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Neopia's Fill in the Blank News Source | 29th day of Running, Yr 26
The Neopian Times Week 146 > Articles > Good Games For Beginners

Good Games For Beginners

by katarina320

GAMES ROOM - Many newbies get discouraged because they can’t get any NP. The Tombola Man seems to be giving out nothing but volcanic rocks-fun the first time, but not worth much. Coltzan just gives out burnt grackle bugs, or, you hear lot of shrieks in the distance. That’s not doing you much good, is it? No, not really. The secret is, freebies aren’t the best way to make money. They’re the best way to save money, and sometimes you get cool prizes, like a codestone or a faerie. But the hardest thing to do is break 1,000. Once you have 1,000 Neopoints, everything will get easier. At least, you will feel like things are getting easier.

To get your first one thousand, you need to play games. That’s right, lots and lots of games. (if you’re so new you don’t know how to find the games, look to the yellow sidebar. Click the thing that says “Games.” Easy, huh?) But don’t play games that don’t give you many points, or you have to pay to play. Games like Volcano Run may be lots of fun, and you can play them for fun, certainly, but if you’re trying to make some quick money, Volcano Run is not the way to go. I’m going to give you a list of what I think are the five best quick, easy, free games, and some quick tips for how to play them well (not good enough to get a trophy, but still pretty good). If you play some other games (which you should) you may find one game that you are particularly good at. Play that game, definitely!

Meerca Chase is a fun, easy game where you are a Meerca trying to get neggs. You use the arrow keys to navigate, but you can’t hit your tail, the walls, or any red neggs. If you start out playing easy games, you get three points for every yellow negg (yellow neggs are worth one point, the easy game multiplies everything by three-the game itself has a list of all of the other neggs, so I won’t go into that here). If you do medium, each negg’s worth is multiplied by five. On hard, everything is times eight. Yes, eight! However, hard, really is hard, until you get used to it.

You can play each game three times a day. When you’re just starting out, I’d recommend playing easy games for about five days, or until you think you can handle moving the Meerca around. Once you’re to that stage, start playing two easy games and one medium every day. As soon as you get as good at the medium games as you were at easy games, play two medium games and one easy. Once you’re absolutely confident about medium difficulty, try two mediums and a hard. At first, the hard version will seem impossible, but it’s not! After a week or two of playing, it’ll seem a lot slower than when you first started. On your first hard game, though, be prepared to crash into a wall, again… and again… and again…

Part of Meerca Chase is luck. If you get a Fish Negg, you’re very lucky, because it’s worth 150 points on the easy game, and 400 on hard! If you see a Fish Negg, try to find the best way to get it, so you can continue playing after you’ve grabbed it. If it’s in a corner or surrounded by red neggs, make sure that before hitting something, you get the Fish Negg! That way, even though your game is over, you should still have a sizable amount of points.

Dubloon Disaster is a medium difficulty game, but don’t worry about that. If you know what you’re doing, it’s pretty easy, and you can get a lot of points from this game, because for every 100 points you score, you get 600! That means, even if you only score a 25, you get 120 points! So, think you want to play Dubloon Disaster? Well, here we go…

First thing’s first. You’re a Krawk named Dorak, who’s looking for some treasure in the waters around Krawk Island-specifically, dubloons. You’ll see one as soon as you start. It will probably be a bronze color, but if you’re lucky it’ll be silver. If you’re really lucky, it’ll be gold! Once again, the game tells you how many points each Dubloon is worth. Dubloon Disaster, however, doesn’t have different levels of difficulty, so everything is exactly what is says it’s worth.

Now, when I first started playing this game, I saw the homing mines and I panicked. They just kept following me around-little black and red spiky balls of DEATH. I didn’t know how to get rid of them. They just followed me around, getting closer and closer until… Two of them hit each other, and they both disappeared! To get rid of the homing mines, you need at least two of them. Every time you collect a dubloon, you get another dubloon, and a homing mine. Try to get two dubloons, then have the two mines blow each other up. To do this, you need to swim around, getting them very close to each other. When they touch, if your sound is on, you will hear a “Bang!” sort of noise. When you hear this noise, your screen will be cleared and you can grab some more dubloons.

One thing I noticed is that on my older computer, when I have more than three mines the whole game moves more slowly. If you have an older computer, chances are that the more mines you have, the slower the game will move, and this will be aggravating. Dorak will sometimes shoot forward, going too far, too fast, and hit a mine. Don’t worry about the walls in this game, though! They won’t end your game instantly. Try to move Dorak cautiously, but not so slowly that a mine can get him. Note that mines that are close to you will move towards you faster.

In this game, the “Fish Negg” is any golden dubloon, or the silver one with a small skull and crossbones design on it. Be careful when getting these, but… If you see the dubloon that’s gold with a silver coin inside of it, get it. If you get that dubloon and then die the next second, you will still win 1,000 points from this game (1,000 is the maximum. The gold and silver coin is worth 200, and 200 times 600 is 1,200, but you will only get 1,000).

Ultimate Bullseye is another medium game. In this game, you control a little Turtum, adjusting the direction and power that you will shoot your arrows. The goal is to get your arrows to hit the target, preferably in the bullseye, which is the smallest circle in the center. If you get a bullseye, you get 10 points and a special option, like Punchbag Bob. (The target will be replaced by Punchbag Bob, and if you shoot the apple on his head you get 20 points!)

If there is one thing you shouldn’t do, it’s aim the arrow-shooter straight up or straight down. Straight down and your arrow plummets into the ground. Straight up and you may never see that arrow again. Also, if you press the space bar (the longer you press, the more power you get) for too long, it will go back down. As soon as you let go of the space bar, the arrow will fly, whether you had enough power (or too much) or not.

Ultimate Bullseye is even more about luck than the other two games. It’s kind of hard to gauge how hard or high you need to shoot the arrow to hit the target. After you’ve played enough times, you will see targets in familiar positions (the screen is only so big, after all) and then it’ll be a little bit easier. The best thing to do is to get a bullseye on the last turn, because then you get an extra turn.

This game doesn’t have anything special or worth more than anything else, unless you count the different rings on the target. However, certain bullseyes are better than others. If you get the one where the bullseye gets bigger, smaller, bigger, smaller, and so on, hitting the bullseye is only worth 10 points. If you get the flaming hoop, and get your arrow through the hoop and onto the target, whatever you hit on the target will be worth twice more than it normally is. Punchbag Bob with his apple is a good one, too. Playing Ultimate Bullseye all three times, and getting a score of around 35 or higher each game, will get you around 1,000 points total. It will take a while to get things higher than ten or twenty, at first. But don’t be discouraged, though you may not realize it, every time you play you’re getting a little bit better.

Kiko Match II is a very good game, but it is hard. This game would be easier for someone who has been playing Neopets for around a week. In Kiko Match II, you get a screen with little squares on it. Behind each square is a picture of a Kiko, and your goal is to get all of the matching Kikos (it’s just like the game Memory). Each round is timed, and sometimes it’s hard to remember where Kikos that match are, but it’s well worth it. If you can finish all of the rounds (there are thirteen) you will probably get 1,000 points. Playing this game three times, and completing it all three times, will get you 3,000 points. Sounding good? Of course, when you start out, you probably won’t be able to finish.

The first round is very easy. Four spaces, two pairs. As the rounds go by, more choices are added. Different colors of Kikos, Kikos in different poses, Kikos of the same color or pose, but with different backgrounds (their color, pose, and background do not affect how many points they’re worth. Each pair is worth the same amount of points, though time bonuses can be helpful).

One way to do well at the game is to go about it systematically. Memorize the first six or so Kikos, and then go through the whole board, looking for their matches. Then, memorize the next six or so Kikos, and repeat. Another way to go about this is to do is to come up with names for the Kikos-not names like Jimmy, of course. There is an angry red Kiko, for example. You could call him or her, Angry Red Kiko. When you’re playing, say the names of the Kikos as you get them, and then add their position.

“Angry Red Kiko, upper left corner. Thinking Pink Kiko, left border. Angry Red Kiko, left border. Ooh, look, a match!”

When you first start playing, as you are newbie (or new to this game), you will have a hard time. You won’t be familiar with the variations of the Kikos, and you’ll have a hard time memorizing them. This might not be the best game for an absolute newbie, but it is still a great way to make Neopoints, and just like with Ultimate Bullseye, you may not notice it, but every game you play you will get better. You will start to recognize the different Kikos, and they will be easier to memorize. You’ll learn to click faster, and to avoid clicking the “X” to the side that ends your game instantly (it’s there to give you the option to stop, not to torture you).

Petpet Rescue is the final game. It’s not last because it’s the best way to earn Neopoints (there isn’t really an order to these), though, but it is pretty good. In this game you are a Scorchio named Samuel who is trying to save petpets from the evil Grarrl, Gargrall. To do this, you must venture through the mines. The levels are usually made of stone and lava. Stone you can walk on (it’s gray), lava you can’t (it’s red and orange). If you step into the lava or get hit by a boulder or a stalactite, you lose a life. When you’re all out of lives, the game is over. You can also pick up gems for extra points.

To play this game, you need to be able to react quickly. If you see a boulder or a stalactite coming, you need to be able to dodge it. One thing to be careful of is crossing the lava. Of course, to do this, you will need to get onto the logs that float in the lava. They are completely safe, until they run of the screen. You need to move from log to log to get to the other side, or pick up the petpets on the logs. When getting on a log, see if it’s close to floating past a falling stalactite. If it is, and it’s heading in the stalactite’s direction, you might want to wait for the next log, once the stalactite’s passed.

You should go for the petpets that are closest to the door (where you start each level) because then you won’t have to move out as far and face as many dangers. If you’re carrying a petpet and you die, in any way, the petpet will not be dropped where you died. It will go back to where it was, and you will have to go back to it to get it again. This can be pretty unpleasant if you get hit by a boulder right by the door. Remember, too, that if you take too long, you run out of time and lose a life, as each level is timed.

When you finish your game, remember to send your score! It’d be a shame to spend a while playing, do very well, and assume that your score will be automatically sent-it won’t. After you send your score, the Neopoints you earned will show up. (The “send score” screen will tell you how many Neopoints you’ll receive.) You can see them at the bottom of the yellow sidebar, underneath your username.

Once you’ve played all of these games three times, you should be making plenty of points to buy your pets toys and food! After buying important things like food (try the omelette first, though), deposit as many Neopoints as you want to in the bank, but remember to collect your interest, first! When you’re just starting out, don’t feel like you need to paint your pets. When your account is three days old, no one will expect you to have a Faerie Cybunny, or an Island Jetsam. Buying paint brushes and petpets is a great way to spend all of your money, and then you have to work hard to get it back. Instead, save up before you start buying things.

Note: You should also consider playing a sponsor game or two. They might not be the best games ever, in terms of payment or fun, but they do help Neopets stay free! And, play the Featured Game each day, because that game will give you double points!


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