Freaked about Freaky Factory?: A Guide

Let's break it down into three categories: Introduction, Scoring, and Tips.

INTRODUCTION:

Basic introduction to the game:

In this game, you play a factory worker employed by Krelufun Industries. The factory has just sold a ton of cute little Neopet plushies. Not seeing a problem? Well, it turns out that they have sold too many, much more than the factory can produce! Now, whom did they call in to make all of the plushies? Why YOU, of course! And if you can't get them finished, you had better pick up a newspaper and skip right to the Help Wanted ads.

Now that you know the object of the game (to make as many of the plushies as you can), it would probably be a good idea to go over the basic game play.

To play this game, all you need is your mouse. No fiddling around with the keyboard for you! (Yay!)

When the game starts, you'll see blobs of liquid Kreludite floating across the top of the screen. This is when it's your time to shine. You need to click on the blobs at the right angles and make them fall into the correct vat. (Red blobs into the red vat, blue into the blue and so on) On the right hand of your screen, there is a picture of a coloured Neopet with a number over its fuzzy little head. The colour (red, blue, yellow, green, purple, orange or rainbow) corresponds to the colour plushie you need to make. The number corresponds to the number of that kind of plushie you need to make.

Example: On the screen, it is showing a red Poogle with a number one over its head. This means that you need to fill the red vat with enough Kreludite to make one Poogle.

Other important parts of the game include the clock, the mess meter, and the box on the bottom left of your screen.

The clock is your time limit. When the hand on the clock goes back up to the very top, your time is up and you lose the game. Awww. =(

The mess meter (otherwise known as that squiggly thermometer thingy at the top right of your screen) measures how much of a mess you've made. If you accidentally drop a blob, and it doesn't go into a vat, it will drop to the floor and your mess meter will start to fill. However, if you drop a blob and it hits a plushie, the plushie will turn to the colour of the blob.

Example: Red plushie on conveyor belt, hit by accident with yellow blob, turns yellow.

Also, if the runaway blob hits the Grundo Thief (more about him soon), he will stop pestering you and sneak back into the shadows.

Note: You will lose the game if your mess meter reaches full capacity. Nobody likes a messy factory worker!

The box on the bottom left of your screen (catchy name, eh?) shows you how many more plushies you need to make to win the level. Get that many done before time runs out, and you'll be headed of to a more challenging level.

Introduction to characters/special blobs:

There is one character that you need to watch out for. The Grundo Thief. -cue scary dramatic music- If you're not careful, that crafty little guy could end up undoing all of your hard work by stealing the plushies. He pops up randomly at the bottom of your screen near the conveyor belt. If you see him, don't worry; you don't have to just stand there helplessly as he steals your plushie. A quick bop on the head will send him away. (Click on him with your mouse.)

As in most games, there are different 'power-ups', some good, some... well, not so good. Here is a brief description of each:

Please note that they do not have official 'names'. This is just what I call them.

Speed-up blob: Speeds up your conveyor belt for a few seconds. Handy if you're running out of time and you need to get those last few plushies in. It is a purple blob with orange wings.

Slow-down blob: Opposite of the speedup blob, this blob will slow down the conveyor belt for a few seconds. It looks like an ice cube.

Glowing blob: This blob will upgrade all of the plushies on the conveyor belt. (Primary colours (red, blue, yellow) turn to secondary colours (purple, green, orange), secondary colours turn to rainbow.) Handy when there are a lot of plushies on the belt, because secondary and rainbow give more points then just primary. (More on scoring later.) It is a green glowing blob.

Angel blob: This nifty (yes, nifty) little blob will fill up whichever vat you drop it in to. Extremely handy if you need a certain colour of blobs, but none are coming. Looks like a white blob with a halo over it.

Clock blob: This blob will give you a bit more time. Very handy on faster, more challenging levels. It looks like the game clock, only smaller.

Clean-up blob: This blob will clean up a portion of the mess on your mess meter. It looks like a bar of soap.

Super blob: This is a great blob. It will fill all three vats to the top. It looks like a model of an atom.

Evil blob: They can be in any of the three colours (red, blue or yellow). They look similar to regular blobs, except that these ones have a sinister look on them. Do not click on them unless you want Kreludite subtracted from your vat, and mess added to the mess meter.

Huuuuuge blob: Once in a while (it's unusual but it happens), a massive blob will appear, taking up a lot of the screen. Just don't click it.

Now that you have a basic overview of game play, let's go on to scoring.

SCORING:

In this game, scoring is based on a number of things: the species of the plushies you create, their colour, and if you collected any bonuses.

Species scoring:

JubJubs: 1 point each

Poogles: 2 points each

Scorchios: 3 points each

Kaus: 4 points each

Chombies: 5 points each

Colour Scoring:

Red/Yellow/Blue Plushies: 1x Species score

Purple/Orange/Green Plushies: 2x Species Score

Rainbow Plushies: 3x Species Score

Angel/Evil: These are bonus colours, very hard to do as you need to drop an Angel or Evil blob on a plushie in the conveyor belt, but worth a lot of points.

Examples: A red Poogle would be worth 2 points, as Poogles are worth 2 points, and you multiply that by 1 because it is red.

A rainbow Chomby would be worth 15 points, as Chombies are worth 5 points, and you multiply that by 3 because it is rainbow.

Bonuses:

Time Remaining Bonus: Given if you have any time left at the end of the level.

Toys on Conveyor Belt Bonus: Given if you had any extra toys on the conveyor belt.

Toys in Queue: Given if you have any toys that are ready but were not yet on the conveyor belt. (Shown by the red dots on the tube leading to the conveyor belt turning green.)

Remaining Consecutive Bonus: You receive the consecutive bonus that would have come with the final toy you fully completed.

And now we move onto the best part: my personal hints and tips.

TIPS:

Sorry, but there are no known 'cheats' to use in this game to add more time or fill your vat or anything like that. You basically need to rely on your own fast fingers and quick thinking.

• Timing is everything. You'll need to play the game a few times to get the hang of it, believe me. Some blobs go very fast, and some very slow. Remember to keep in mind the blob's speed when trying to put it into a vat.
• Try not to overflow your vats. Blobs range in size from 1 to 6. Once you start playing you'll begin to see how much room you'll need for a certain blob, and won't overfill too often.
• Don't forget about the Grundo Thief! -shudders- Keep your eyes constantly moving, and bop him right when you see him.
• Just because you need a certain colour, doesn't mean that you abandon all other vats. Example: If you need a red Kau, and you're not seeing any red blobs, fill your blue and yellow vats while you wait. You never know, your next plushie could be a blue one, and you'd be all set!
• ALWAYS click on the time blob. It helps a lot.
• The glowing blob is very helpful if you have a lot of plushies on the belt. If there are toys in queue but not on the belt, try to wait until the last possible second to click it, when the toys in queue become toys on the conveyor belt.
• Aim the angel blob right, because it makes a LOT of mess. (Yuck.)
• Use your head. If you see a big blob coming, but it will make one unit of waste, it's still worth it to drop the blob. You'll have a full vat and a little bit of waste.
• On higher levels, you will start to see more of the secondary and rainbow colours. This makes it harder, because you need to fill multiple vats. (To make green, you need yellow and blue, etc.). Try to keep all of your vats full.
• Honestly, practise makes perfect. I know that you hate hearing that, but it really does. If you get frustrated, stop playing for a while. Play another game to loosen up, and then come back to it.

Still freaked about Freaky Factory? Of course you're not! Freaky Factory really is a fun game. I hope that this guide helps you, whether your quest is to get the super-cool avatar, a trophy, or just some extra Neopoints. So hop to it and get practicing!