SPELL-OR-STARVE TIPS:

If you're a good scrabble player this could be the game for you!

Points are accumulated based on the length of the words made. Point values are:

• 1 letter word = 1
• 2 letter word = 2
• 3 letter word = 3
• 4 letter word = 8
• 5 letter word = 15
• 6 letter word = 18
• 7 letter word = 28
• 8 letter word = 40

The instructions say "the longer the word the more points you get". But words with 9 letters or more won't work. *shrug* If the word is acceptable the letters will light up green. If not, the letters will be yellow. You might be surprised at the words that will and won't work. There are no extra points for using Neopian words in this game.

A 5 letter word is worth a lot more than a 4 letter word, but a 6 letter word isn't worth much more than a five letter word. So if you have an "s" that can turn a 4 letter word into a 5 letter word it will earn you more points than if you used it to turn a 5 letter word into a 6 letter word.

Start by playing on the medium mode. Try to make an 8 letter word using the bonus letter. The bonus letter will multiply the entire point value of the word you make with it. The multiplier is x2 for the first 3 levels and x3 for the last 2 levels. So if you make an 8 letter word it will be worth 80 for levels 1,2,and 3 and it will be worth 120 for levels 4 and 5. Making the best point value word you can with the bonus letter is the most important thing to concentrate on. There's a blank letter which you can use as any letter you choose - it can be very handy to help make those 8 letter words. There's also a "flashing" letter which can be useful at times but if you wait for it to change to the letter you need it usually doesn't. Sometimes its better to just get rid of it. If you can't see any good word possibilities rotating the letters can sometimes improve the layout. Making whatever word you can and then rotating is another way to change things around. When I play I rotate the board constantly - I find that viewing the letters from different angles helps to find those elusive 8 letter words.

If you get lucky there will be an 8 letter word using the bonus letter just waiting to be made, as shown on the above example. This doesn't happen very often. You almost always have to make other words to get the letters in position to make the longer words. Getting the hang of manipulating the letters so they end up where you want them when you're trying to set up an 8 letter word is probably the trickiest part of the game - it takes a lot of practice. If you have a 5 letter word you can often turn it into an 8 letter word - an "ing" ending works very well. Sometimes you have to bring letters in from across the board to complete the word you want. To do this you have to make other words to move the letters around to where you want them.

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In the above example (playing on "medium") I made 2 smaller words ("web" and "foot") to get the letters in position to make the 8 letter word using the bonus letter. I didn't have to use the blank so there's a good possibility of making another 8 letter word later.

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The point requirements to open the door and advance to the next level on the medium mode are: level 1 = 96 level 2 = 105 level 3 = 115 level 4 = 125 level 5 = 140 There's a bonus of 200 if you open the door on level 5 If you can't make 8 letter words just make the best words you can. Its possible to complete the medium mode using words no longer than 5 or 6 letters and still score over 1000. To do this you have to make as many 5 & 6 letter words as you can - try not to "waste" too many letters making shorter words. Unlike word pyramid, you dont get any more letters so you have to make the best possible use of the ones you have. If you make an 8 letter word using the bonus letter on all 5 levels and a few extra 7 & 8 letter words its possible to score around 1500 on the medium mode. When you can consistently score 1100+ on the medium mode, you are ready to move up to the hard mode. The point requirements to open the door and advance to the next level on the hard mode are: level 1 = 200 level 2 = 220 level 3 = 245 level 4 = 275 level 5 = 300 Theres a bonus of 300 if you open the door on level 5 You can get by with 5 & 6 letter words for the first 3 levels, but by the time you get to levels 4 & 5 you pretty well have to make at least a 7 letter word with the bonus letter. To get the higher scores you need to use the bonus letter to make 8 letter words on all 5 levels and then as many more additiomal 7 & 8 letter words as possible. In the above example Ive done as much as I can with level 1. The word list on the right of the board has scrolled up so you can't see I had to make a couple of words in order to position the letters to make "expelled" using the bonus letter. After that I was able to make 3 more 8 letter words without using up a lot of additional letters to set them up. Note that "ing" endings are excellent for making 8 letter words. In case you were wondering, "vo" isn't in the dictionary for the neopets word games. The letter mix is different every time and some boards are a lot better than others. I would guess the maximum possible achievable score would be somewhere between 2200 - 2300 but the chances of ever getting 5 consecutive boards that could produce that kind of score would probably be about the same as the chances of getting a paint brush from the fruit machine 5 times in a row. I finally broke 2100 after playing a LOT of games. I took a screen shot 'cause I don't think I'll ever break 2200. It gets VERY difficult to improve your score when you get over 2000. Despite the fact that scores in the 2300 range are pretty well impossible, you will sometimes see scores like that or higher on the hiscore table - how do they do it? I don't know and don't care because it definitely involves some form of cheating. I hope you found this guide helpful. If you have any comments or suggestions just send ketale a neomail.