Daily Dare Setback and Frustration Prevention Guide

But with all this, there are necessarily some... drawbacks. There's always a catch, isn't there? The catch isn't inherent in Daily Dare itself. It's actually more personal— it's the frustration that necessarily follows if you try to play a game you're not very good at. Especially if you're challenging AAA.

So here are some tips and strategies to help you deal with any frustration you may have, by thinking things out logically.

Determine which trophy you're aiming for.

There's nothing as bad as unnecessary frustration, so consider saving yourself the trouble of aiming for one of the bigger trophies if you know you won't have Internet access for a couple of days within the thirty days Daily Dare is going on. There are five different trophies to be had, and the top three trophies involve beating games on the day they're launched. (Go to the Daily Dare page, then "Rules" and then "Trophies" for more details.) You must also consider your schedule; there are many games that largely require luck. So don't expect you can finish up a challenge within fifteen minutes each day. Be prepared to devote a certain amount of time each day as necessary if you're going to make the commitment.

Assess your ability as a gamer.

Okay, you'll have to be honest for this one. Are you confident that you will have both the skill and determination to beat AAA every day, if that's what you're aiming for? If you're not very confident or if you're not very ambitious, considering checking your existing high score for the games you're being challenged to and just challenge Abigail if your score doesn't match or exceed AAA's already.

Determine your actual motive for participating.

What is your reason for playing? Are you just bored? Do you want an item for your gallery? Do you want new wearables? Do you want a trophy for your user lookup? Do you really care if the trophy is gold, silver, or bronze? Tailor your gameplay according to your motives and schedule. If you're a very busy person and you just want a trophy but don't really care about how it looks like, then find a weekend and just play all the games at once, only challenging Abigail each time. If you just want certain items, then you should find petpages that some very kind Neopians put up for you to see which prizes were given out each day. You can also decide what you want to do after you wait a couple of hours first. Give some time for other Neopians to play the game, and then check the Shop Wizard to see what the prizes are going for. If you're willing to part with your NP more than you're willing to get frustrated, then just buy the item from someone else.

Go to the Daily Dare board.

It's there for a reason, you know. Just look at navigation bar at top and click "Boards", then "Daily Dare". There are a lot of people in the same situation as you— whether you want to just tell someone you finally beat AAA's score after five hours of practice or if you want to let out some frustration how it's not going too well. Just remember to check if your question has already been asked (and answered) already. Also remember to remain courteous to other Neopians or they might ignore you. Now that would be bad, wouldn't it?

Find game guides.

Another advantage of visiting the Daily Dare board is the number of game guides you can find. Even if you're not a very social sort or if you just prefer to lurk instead of posting, this resource is always open to you. I almost guarantee that there will be at least one Neopian asking for a game guide or tips regardless of when you go on. You just won't have as much insight into a game you've barely touched, compared to someone who might be playing it every day. Sometimes the best way of getting a high score is extremely counterintuitive, so do yourself a favour and seek out these guides. Guides also help in that they explain whether getting a high score is based on luck, skill, or speed, for example. That may help you decide who you want to challenge for the day.

Figure out the scoring system.

If you are averse to game guides for some reason (e.g. you find them confusing), what you can always do is try and figure out the scoring system yourself. See what gives you the greatest number of points and see what hinders you. See what makes you lose the game every time, and think of ways of overcoming it.

Be brave and experiment.

Sometimes you'll find Neopians swearing by a certain strategy for a game and then five minutes later you'll find others who are equally convinced and sure of their own completely different strategies. Don't hesitant to play the first game or two recklessly just to test the limits and see how it works. Shenkuu Warrior, for example, has been rated one of the most difficult games. This is mainly due to the difficulty of aiming your grappling hook to the proper ledge since you have to overaim in order to reach where you want to go. If you're not too sure what I'm talking about when I mean "playing recklessly", try playing Shenkuu Warrior if you aren't familiar with it. Think outside the parameters of what you're given or of what you normally expect. In short, think outside the box.

Patience, grasshopper... cricket... cicada... where do they come up with this stuff?

The Buzzer Game is possibly considered as one of the most difficult games. Its rating definitely reflects that; it averages a whole 2.5 points above the average game rating. You may then wonder why this game is so formidable. It is because it requires... patience. Yup. There's basically no point in trying to play this game deftly or quickly unless you're going for a trophy or something. This is surely one of the cases where slow and steady wins the race. There are other games like that too, so just take a deep breath and go s-l-o-w-l-y. You'll save so much more time that way.

I know a lot of what I've said is only common sense, but sometimes you can get really caught up in the middle of a game. Maybe you finally managed to get a score, but your Internet connection was somehow disconnected. You might end up getting the dreaded red message telling you to close and open up your browser again. Or maybe you're just 15 points away from getting the coveted score and wham, you accidentally kick the power outlet. Stuff happens, but frustration doesn't need to accompany it. I'd suggest buying a pinata and whacking your frustration out on it, but with the price they're going at these days...