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Your Groovy Guide to Extreme Potato Counter!


by babyazndragon

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MERIDELL - Extreme Potato Counter. The new, improved version of that old what's-its-name Potato Counter. If you're tired of counting those boring potatoes in straight rows and columns, tired of counting as fast as you can, only to be told you're wrong, tired of that yellow Kacheek potato farmer, then it's time for you to try EXTREME Potato Counter. It's a spiced up version of the old game. Extreme Potato Counter is radical, far out, and most importantly, groovy. Why should you try your hand at this awesome game? Besides the unlimited fun, you can also win the Extreme Potato Counter avatar if you manage to score 200 points or more. I have been trying for the avatar for awhile, but I thought I would take a break to share some of the basic tips for the game. Maybe you've started up the game, only to find the flying potatoes confusing and dizzying. Well, I'm here to help you become a totally tubular Extreme Potato Counter player, so listen up, dudes and dudettes!

The Basics

Potatoes of all shapes and sizes randomly enter the screen and fly around. Your job is to count all of the potatoes correctly. The number of potatoes you count equals your score for that round. For example, if you count 22 potatoes, then you earn 22 points. Keep getting the number of potatoes right, and you keep advancing to the next round. Get the number wrong, even by just one, and it's game over.

The Not-so-Basics

After a few rounds, the game gets harder. Instead of just potatoes flying by, you get husks of corn, purple eggplants, and carrots, just to name a few. The trick is to ignore these and concentrate on the potatoes themselves. It's not as hard as you may think, because the colors of the corn, eggplants, and carrots are distinctly different from the tan and brown colors of the potatoes. Another added difficulty as you advance in rounds is that the potatoes will move faster and faster and you will get more potatoes at a time.

I've found that the potatoes fly into the screen in one direction, and then disappear after they've reached the opposite side. Yes, the potatoes only fly in straight lines, no matter how fast they may be spinning. No curves, no doubling back, no crazy aerial paths. So, you ask, how can you make this work for you? Simple. Keep your eyes on the sides and just count the number of potatoes that come out. Attempting to count moving potatoes in the center of the screen is confusing as well as difficult. You are much better off just keeping your eyes on the sides, counting those potatoes, and ignoring them once they've moved to the center. I've also noted that potatoes only come out from the left, right, and bottom sides, so don't waste your time concentrating on the top.

Counting Tips

When you count in your head, the one-syllable numbers like "one, two, three" are obviously a lot easier and faster to recite than a number like "thirty-six." To make this work to your advantage, only count from one to ten. Every time you reach the number ten, make a mental note of it, and start over from one. That way, you can count a lot faster than if you had to say "twenty-two, twenty-three" in your head.

In the first couple of rounds, you will generally get about 10 to 15 potatoes. In subsequent rounds, the number climbs to around 20 to 30, and then 30 to 40, and keeps increasing.

If you are unsure, don't be afraid to make a reasonable guess. Any guess is better than no guess, even if you were playing with your Neopet and have no idea what the answer is. If in the last round, the answer was 25, then try guessing a number around that, or a littler higher. No matter how small of a chance there is, at least you have a chance if you type in a number, versus if you leave it blank. If you think that you missed one, don't be afraid to add one to your number. There's nothing worse than guessing 32, thinking that you probably should have added one because you thought you saw a potato that you forgot to count, and then finding out that the correct answer is 33.

Miscellaneous Tips

I've found that it's easier to play the game with the window on Fullscreen. That way, you won't have distractions like flashing ad banners and the like. You can devote all of your attention to counting potatoes. And the potatoes are larger and, therefore, harder to miss.

Another handy tip is to pace yourself. What I mean by this is, don't hurriedly click "Next Round" after you complete a round. Take some time to rest, think about something other than flying potatoes, and prepare yourself mentally for the next onslaught of potatoes. Remember, you don't need to start the next round right away. You can take as long as you want to breathe for a bit.

Don't be frightened if you start seeing potatoes every time you close your eyes, or you find yourself preferring potatoes for dinner to any other vegetable (especially corn, eggplants, and carrots). Even counting potatoes to help yourself fall asleep is perfectly normal. All this means is that you are well on your way to being an Extreme Potato Counter Grand Master!

With these tips to get you started in the game, I hope you can improve your score. Extreme Potato Counter is an awesome game, with endless opportunities for easy to make NP. The NP ratio for this game is terrific. For every 100 points you score, you earn yourself 700 NP. That means that for every single potato you count, you have just earned 7 NP! Even if you can only advance a few rounds, a score of 50 points will earn you a whopping 350 NP! And you can play this game three times every day! That's a possible 1050 NP per day! Even better, you don't need any special skills besides knowing how to count, and hey, any first grader can do that. So open up that window (in Fullscreen, remember) and get on your way to that high score! Oh, yeah!!

 
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