
Pop Capsules: A capsule machine that had a chance of releasing the displayed item on it when fruit beneath it is removed. The displayed item can be anything from Chestnuts, Boosters, or even Lanterns. They usually drop random fruit until the displayed item is dropped. Often, a particular fruite will be labeled on the Pop Capsules, and that fruit won't spawn on the puzzle board except from out of the Pop Capsules.
List of Obstacles[]
Wooden Crates: Wood boxes that obstruct the playing field. They can be cleared by matching fruit near them or with Booster Items. Sometimes they are a requirement of the puzzle, and sometimes they can be seen boarded up, which require multiple clears near them to fully destroy. They can have up to four boards; each extra board requires one clear near the Wooden Box to break.
Safety Bars: Walls that block fruit from being moved through them. Fruit can still be matched through the Safety Bars, however. They can only be destroyed with Booster items. A variant of them, called Brick Walls, cannot be destroyed at all.
Ropes: Ropes are set on top of fruit and occasionally Boosters to restrict their movement and use. They can be destroyed if the fruit strapped under the rope is a part of a set of cleared fruit, or with Boosters. Sometimes items can be strapped with two Ropes which require two clears for them to be destroyed.
Rivers: Rivers flow through the play area, and move items along them one space every turn.
Wind: While fruit and items usually drop toward the bottom of the play area, Wind will make them drop towards the direction it is pointing.