for
www.neopets.comby Orlando C. Fernando
Version 2.0
Updated: April 22, 2001
This guide shows some tips, strategies from playing Neopet.com game challenges. This all started when I started playing on the neopets site just to send neomail and give game prizes to my younger cousin. It's the truth, I swear! :) Hopefully these tips will benefit other neopet members, both kids and parents trying to keep up with them. ;) I don't get into raising pets, trading cards, and most other aspects of the game. So they are beyond the scope of this guide (and my age ;) .
This guide assumes you are already familiar with becoming a neopets member and generally how to navigate through the different screens. This is meant to be a beginner/intermediate guide. There are various guilds in the neopet world (similar to game clans or mini chat groups), that have many other wonderful tips to tell if you become a guild member.
Special thanks to SailorSilver_[YouKnowWhoYouAre] for familiarizing me with the games and hypnotizing me into her neopet world!
UPDATE FROM 1.0: More game tips added, along with pictures; current high scores
updated; correction on "Faerie Quest" on Table of Contents.
Table of Contents
It's the latest in the kids' world of virtual fighting monsters and trading cards. This is sort of an on-line version of that. You basically start off with a pet and do various things around the world to feed and strengthen you pet, so you can kick butt vs. other members' pets and be the star of the site. Neopoints is the main money of the game which can be used to buy various items, new pets, invest in the Neodaq stock market, and more.
In the Games section are various challenges (you need Flash to play them). Some games involve using the mouse and clicking, others involve the keyboard. Various rules and help are available. In most games cases, you have 3 attempts per day to earn Neopoints by doing well in the games. After that, new points won't rack in until 24 hours pass. However, you can play for unlimited times to get higher and higher scores. When you master a game, you qualify for getting a trophy based on how other people did in your game. If you are in the Top 17 high scorers for that game in your day, you can get a trophy item.
Click Pet Central on the left then choose Trophies from the top. That shows your trophies (if any). From there, click on My Scores at the top to see your high scores and skill levels.
Mecca Chase is generally a snakes game in which you go all around the playfield collecting yellow balloons and any balloon that's not red (bad balloons) for points. Each time you get a new balloon, your tail gets bigger. You die when you hit a red balloon, hit the edges of the game window, or run into yourself.
Play the Medium Level- I have found this level to be the quickest to accumulate high scores without going crazy colliding into stuff.
Snake around the window- At any level, as your tail gets bigger, the action slows down. Take advantage of this to make larger paths around the screen. Even if your prize isn't far away, go around the screen one pass before coming back to get it. When you get even further into the game, don't just snake down the screen, make zig zags like a slithering snake, so your tail gets less out of the way when you get to the balloon. It will get easier and easier to meet your tail and run into it over time.
Secret Levels- The first one is by pressing the SHIFT key before you start your game (the game description even tells you that!). It's very hard to play because it's a little bit faster than the Hard level with an annoying twist - every time you get a balloon, your keys switch directions (left is right, right is left, etc.).
So how do you get the second secret level? At the game prep screen, instead of SHIFT, move your mouse around the upper right area of the window until it becomes a click icon (a finger in Internet Explorer). Click there then start the game. It's an INSANELY faster version of the Hard level! Good luck getting more than 4 or 5 balloons!
CURRENT HIGH SCORE: 912 points (Grand Master)
You try out different workout machines in order to increase your training level and help out your pet. There's several things not obvious here to get through the gym.
Working Out- The instructions tell you to pass your mouse back and forth rapidly along the button-looking circle. (Parents, this is game is a true test of Carpal Tunnel 101! ;) The circle is always blue when you start (meaning you're slow), but it will change color to green (good zone) or red (too fast; you might break the machine) after a few seconds. Go back and forth maybe about 4 or 5 times a second (go left and right 4 or 5 times). Concentrate on looking at the circle rather than the busy animals. What ultimately matters is that you are in the green when the timer ends. It doesn't seem to matter HOW LONG you've been in the green.
Collect Your Paycheck- If it tells you that you passed, DON'T pick your next machine immediately. Instead click the Collect Your Paycheck button. That's how you register with neopets that you passed that training exercise. Otherwise, you'll have to do it again. Do this for every machine that you pass in order to register each one.
Secret Machine- Just below the treadmill on the bottom right of the window, move your mouse around there until your pointer becomes a click icon (a finger in Internet Explorer). That's the track "machine". Pretty amusing watching the animal wonder around the gym. :)
You are a fairy in a platform game going from level to level getting the level key and exiting the level door. You use clouds and jumping to go up and down each level.
Clouds for blocking- Clouds are also very useful in blocking bad guys. If you set a cloud on the ground near the buffalo-animal, it can only run back the other direction. The spider-animal, however, will walk all over the cloud. To block him, trap him in a square area so it crawls all around the inside of the square forever. You can also use a cloud to block yourself in a narrow corner to prevent a passing spider from meeting you. The cloud can also block the fireball shooting animal. In level 2, fall down past where he is and rapidly make a cloud his direction. Yes, you CAN make clouds while falling. What you CAN'T do, however, is set a cloud when you're too close to a wall or an animal.
Dig out Loose Rocks- The light brown colored "square walls" are loose soil that you can dig out with your Cloud Remove key. You have to do it in Levels 1 and 2.
Points count, not levels- Each time you die, you lose a few points. If you lose points so badly or get into negatives, it's best to close the window and reopen the game (DON'T send scores!).
Passing the last buffalo (level 3)- A buffalo guards the exit door at the left half of the level. Wait 'til it comes toward the far left and (from a height) fall and steer right so you pass over the buffalo. Then dash quickly to the exit door on the right.
CURRENT HIGH SCORE: 24 points on level 4 (Beginner)
In this hilarious sounding game, you are a blue dinosaur-animal (not barney!) going around each maze collecting the level key then getting to the level exit. All kinds of things chase you while doing that.
Points count, not levels- Each time you die, you lose a few points. If you lose points so badly or get into negatives, it's best to close the window and reopen the game (DON'T choose quit!). Because of that , I found it best to rack up points starting in level 1. I find NO advantage to starting on level 5.
Master the keyboard! What gave me the most trouble in the beginning is the dang keyboard! Holding a direction down will make you move in that direction. But tapping the key once will move you one square...half of the time. Sometimes you have to tap it twice or hold it a bit longer. It requires a lot of patience!
Study patterns- The tree-things always move in square patterns, changing direction when they hit a wall or another animal. A few are very predictable in the 2nd level. The blue balls seem to change direction randomly when hitting walls. Both blue and brown balls always stop a short time before changing to a new direction. It gets difficult when there are several of them in a small space, you have to decide to wait and hope they go away, or make a mad dash across and take a risk!
Turnstiles- Use the revolving wooden doors (look like crosses) to trap a thing in a certain place. If you move it with a thing in it, it will move into the door too and appear on the opposite side, just like a real revolving door.
CURRENT HIGH SCORE: 879 Points on level 8 (Master)
It's just like the old Simon electronic game except with animals and on the Internet. Nothing new here we haven't grown up with.
Write them Down! Call it cheating if you want, but trust me, it's the best way to pass the 10-round level (unless you play with a friend). Write down the numbered circle of the animal that popped up. I like to use 1,2,3 for the top circles, then 4,5,6 for the bottom ones. Then just look at your paper quickly to click the circles. Remember, though, that you are timed, so you can't look at your paper forever! Don't bother with this on the 1st level (you can memorize 5 things!). But beyond that level, I suggest just memorizing the first 5 moves, then writing down the moves after that. Otherwise your paper will look too busy.
Picky! Picky! Sometimes, due to the slow Internet or your computer, it doesn't like you clicking the circles too fast, especially in the later levels when it slows down. And never click a circle twice "just to make sure it worked".
CURRENT HIGH SCORE: 26 Rounds Reached (Novice)
Cliffhanger is Hangman. Pick letters from the possible guesses. You pick a wrong letter, the walrus rides up the cliff. You pick too many wrong letters, the walrus bites the dust (or snow rather :). When you have enough letters to know what the puzzle solution is, type it in the space provided (type it all in lower case and without a period). Hopefully you win! Unlike most games, you can play this over and over in one day to earn neopoints. On the medium level, they give you less letters to guess from. This is tricky because the missing letters could be in the puzzle! On the hard level, you have even less letters to choose from - no vowels nor popular consonants like R or S.
Common Words Letters such as R, S, T, E, and A are very popular in words. If one word just has one blank, it's probably "I" or "A". Many puzzle solutions also had the words "THE", "YOU", "CAN", "WHAT", and "THAT". Sometimes you even get puzzles that repeat!
Neopet Names You may come across an unfinished word that makes no sense. What word can it be? It could be a Neopet name! How to find out? Open up a second neopet site window. On that window, do Create A Pet. Look through the different pet choices to see all their names. See what name would fill in that unfinished word. Another tip: Found the pet? Good. Look at the description for that pet. One time, the description for a pet WAS THE ANSWER TO THE WHOLE PUZZLE! When done, just close the window. Don't actually create the pet.
Cheater! Cheater! Really stuck on the hard level with a big word
with a few letters and it's not a Neopet word? Well, do this tip only if you
are really hard up for neocash and don't consider it cheating: open a new browser
window and go to this puzzle solver web site: (http://ull.chemistry.uakron.edu/jumble.html).
You can type in a word with question marks where you don't have letters. Click
on Crossword Puzzle below, then click the Solve It! button. It
will give you all the possible words it could be from a standard US English
dictionary. For example, if you have the word "C_NN_T", go to the
site and type "C?NN?T". When you run it, "CANNOT" should
be among the words it finds and probably will help solve your puzzle.
Alien Invasion is sort of like Space Invaders or Missile Command. To kill the invaders, you have to solve the multiplication problem on their ship. Click the ship you want to kill, type the answer then ENTER. Your gun will fire and automatically destroy them, even up close. I assume you all know your 12 multiplication times tables, so this won't be a big math lesson.
Start on Level 1 Level 1 will let you make the most possible kills in your game. Starting on later levels will make you miss out on the easier kills from previous levels.
Follow An Order Always try to take out the bottom 3 ships first, preferably from left to right. It's quicker to read from left to right and they are the closest threat to your destruction.
Fast Math After about Wave 15, multiplication by 13 comes up, then 14, etc.! Aaah, I didn't learn my 13 or 14 times tables! Actually, if it's multiplied by some number less than 10, you can follow this tip for the 11 through 19 multiplication tables: First, multiply the right hand side numbers like you normally do. The right side of the result will be the right side of the answer. Now take the left side of the result and add it to the multiplier. That new result will be the left side of your answer. There you go! Believe me, after much practice, it will become easy to do. For example, an invader approaches with a big fat belly of 14 X 9. First, multiply the right side. We know that 4 X 9 = 36. So the 6 is the right side of the answer. Now take the left side, 3, and add it to the multiplier, which is 9. That new result is 12. That's the left side of your answer. So the total answer is 12 (left side) 6 (right side) which is 126! Now type that "126" and ENTER fast to shoot 'em down to garbage!
CURRENT HIGH SCORE: 27000 on wave 18 (Beginner)
In this game of archery you guide an arrow "cannon" to shoot at targets, hopefully hitting the center for a bullseye. You control the angle (how high or low the cannon is) and the power before the cannon fires.
Aim Higher Than the Bullseye The general rule of gravity is that when you fire some object (called a trajectory) in the air, it will eventually curve and come back down to earth. So when adjusting the angle, draw an invisible line from the length of the cannon to the edge of the screen. You want to move that cannon so the line just passes near the top of the target. Gravity will make it fall and send it closer towards the bullseye.
High Power Shots For any target past the middle of the screen, I usually use a power of at least 4-6 tick marks on the power bar.
PICTURE GALLERY. Click on the following text to see screenshots of where to hit the bullseye from 6 different distance positions. Look at the angle and power used for each shot. [MEDIUM TARGET][FURTHER TARGET][STILL FURTHER TARGET][LOW END OF BULLSEYE][MEDIUM LOW TARGET]
CURRENT HIGH SCORE: 216 (5 Bullseyes; Beginner)
|
Highlight two or more same building color squares at a time to knock them down from the pile. Get higher combo points for knocking out many squares in one move. When you have a high enough score, you can go to the next level. Bonus points awarded for not having too many squares left at the end of the round (even if you SEND SCORE). Forget about lesser colors Make a decision early on as to which colored squares are the fewest on the board. Try to eliminate them to get the more popular color squares together. Before you destroy a pile, figure out if that will "break a link" between a row of similar colors or create a new link of similar colors, adding to the combo. When not to chain. Let's say you want to make a nice combo on purple squares. If there's at least one purple in each column, you may have a chance of connecting them across the rows. But if there's a column that doesn't have your color, you can't make a link across there. Just worry about destroying what you have before that row. Top it Off If you have pairs of similar squares that can't possibly make a combo with squares below it, destroy them.. Don't destroy bottom rows that will cause major upset on color chains that you are making. Look from the top and work your way below. And always think ahead where your higher squares will land after you eliminate lower ones. |
click to zoom. |
CURRENT HIGH SCORE: 656 (Master)
There's no guarantee if you get the item or not, but this what seems to work best for me so you have a decent chance: As soon as you enter the Money tree screen, rapidly click in the area where items should appear until you get the item clicked. Don't even waste time deciding where in that area to click. There's not even time to decide what item you want! If the web page fully comes up, it's already too late for you to click something and get it. Items get snatched VERY fast! It seems to favor people with high speed connections like cable modem and DSL.
You get higher interest rates.
So like me, you have accumulated neat items to give to other neofriends. You are so generous! Click Pet Central on the left then choose Your Items from the top. That shows your trophies (if any). From there, click on the item and a new window will pop up. Select Give to Neofriend from the pulldown menu, then you can pick the neofriend to give the item to. The next time that neofriend logs on, they'll receive word that they have new item(s).
Copyright 2001 by Orlando C. Fernando.
"Orio" koi baby neopet at top of page is copyright 2001 by Neopets.com.
This page is for personal use only. It may be openly distributed for nonprofit
in whole or part, but authorship must be credited.
