An Extreme Guide to Extreme Potato Counter

This is my guide for the awesome game called Extreme Potato Counter. Potatoes will fly across your screen in every direction, and you need to count them while they move! Now, even looking at the name can intimidate a player. I mean, it's EXTREME Potato Counter, not just the normal, run-of-the-mill Potato Counter. This game is controlled by an “extreme” Wocky sporting a Mohawk, sunglasses and, you guessed it, a potato sack (I hear it’s all the rage in Meridell; I’m not much of a fan, though. That stuff itches!).

Now you may think, “This game sounds a little too extreme for me, and I don’t think I will be able to reach avatar/trophy level for it…” *cough*… Well… you may very well be right! Just kidding, anyone can excel at the game; all you need is to work up good eye-(mind?) coordination, get a lot of practice, and have good estimating skills. I dove into this game hoping for an easy trophy and found it took more work than I thought.

Don’t be discouraged! Let us begin on our magical journey through the perilous land of flying potatoes, and other foreign objects, with:

The Main Idea: As stated in the description of the game, all one needs to do is type “how many [potatoes] you saw.” Overall, it is a simple game, though the difficulty level rapidly increases after the first, say, 3 to 5 levels. There is not much else to the game than this. Honestly.

The Not-So-Simple “Other” Idea: Now as you excel through the levels in the game, other objects will begin to fly across the screen. They appear like so: Carrots – Level 4, Corn – Level 5, Bigger Carrots and Corn in consecutive levels, Ummagine Fruit – Level 7. Also, there will be onions later! *eyes water*

The Counting: Now, the important part: Counting. It is a skill we’ve all developed from when we were wee, whiny babies (like the alliteration? I worked hard on that!). As you begin the game potatoes will fly across the screen at a relatively slow pace. Gradually this pace increases and so does the number of potatoes. The technique I use is to count the potatoes as soon as I see them come onto the screen. This I believe is the simplest and easiest way to count them, as one will not have to try to count a massive amount of potatoes all clumped in the center of the screen. I say the numbers out loud, and have developed my own “shorthand” way of saying them. As I get closer to the teens I try to keep the numbers to one syllable, such as “Len,” “Twel,” “Thirn,” “Fourn,” and so on and so forth. In the twenties I count normally, but very very quickly. Slurring your words helps a lot as you can say the numbers more quickly as the potatoes fly on the screen.

The Counting – Later Levels: As one progresses further into the game the potatoes fly across the screen much more quickly, and more and more of them will appear. Thus, I have developed a technique where I am able to keep track of two different numbers in my head at the same time. (I’m not insane, hear me out!) The main number is the number of potatoes easily counted as they come on the screen – The other, my mind trying to remember how many I missed. As you count, keep track of those potatoes that didn’t have time to make it into the bigger number, due to time constraints. As I progress, I often have one number, in the 30s-40s or 50s and a second ranging from 1 missed potato, up to 5 or 6. These numbers will be simply added together at the end of the level, and hopefully you will no longer miss potatoes! (It is hard to master, but the technique pays off). If you don’t want to do this, then count fast and guess!

HOW Many Are There?!?!?: Here I have tried to use my knowledge from my Potato Counting career to compile a list of how many potatoes you will encounter each level:

Level 1: 6 to 10 Potatoes – Always this range

Level 2: 9 to 15 Potatoes – Always this range

Level 3: 12 to 25 Potatoes – May vary by 1

Level 4: Anywhere from mid-teens to high twenties

Level 5: Similar to Level 4, not as likely to get a number in the “teens”

Level 6: Varies between low to mid twenties and mid to upper thirties

Level 7 – on: You figure it out for yourself!

This is only meant to be a general outline for beginner or intermediate players, as I have not yet perfected the range for the third to fifth level of the game – and I am never going to for the future levels. I am 100% certain about the first two, and about 92.7% sure about the third level.

Estimating: This is a major part in the game when you proceed into the later levels, because, let's face it, no one can always count all of those potatoes. With a lot of practice, you will get very good at estimating within one potato of the total count, which is what I tend to miss it by, sadly. There really is no advice I can give for this… Well, there is, I lied. What I do when I have lost count of my potatoes is I count as many more potatoes as I can until the end of the level. Then to my total number I add on an estimated amount of potatoes that I think I missed. That’s all you can do when they get too fast o.O…

A Pattern to the Madness: There are two different patterns that the game will follow. Basically you can call them the “low to mid” pattern and the “mid to high” pattern. As you may have guessed, this deals with how many potatoes you get! Now “low to mid” might seem appealing, but really you want the “mid to high.” Let me explain… or try to, at least:

Low to Mid: This pattern is where you get potato counts on the lower end of the spectrum. Why isn’t this good? It’s easier to count, but the game has certain target potato counts for the total at the end of every level. When you get to later in the game (potato count around 130-160) it needs to make up for the lack of potatoes, and Wham! You’re hit with 50+ potatoes! This is what I have found; it may be completely false, you never know. This pattern generally starts with a 6 or 7 count on the first level, and a low count on the second.

Mid to High: This pattern = good. You get nice, fairly predictable counts of potatoes which generally add to form the target number after every level. There shouldn’t be too many sudden increases, and it’s easier to handle since you are gradually getting higher numbers?! This pattern generally start with an 8, 9, or 10 count in the first level, and a number in the second level that will get you a total of around 20.

The Score: There is a very simple scoring system for this game. For every level you complete, the amount of potatoes counted is added to your total score! (For example, if you count 7 potatoes in the first level, and 11 in the second, you will have a score of 18) You’ll notice a pattern in the total scores, eventually, and it goes something like this:

Level 1: 6-10 points - usually in between.

Level 2: 15-25 points - normally high teens or low twenties.

Level 3: 30-40 something points - normally not thirty or low forties

Level 4: Mid 50s-66 points - not sure about the extremes, score will usually be somewhere in-between

Level 5: Anywhere from in the 70s up to the 90s

Level 6: Anywhere from the high 90s to almost 115

Level 7: Anywhere from around 110 to 140s

Level 8: Anywhere from 140s to the 180s

Level 9: Anywhere from 160s to 220s

Level 10: Anywhere from 200s to 280s

Level 11: If you get there… then you don’t need this guide!

I am not sure about the range for level 10 because I have never beaten it (once I got to 226 and then missed the next guess by 1 potato!) but the other score ranges are pretty accurate.

The Pay: Now I know I have all of your attention. As stated on the game’s page, you receive a whopping 700 NP for every 100 points! This is a very good game to do if you just want neopoints. A score 143 or greater is needed to get 1,000 NP a go, but once you have practiced enough, this should come relatively easily! Get 3,000 extra neopoints a day, in just a couple minutes!

That’s about it! I’ve tried to cover every single possible section that I could think about for this game. If you want a high score, or the avatar, then you will need practice, unfortunately. This is also a great game to play everyday for 3,000 neopoints!

I hope I have been able to help you in your quest to potato counting greatness. It is a challenging one, filled with flying vegetables, and probably other objects that can cause a great deal of cranial pain! (It’s not fun to be hit with a potato, just take my word on that)

Remember to have fun - it can get quite frustrating!