5 Tips for Getting Difficult Game Avatars

Some of the trickier game avatars will require hours of practice. I know it’s hard to find time between real life, chatting on the boards, and enjoying time with your guildies, but it’s important to carve out the time and exert the effort if you really want the harder game avs. A lot of players tend to write off difficult games like Petpet Sitter and Extreme Herder as unattainable because the scores are astronomical, but if you practice hard and dedicate the effort, you’ll get them eventually.

For example, hours and hours of dedication every day helped me finally win Ice Cream Machine because I had time to develop my best methods for playing. I memorized each level, tried different strategies, and established a familiarity with the game that I needed to finally get that avatar score. It took at least a couple of months of practice every night to learn the levels and understand the nuances of the game, like how many points I needed in the earlier levels to ensure I could achieve the avatar score in the later levels, how to maximize my score, and the best methods to use to make sure I had as many lives as possible. Also, as much as I don’t want to admit it, some of these games require a mix of skill and luck, so the more you play, the more likely you’ll get lucky.

2. Read and memorize every guide available for your game.

Reading Jellyneo’s guides are key to understanding key strategies for your game, but I’ve found the most useful hidden gems of advice from player guides on petpages. Don’t get me wrong; Jellyneo guides are an incredible resource and I’ve used them to get many game avatars, like Grand Theft Ummagine and all the Neoquest avs, but the best advice to finally get that avatar score often comes from the dedicated players who have spent hours of their time on Neopets learning the ins-and-outs of the game. I would have never been able to get Raiders of Maraqua without awesome user guides that broke down specific aspects of the game, and a player’s guide to Volcano Run II has improved my score significantly over the past month.

Player’s guides provide a unique insight into the user experience of the game. They offer advice that you won’t find on Neopets or any other partner site because the insight is coming straight from those who play the game. You can’t get more expertise than that! The best part about reading multiple guides are the many strategies you can absorb. Try them all out while you’re practicing your game and see what works best for you.

3. Learn your best skills and take advantage of them.

Every player has a different approach to solving challenges, so find what your skills are and work with them. Some games will come easier to you depending on your skillsets, and you can use this to your advantage! For instance, some people view Faerie Bubbles or Destruct-O-Match as easy avatars because they’re great at solving puzzles. However, some people might consider puzzle avatars like these impossible, but their reflexes make Ice Cream Machine and Petpet Sitter look like cake. If you’re better at puzzles but have slower reflexes, try practicing puzzle games you’re more comfortable with in a way that develops your reflexes.

For example, I tend to be better at strategic puzzle games, but I have average (well, let’s be honest: poor) reflexes. To improve my reflexes, I practiced Destruct-O-Match and tried to clear levels as quickly as possible. This might be a strange strategy, but I actually improved my reflexes by playing a game I was already decent at in a new way. I forced my brain to rethink how it approached puzzle games, but I was still in an environment where I felt comfortable. This way, when I started practicing games that required quick reaction times like Snowroller and Hungry Skeith, I started thinking about them as puzzle games rather than reflex games. This improved my reaction time dramatically.

4. Develop your own strategies.

When you’re reading all the guides and trying out different approaches to maximizing your high score, not every method will work for you. Some players will suggest you count potatoes in groups of four when playing Extreme Potato Counter, but if you’re like me and you have trouble doing simple arithmetic in your head, that method isn’t going to work. However, you could try counting the potatoes in twos if that’s easier for you, or you could count them until you get to 10, make a note, and restart your counting from there.

On my quest to have every game avatar, I’ve found that a hybrid of different strategies usually works best for me. Every gamer is different, and therefore every approach to gaming will be unique. With Extreme Potato Counter, for example, I’ve improved my score by over 100 points by counting potatoes in twos and avoiding looking at the middle of the screen, only counting the potatoes as they fly in from the sides of the screen. This is a combination of strategies I’ve picked up from a handful of different guides, and I’ve merged them into a method that has shown significant progress for me.

Of course, there are some undeniably helpful methods that will improve your score. Pay attention to the skills you identified, read as much as possible about the game, and find an approach that works for you.

5. Focus on one game at a time.

This might be tricky for some of you who struggle with dedicating that valuable time to practicing difficult games (which is totally understandable! I know we’re all busy). I find that focusing on a single game at a time forces me to learn as much as possible about the game, narrow down my distractions, and build the confidence to go for that seemingly impossible game avatar. I know it sounds cheesy, but the more confident you feel, the more likely you are to get that high score! It’s simply the quickest way to getting the game avatar I want. Spreading yourself too thin is the worst thing you can do for yourself! If you focus on a single goal, you’ll find that it seems much more achievable.

I hope these tips help you on your quest to get your favorite game avatars! Good luck!