Overcoming the Typing Terror Challenge

GAMESROOM - Are you getting annoyed by those darn Grundo robots invading your space? Frustrated by hearing the sound effects of those robots? (Well, in that case, I would turn your sound off, if I were you...) Are you tired of trying to become faster at tapping computer keys? Hold up.

Being fast at typing isn't the only skill you will need to destroy these robots and be rewarded with an avatar, or even a trophy. There is so much more you will need to know before overcoming the Typing Terror challenge. You could be making just one mistake, which could be a huge setback in achieving this unique avatar. This guide is not designed to 100% promise that you will achieve this avatar. Instead, it is designed to help you on the quest of accomplishing the goal of getting the avatar. Wouldn't it be just wonderful to add this avatar to your collection, so everyone can see how beast you are at this game? Well, what are you waiting for? Read on to discover my experience, and find out the secrets hidden within the Typing Terror challenge!

When I started playing this game, I completely gave up at first. So, I honestly don't blame you for getting discouraged or giving up. These Grundo robots are quite hard to get by! I have always had decent typing skills, so I thought acquiring this avatar would be pretty simple. But I was 110% wrong! I wasn't familiar with Typing Terror at all. I had never read any guides or even cared to look up any information on it. I just thought, "Oh, well, it should be easy! As long as you have good typing skills, right?" I had found this game extremely difficult the first few times of playing it. I began to think that I could never reach my goal of one day having this avatar in my collection. Yes, I surrendered after just a few tries of playing Typing Terror. I decided to never play the game again, but instead go for another game avatar.

Anyways, after realizing what I was doing was really stupid, I decided to try the game again a few months later. This time, I really wanted to work hard to reach my goal. (Not just reaching my goal of gaining this avatar, but also accomplish the goal of getting another avatar.) It took me hours of practicing. In fact, I even got a little frustrated. But, one of the side effects of playing this game is frustration, I discovered! So, to avoid the frustration of Typing Terror, I would suggest you take breaks in between playing. Maybe even take a nap while you're at it? But I did manage to get the avatar in just one day of practice, patience, determination, and motivation.

Just because I received the avatar in one day doesn't mean that it will be the same for you, of course! It is possible, but it might be different for everyone. It really depends on how much you want this spiffy avatar. (I clearly spent the whole day playing, which probably wasn't the best idea!) You've probably heard this saying way too much, but seriously, don't give up! Give this game some time.

3 Devious Robots

Now, there are three different types of Grundo robots. This is really crucial that you know exactly how these different types of robots work.

Well, the most common robot that will appear are those yellow futile ones. They pop up the most, but unfortunately they don't reward you with many points for defeating them. These robots only give you 5 points each. What a bummer, eh?

Ever see those red robots popping up on your screen? Well, that's the next robot I'm going to talk about! These ones give you 20 points, so a little bit more than those yellow robots, right? These red robots also have a little twist in them. The words appear upside down! No worries, you can still do it! Go for these ones before you try and destroy the yellow ones. It will help a lot. But if too many yellow robots are in your way, best thing to do is to just get rid of the yellow bots first, so you can quickly destroy the red ones.

See a spark on your computer screen? Yep. It must be the purple, broken robots! These robots seem kind of creepy, and a little bit scary, in my opinion. But at least the words aren't upside down! These broken robots give you a total of 100 points! These are the ones you definitely want to go for before any other robot! They reward the most points. But they don't pop up too often, unless luck has decided to play a role in the game. You should see at least 1 of these purple, broken robots in the first level. Maybe even 2 or 3 of them, if you're lucky.

5 Exhausting Levels

Level 1: This is the easiest level, obviously. That's why they call it Level 1. All you have to do is destroy 12 robots, and luckily the words are only 3 letters long. Sounds pretty easy, right? (By the end of this level, you should have at least 450-500 points.) If you don't, start over.

Level 2: Not much of a difference from level 1. There are 4 letters in each word, and you must defeat 14 robots to move on to the next level. If not, start over!

Level 3: This level speeds up a bit, so it may become more difficult. The words have 5 letters in them, and you need to overpower 16 robots.

Level 4: You need to vanquish 18 robots, ah! The robots just seem to keep coming and coming! Each word has 6 letters.

Level 5: This is the last and final level! You must be pretty happy, right? Well, if you have a pretty decent score. But the game isn't over yet. What's that, you say? The game isn't over? Why, of course it isn't. You do remember you have to face the most powerful robot of them all, the Clockwork Grundo Boss? Oh and by the way, each word is 7 letters long and you must win against 20 robots. The speed of the robots is extremely rapid in level 5, so be prepared to have the glass windows shattered if you don't type fast enough.

Clockwork Grundo Boss

This big old guy is exactly who you will see if you complete Level 5! In this bonus round (if you would like to call it that), you have 60 seconds to destroy the Clockwork Grundo Boss. Try not to get distracted by his freakishly large body parts! Just focus on the word, and only the word.

How exactly do I destroy him? Well, it isn't too complicated! All you have to do is type 25 8-letter words during that time period, and you're golden. You did it! You defeated all his little allies, and the master himself! *claps* But defeating the Clockwork Grundo Boss, does not guarantee that you will have earned the Typing Terror avatar! Accuracy also plays a part in defeating the boss. If you had perfect accuracy the whole game, you will get an extra 300 bonus points! Depending on how many lives you have left, you can either get 300 bonus points (3 lives), 200 bonus points (2 lives), or 100 bonus points (1 life). In total, you can receive 600 bonus points! (If everything is perfect. XD) Oh, and don't forget to send your score! Wouldn't it be a shame if you had the right amount of points, but forgot to send your score? So press that "send score" button!

The 4 Secrets

Yes. I have some deep, dark secrets I think everyone in Neopia should know about. (Well, maybe not everyone in Neopia.) Everything that I am about to tell you in this section really is the key to Typing Terror. Only continue if you are really interested in taking the time to read these insiders. (Hehe.) You look like you're ready, so I guess I'll begin now.

Luck: Believe it or not, luck actually plays a role in this game. If you get a lot of broken bots and red bots, you're more likely to get the avatar. But if you just don't seem to be hitting that luck spot, well, I don't really have good news for you. You will mostly be stuck with those annoying yellow bots, taking up your computer screen. Not really that fun, huh? That experience just makes me want to scream, "BRING ON THE BROKEN BOTS!!! I WANT LOTS OF POINTS!!" Well, you probably wouldn't go as crazy as I would if you weren't getting many broken bots/red bots. But hey, maybe luck will decide to join your side, instead of against it!

Speed: For all you Neopians with good typing skills, well, you probably wouldn't think speed would be as much as a problem for you, and you might be right. But for those who struggle with typing, well, that surely doesn't mean you can never achieve the Typing Terror avatar, right? Right. You can still achieve the avatar. It just might take a lot of practice to become faster at typing the words written on the bots. In that case, I would practice typing on Training mode. Speed is extremely important in this game, but it isn't the only factor that is. Just make sure to type at an appropriate speed, so you don't lose lives fast or mess up your accuracy.

Accuracy: Accuracy can give you a total of 200 bonus points at the end of each level, if you get 100% accuracy every time. When I used to get really frustrated at the game, I would just type a bunch of random keys, to make my accuracy go down on purpose. I would end up getting 63% accuracy or something like that. Now that is a really low percentage in this game! So please don't try this at home, on your computer, while playing Typing Terror. Not a good idea to take all your anger out on the game, especially if you are striving for the avatar! The lower your accuracy is, the less your score will be, and the less likely you will be to get the avatar. So, yes, accuracy is another important factor in this game. If you are getting at least 95% accuracy on each level, then you should be fine. No need to start over. But anything below that percentage, it might be best to quit.

Relaxation: Don't forget to relax while playing Typing Terror! I know sometimes this game just makes you want to yell, scream, throw your computer on the ground and stomp on it a few times, but just relax. If you're so tense that you can barely move a muscle, then you're going to lose concentration fast! If you lose concentration, then you're not going to perform that great when you're playing the game. Make sure to take a few deep breaths if needed, and remind yourself that you are better than those stinking Grundo robots! WAAAAY better!

Random Glitch

I think we are close to the end of this long adventure I have taken you on. But, there is one more thing I believe you should be aware of.

There is a glitch that could appear while you're playing Typing Terror, or even when you're not playing it; you just have the game screen up. One of the Grundo robots, could well, go on a rampage! He could get so furious at you for destroying all of his robot friends, that, well, I have difficulty saying this. But, he might try and get inside the control room to defeat you! No, no, not just by politely walking into the control room. I mean, like, throwing his entire robot body against the glass windows to try and break the glass!

You wouldn't want that, would you?

If this ever happens to you, my advice would be to quickly restart the game. The look on his face isn't so pleasant. He is probably just trying to frighten you!

I know this robot sometimes frightens me too. In fact, it was just the other day when I was taking a short break from playing Typing Terror. I got interrupted, so I began doing something else. Until, all of the sudden I hear this huge glass breaking sound slip into my ears! It wasn't the prettiest sound. I think I had a mini heart attack, actually. I looked onto the screen, and there that evil robot was, staring at me with devious eyes.

Oh, and then there is always that possibility where that glitch never occurs, ever, for some people.

Closing Summary

Typing Terror is a brutal game, but you can overcome this challenge if you just put your mind to it. With a positive mindset, you can come out of this game like a real champion: with neopoints and a pretty neat avatar.

You can also come out of this game with quite a skill, a skill of being able to destroy crazy, rampaging, Clockwork Grundo robots!

But if Typing Terror still hasn't worked out for you, well, that doesn't mean that you're a sore loser or anything. Of course not!

It just means that you're human, like each and every one of us.

One day those robots will get so exhausted from trying to stop you from destroying them that they will just surrender, and that avatar will finally be yours! Hah, maybe.

Credits

A big "thank you" goes out to all my wonderful friends! You have really encouraged me to enter this into the Neopian Times. I have received so many questions and people asking for my advice on Typing Terror. I really believe that this is why I created this guide; to share my knowledge, experience, and background information on this game. I really hope this guide helped! If it didn't, you can always go play some other game. Typing Terror is just one game out of the hundreds of games TNT has created. But either way, I wish you the best of luck!