What To Do With The Crystal Neggs?

So, my fellow non-NC users, instead of moping over wearables that would languish in a safety deposit box never to be worn, I invite you to join me in this first Un-NC event- The Negg Games!

In this, our inaugural year, the event will be made up of the following games and events:

1. Neggles

Like skittles, but more fun. Line up the first ten Crystal Neggs in a standard triangle, one at the front to four at the back, take the day's new one and have at it! Don't worry about breaking the beautiful neggs, they're indestructible. (As tested by my boisterous pets.) Take it in turns with your pets to see who can be the first to knock all ten Crystal Neggs down and get a strike! For your baby pets, lay down some bumpers on either side to stop the unruly neggs disappearing forever away from the set course. For your older pets, make it harder by simply pulling them further away from their goal, increasing the chance of the dreaded 7-10 split.

2. Negg Shy

Set up your five favourite Neggs on posts and see who can be the first to knock one down. Again, the Crystal Neggs are very hard to break, so throw away. Assign each negg a score, and make some harder than others by gluing them ever so slightly to the post. What your pets don't know, can't hurt them! Again, pull your oldest pets back to make it harder for them, and make the games more fair for everyone to enjoy. To make it harder, try a few rounds blindfolded, or whilst hopping, or hovering, or standing on a post themselves. The possibilities are endless.

3. Negg Bobbing

It baffles me how, but the Crystal Neggs float, delicately bobbing at the top of the water, top point down, oddly enough. But this only serves to make the game harder! Set up a bucket of water, abandon a few neggs in it and challenge your pets to collect them all blindfolded and using only their mouths. Just don't tell Bart what you're doing, he's rather a jealous stall owner. I would recommend doing this on a sunny day, where it doesn't matter how wet you all get! If you're feeling adventurous, throw some prizes into the bowl when your pets aren't looking, and if you're feeling cruel, some tricks as well. Rotten Omelette, anyone?

5. Neggatelle

If you have a little more time to spare after the day's festival hunt, set up a neggatelle board. It doesn't take too much skill, all you need is a wooden board to start with. Firstly, you'll need to turn the top of the board into a point, either grab a saw and cut down, or take another board and glue it on. The point at the top will be the starting point for each game. Draw in sections at the bottom of the board to denote scores, of whatever value you choose. Make it hard with only one section worth 10 points, or make it easy and have 10 the smallest value. Once you have your goals set up, its time for the fun part. Grab a pet, a hammer and a bunch of nails and bang them into the board at will. The more random, the better. Now that the board has obstacles in it, prop it up against a handy tree and you're all set! Take a negg, drop it carefully in the top, and cross your fingers and toes as you watch it bounce down your lovely homemade board to a, hopefully large, score.

6. Negg Hunt

Well, how could we not? With such beautiful neggs that glint in the sunlight, even your youngest pet will be able to find their own Crystal Negg. May I suggest you leave this to the last day of the Festival of Neggs? That way, each pet may keep their own spoils, and you don't have them cluttering up your kitchen or living room. My pets know that their things stay in their rooms. For a fair game, assign each pet either a colour or style, so that your more boisterous pets don't find them all before your younger pets have even started looking.

7. Negg's Game

A twist on an old party favourite. Lay out all your neggs on a blanket, give your pets one minute, or more or less, to memorise all of them. Cover them, make your pets turn around, and remove one Crystal Negg. See who can be the first to identify the missing negg. Keep going, removing two, then three, then four neggs each time, until your pets

The beauty of these games is that they can get harder each day with each new negg. Your pet who can get one missing negg from eleven, may be beaten the next day by your pet who spots the new missing one immediately. You may have one pet who found their three neggs in under a minute, who can't find one in ten minutes the next day. Keep a scoreboard of each pet's score for each game, and award a winner at the end of the Festival.

Well, there you have it. Seven games to play with your pets this spring, with the beautiful Crystal Neggs that would otherwise have drifted unnoticed amongst the clutter in your safety deposit box. And you don't need to feel like you're missing out for not having access to NeoCash. Happy Festival, everyone!