The Ultimate Guide to Itchy Invasion

Now, obviously what I’m talking about is none other than the game Itchy Invasion! And right here, sitting upon your computer screen, is a game guide made just for it. I’d consider myself pretty knowledgeable on Itchy Invasion.

But wait! Before you start blasting away those Petpetpet beasts, you’ve got to learn all about the game. “Well, sure,” you say. “I’ve already read the instructions.” Of course you could just proceed and start playing, but then what would the point of this article be? Maybe you’re a seasoned gamer who already knows the works but wants to review it all, or someone new who strives for a head start on things, or maybe even someone reading this because you’re bored out of your mind.

The Basics

The objective of the game, of course, is to get rid of all the Petpetpets scattered across your Petpets’ pelts. To do so, you aim your blaster at any Petpetpet within your screen and blast them away with the Pest-B-Gone stored in it, earning points as you do so. In each level you must get rid of a number of Petpetpets.

That’s not it, though. A green Pest-B-Gone meter is overhead your playing area. Each time you take a shot it lowers, no matter if you miss or hit. South to the Pest-B-Gone meter is the red Itch-O-Meter. It starts out empty. If you let any Petpetpets get away, the meter begins to build up.

If the Pest-B-Gone meter is empty, you lose the game. Opposite to that, if the Itch-O-Meter becomes full, you also lose. If your Pest-B-Gone meter starts to become dangerously low, a message saying “Running low on Ammo” pops up. Don’t ignore it!

The Controls

Actually, the controls in Itchy Invasion are extremely simple! About the only thing to do is to left-mouse click to trigger a shot. It’s as easy as pie.

The Power-Ups

Technically these aren’t power-ups, but they can be considered as them. Both are extremely crucial in gameplay. To activate them, you have to click on them as if they were regular Petpetpets.

Pink Robotic Petpetpet: This eliminates every single Petpetpet that is currently on your screen.

Green Robotic Petpetpet: This reloads your Slime Gun with Pest-B-Gone.

I can’t stress enough how important both are. Whenever a Pink Robotic Petpetpet appears, it always comes with a whole flood of Petpetpets, so make an effort to get it before it disappears and rack up a lot of points, not a lot of bars added to your Itch-O-Meter. If it comes with a low amount of Petpetpets, hover over it while the screen rolls until a good group of them appear. Always click the Pink Robotic Petpetpet at the last second to get the maximum effect.

The Green Robotic Petpetpet always seems to come just in time when the “Running low on Ammo” warning flashes. If you miss it, don’t panic and waste your last shots, especially if you’re in one of the later levels. Instead, wait until another one comes up.

The Scoring

Now, there are five different types of Petpetpets that you’ll see in the game. If you’re like me, you probably can’t pinpoint the Petpetpets just by their names in this list, so I’ve included their images along with them.

Blechy: x2 points.

Itchi: x4 points.

Zytch: x6 points.

Bumbluz: x8 points.

Mozito: x10 points.

Blechies, Itchis, and Zytchs are only on the ground. Bumbluzes and Mozitos are always hanging above on strands of Petpet hair, making them slightly more difficult. When low on ammo or having to choose between an increasing amount of Petpetpets appearing, practice so that you’ll recognize the higher point scoring ones and aim at them first.

The Levels

Ah, the levels, or “missions”. There are 6, each on a different Petpet. The levels get increasingly harder, with the games scrolling speed getting faster, more Petpetpets hanging around, and rising demands on how many Petpetpets you must blast through to advance. If you finish a level, a menu pops up with the Mission Report on how much of each Petpetpet you’ve successfully blasted.

Level 1 (Blechy, Itchi, Zytch): Noil. Blast away 25 Petpetpets to advance to the next mission.

Level 2 (Blechy, Itchi, Zytch): Warf. Blast away 28 Petpetpets to advance to the next mission.

Level 3 (Blechy, Itchi, Zytch, Bumbluz): Babaa. Blast away 30 Petpetpets to advance to the next mission.

Level 4 (Blechy, Itchi, Zytch, Bumbluz): Puppyblew. Blast away 35 Petpetpets to advance to the next mission.

Level 5 (Blechy, Itchi, Zytch, Bumbluz, Mozito): Meowclops. Blast away 38 Petpetpets to advance to the next mission.

Level 6 (Blechy, Itchi, Zytch, Bumbluz, Mozito): Faellie. Blast away 40 Petpetpets to advance to the next mission.

I’d consider Level 1 and 2 the “easy” levels. Both of them should be relatively similar with a minimal amount of Petpetpets that are all on the ground. With practice you can get through them in a snap.

Hitting Level 3 can be a bit of a jump. You might get frustrated in this level, but keep going. I consider Level 3 and 4 the “medium-hard levels”.

Level 5 and 6 rank “hard” compared to the rest. Level 5 is the hardest in my opinion, even harder than Level 6 (of course, things may turn out differently for you on it). Level 6 is the final level (cheers!) and the main thing about it is its alarming scroll speed. Just stick to it and keep an extremely close eye on your Pest-B-Gone and Itch-O-Meter, but don’t let that distract your eyes from the quickly appearing Petpetpets. If you get all the way to Level 6 in Itchy Invasion, then you're going to get at least 1,000 neopoints for your efforts.

The Bonuses

These little good nuggets are often overlooked. When the level is completed, as mentioned before, the Mission Report pops up. If you look through it carefully down to the side you see the amount of bonus points you’ve earned. There’s a maximum of 75 bonus points that can be gained each level. For each Petpetpet you miss, it lowers by five. This makes it all the more important to take on as many as you can. 450 bonus points can be earned throughout the whole game!

Tips

Here’s a whole list of tips for you I’ve collected through my many games of Itchy Invasion. Stick to them, and soon enough a bright gold trophy might be zooming away to your user lookup!

1. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. The most important tip. Practice helps you gain speed in moving the cursor around the rapidly fire at incoming Petpetpets, a crucial skill to the final levels. This makes the whole game go by faster, too. Practice makes perfect, as they say. Go and practice the several times a day if you really want to go for the gold (even past the max 3 limit!).

2. Don’t always pay attention to the Pest-B-Gone and Itch-O-Meter. They’re always at the corner of your eye, but mostly I focus on the part of the screen where I aim and blast. I know when my ammo’s low by the text that flashes there, anyways, and when a flood of Petpetpets get past my screen that’s when I look down to quickly check how I’m doing. Also, connecting to practicing, if you play enough you’ll start getting the hang of how many blasts you should take before you pause and wait for a Green Robotic Petpetpet. Nothing’s more frustrating than doing great with a high score, and suddenly shooting too much and by running out of ammo. This happens very often, especially in later levels.

3. Set goals for yourself once in a while. Say “I want to get every single Petpetpet for Levels 1 to 2” and then work on it. Once you’ve got that set, whenever you practice try extra hard to complete that. Soon enough Levels 1 and 2 will be easier than ever and you’ll earn more points from getting all the Petpetpets (I even set that goal for myself)! Keep taking it a notch higher and before you know it you’ll have really improved.

4. Shoot carefully to nab more than one Petpetpet with one shot. This really saves ammo throughout the entire game.

5. Remember that at times you’ll have to let Petpetpets go because you don’t have any ammo left. Getting every single one in the game is impossible (even more impossible then evidence that Jelly World exists! *shifty eyes*). Don’t try going for each Petpetpet unless you know you can probably get them all. Using a technique mentioned before, always blast the higher point-scoring Petpetpets first.

You finish blasting away the Petpetpets and emerge after wiping out all of them. You take off your helmet, still smiling after your accomplishment. As you maximize to normal size, you’re surprised as you find you’ve just been added into the High Score Table! Even better, now a couple of people are asking YOU for the tips and tricks of Itchy Invasion.

... This might not exactly happen, but I’m positive this guide has made you a better player on Itchy Invasion. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some Petpetpets to clear off.

Feel free to neomail me if you have any questions, comments, or anything else concerning this guide or Itchy Invasion :)