Advert Attack: Ten Tips for Everyone

So you've been playing Advert Attack (AA) for a while now and still can't raise your score. Or maybe you're just starting out. At any rate whether you're quite familiar with the game already or you're just a beginner, I probably have a few tips to help get you closer to the finish line and the score you've been working so hard for.

First of all I'd like to say that AA is one of those games you actually do get better at if you practice. Believe me. If I can raise my score then so can you. Plus, one great thing to your advantage is that this game takes almost no skill whatsoever. Basically if you can click a mouse then you can play this game. In fact, most of the tips that I have compiled will most likely only help you to improve upon what you are already doing. In AA even a little improvement can drastically increase your score.

For those of you who don't know, the idea of the game is to beat your opponent to the finish line. Your opponent moves at a constant rate. But in order for you to move you must click the yellow go button. After each round you get to see your current score and Dr. Sloth with his marketing team as they come up with new ways to make popups harder to close and more noticeable.

In order to raise your score you need speed, accuracy and a little bit of luck. All right, now that you have the idea, let's begin. The following tips will help to put you on the right path to becoming an Advert Attack Ace.

1. Count as you Click: It takes 30 clicks of the yellow go button to make it to the finish line. I don't know why but counting as you click increases your score. For example, when I first started playing AA my score after round one would be 80-82. But once I started to count the clicks my round one score increased to a steady range of 83-86. Note: only count the clicks of the go button. In later rounds if you miscount it's ok, because you're still in the ballpark. Just keep counting; you're probably only off by one or two clicks.

Counting is good for other things too. It helps you to judge whether or not to close certain popups. For example if I'm around click 28 I'll try not to close any popups at all. But if I'm at click 10 I'll close a popup if I think it has a high probability of getting in my way later especially if my cursor is near its close button already. This brings me to my next point.

2. Only close the popups that are in your way or will be in your way later. Don't close the ones that appear only in the top half of your screen because you don't have time to look at your progress anyway. Also if you get a popup on your game window that you think will be in your way later and your cursor is already near one of it's close buttons go ahead and close it.

3. Moving vs. Closing: So by now you know that you can move many of the popups out of your way rather than closing them. So, which is faster? You ask. Well, it depends. If you get a popup that is in your way and none of its close buttons are visible then the answer is easy. MOVE IT, you have no other choice. I generally find moving popups to the right or to the bottom is easiest. Be careful though, Popups are sticky and sometimes don't let go of your mouse.

In other situations it really depends on the popup and where it is. I generally prefer to close them though if the button is visible.

4. Size Matters: Choose the smallest window size. Remember you are trying to beat your opponent and the smaller the window the faster you move from point A to point B. But Zelda, when I use the smallest size I sometimes click off of the game window, so what do I do now? Well, silly, I've got you covered, so don't worry. Just make sure you pay attention to my tip about window placement.

5. Closing those Kyrii popups: You know the one with the really small close button that covers more than half of the window. If you've played this game for awhile you know that this popup is the hardest one to close because it�s close button is so small. Since this popup often gets in your way you have no choice but to get rid of it some how. So here's my strategy for the dreaded kyrii popup.

First of all, don't close it until it is in your way. Sometimes right after you close a money tree popup which is about the same size you'll get one of the Kyrii popups too. In this case it is a good idea to close the Kyrii popup, since your mouse is near the close button, unless you can see the go button and are at a really high count such as 27 or 28. One method to close a Kyrii popup is to move it over to the left just a tad. This gives you easier access to the close button. However, this takes a bit longer than just being able to click the x. However, I'm sure you know it is hard to accurately click the close button on this popup, especially when you are moving so fast. This is where my next tip, window placement comes in.

6. Window Placement: After awhile of playing the game I noticed that I would occasionally click off of the game window when I was going after one of the Kyrii popups. And if you have done this yourself you probably know that those lost few moments bringing the window back up can cost you the game. In order to rectify this I started to place my window in the very upper right hand corner of my monitor screen. I found that this not only kept me from clicking off of the window but it also made my clicks at the Kyrii popup close button more accurate. I find that the best window placement is far up into the right corner of the monitor. It is also helpful to move the window over to the right just far enough so you can no longer see the right-hand window border. Think of it as tucking the game window into place. Now when you get that sneaky little Kyrii, simply move your cursor over to the right as far as it will go and you not only can't click off of the window, but you will probably be able to close the Kyrii popup on your first attempt, which translates into time saved.

If you still click out of the game window then you may need to take a deep breath and slow down a bit. You can't just go around clicking wildly like an untrained meepit.

7. Mouse: The condition of your mouse can make or break you in this game. If you are using a roller ball mouse you must make sure that it is clean. I definitely recommend an optical mouse because it won't skip or become stuck like a roller mouse.

8. Comfort: Make sure you are comfortable and that you have a nice spot where you can move the mouse around quickly and easily. If there's clutter in your computer area and your hand goes bumping into things while you're trying to close a popup it slows you down. So clean up and give yourself plenty of elbow room.

9. Speed and Accuracy: Practice making accurate clicks quickly. You need to be fast. But moving quickly can oftentimes decrease the accuracy of your clicks. So you have to practice being both quick and accurate. Another important point about accuracy is that an inaccurate click can spawn more popups.

10. Warm up - play a game or two to loosen up. Also don't play for so long that you become all stiff again. Take a break now and then. Stand up, stretch a bit, flex your wrists around or even do something else for awhile.

Here are a few other things you probably already knew but I�ll just throw them in anyway to remind you and to make doubly sure. 1) Eliminate distractions. Turn off the TV and even the radio. You don't want your mind wandering to other things. 2) Some popups can be closed in multiple ways. Either by clicking an x at the top or by clicking a no or close button on the popup. It's generally faster to use the button your mouse pointer is closer to. 3) The timer indicates how long it takes for your opponent to beat you. So in order to win you have to be faster than the timer.

Before, I started using all of these tips my high score was consistently around 450 and rarely reached 500. But after getting the tips down, memorized and virtually second nature to me, I began steadily to do better. You really have to keep trying and you'll suddenly get enough points like magic. A little bit of luck comes into play as well. Always keep in mind that the point of the game is to be quick. So don�t waste time closing popups that aren�t in your way. And learn to be a good judge of what popups you should close and when.

Remember, try to have some fun and don't take it too seriously. It's just a game after all. However, when you finally do raise your score I highly recommend jumping up and down for joy and then after that go taunt all of your friends and once you've finally calmed down point them in the right direction with some of these tips.

News: Advert Attackers Anonymous meetings coming to a world near you.

P.s. If this guide helped you out drop me a line ;)

The Advert Attack tip TNT doesn't want you to know about -shifty eyes-

How to use the game code: You may have heard that there is a game code in AA and perhaps have tried it for yourself. Some of the other players may have advised you not to use this game code by saying it takes way too much time to type and it isn't really worth it anyway. Well, this is the last trick up my sleeve and I saved it for last because it takes quite a bit of explaining. So here it goes.

The code is nopopups and people who have told you it takes way too much time to type during the game are right. But here's the good news, you don't have to type it during the game, well at least not the whole thing. What?!? Well how do I use it then? That's simple. When you are at one of your breaks between rounds where you get to see Dr. Sloth and your current score type in nopopup. Then during a round when you want to use the code all you have to do is hit [s] and wa la just like magic the code works. Isn't that cool?

Q: So what does this code do anyway? I've used it before and it doesn't seem to help. The code simply takes all the popups that are currently visible and closes them. That's it. The code is only available once to you during the whole game so you have to use it wisely. I advise you not to use the code unless you have at least 450 points. But it would be even better if you used it when you had 500. Also, only use the code if you are in danger of losing. For instance, if you know you are at click 27 but your go button is hidden behind something hard to close like a kyrii and your time is just about up use it then and all the popups will close. Never use this code in the middle of a round because it won't keep you from getting more popups. It is always best to use it near the end of the round. You may still get a few more after you have used it but at this point hopefully they won't be in your way.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I close those white popups with no buttons on them?
   
   Look on the bottom of the popup, there is some text there that says "close this window" click on that text and the popup will close. See the example below...
   
   
   
   
2. I really love your guide and I was wondering if I may post a link to it on my guild/help site/pet page etc...?
   
   Yes, I am quite happy to allow you to post a link to my guide on your page. However, please ONLY post a link to my guide. Do not copy the guide in any part or whole and put it on your site. I worked very hard writing the guide and practiced playing for months and months to figure out this strategy. Also, if linking to this guide please let me know I'd love to take a look at your page. ^^
   
   
3. But, I'm making a petpage for game guides and I really, really wanna post your guide there? Can't I just copy and paste it? I'll even give you credit...
   
   No, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I'm sorry, but like I said before I worked VERY hard writing this quide and developing this strategy and I don't really like the idea of someone else taking it and putting it on there own page especially when I have created a place for it here. I am more than happy to allow you to post a link. But do no copy and paste this guide and place it on your own site or petpage.