World Challenges – Challenge Yourself!

Well, let me explain.

A World Challenge is a competition, but not just any competition! If you enjoy participating in the Altador Cup, the Obelisk War battles or just enjoy healthy competition, then the Neopian World Challenges are definitely for you. You play games against other Neopets players in game twelve areas of Neopia, you can compete as many times as you like for glory, although you can only reap the benefits of World Challenges with your first 3 wins of the day. With so many games to choose from to compete, there is sure to be one game that you really enjoy. If there isn't, then perhaps now is a good time to try new things and broaden your horizons. The best part is that the games can be different every day, providing variety and also a chance to challenge yourself further.

If you have a list of favorite games or a game you excel at and want to see if that game is available as a World Challenge, it is quite simple to find out. Simply go to your favorite games page (don't click play, you don't want the game to load yet) and on the right hand side of the page just below the Top Scores list there is a yellow button link that reads 'World Challenge'. Most game pages will have this button link and so the World Challenge pages are easily accessed. From there you will discover if the game is on the games list for the days World Challenges, if it is not, fear not, there are twelve areas with at least 24 games in total to choose from. Simply navigate to the page displaying all twelve areas by clicking the 'World Challenges' link located at the top-center of the page.

Now you may be wondering what would possess a player to consistently play World Challenge games, there are a variety of answers. Some players have a competitive nature and enjoy putting their all into besting other players for top position, some play to challenge themselves to get better at gaming by constantly pushing themselves to do better (really, World Challenge games are a great way of finding personal motivation), some are in it for the glory, some for the prizes and Neopoints won and others much like myself it grows on until you find yourself playing every day because it is a more enjoyable way to play games than simply trying to score enough to gain the 1,000 NP for sending a game score.

Now to the part that many will have been waiting for....

How playing World Challenges benefits your account and bank balance

Well, those first 3 wins of the day provide you with map pieces and some neopoints as a prize. This is where you need to choose what you will do with them.

Will you add them to that area's gallery (selling or trading any duplicate pieces) and convert the 20 piece picture to redeem a prize (such as paint brushes for pets and petpets) and 2,000 NP?

Sell the individual pieces for neopoints or save and trade pieces to create an entire set to sell for a larger sum of neopoints?

The choice is yours. To help you down whichever path you choose, just remember that the neoboards are a great place to find all sorts of information and make new friends with similar interests. There is a World Challenge map piece trading topic on the neobards and also a World Challenge players needed thread to help find enough players to finish a game challenge within the hour. Make certain not to post any game scores or ask for certain scores to be submitted as this is against the rules.

Those things will help you financially on Neopets, but if you constantly challenge yourself in the World Challenges, you may just get a surprise on your user lookup in the form of a trophy for all your practice and hard work at playing whatever game it is you choose. I do not mean that you get a trophy for participating in World Challenges; alas, TNT are yet to award a pretty trophy. The better you are at a particular game, the more likely you will gain a place on the High Scores table. World Challenges are a more fulfilling way to practice those frustrating games because the prizes from it are such a great reward. I myself play the Meerca Chase 2 World Challenge currently as I am still aiming for that avatar. The times I have been terribly close but not reached my goal, I have been disappointed, but with the prize from the World Challenge, it becomes much less frustrating and more tolerable.

The basics...

There are 3 ways to win in each game World Challenge.

Tally score:

To see if you are winning in the tally score area is simple. Your name should be towards the top of the list and above the dividing line. Your tally should also be 0 or more.

Hour's High Score (Hour's HS):

You will need a tally of 0 or more to score in this area. Count the number of users that are above the dividing line and that is how many places are possible to win in this area also. While all users with a tally of 0 or more are included in deciding the winner of this area (even if they win in another ranking area such as tally), any user who has a tally that is in the negatives will not count. So say your high score for the hour was 4th overall with only the option of 1st, 2nd or 3rd placing gaining a win, BUT one of those players that have a better high score for the hour has a tally of -1. This would mean you will win 3rd place as the score of a player with a negative tally isn't included in deciding winners.

Score Totals:

Let's use an example here...

Say that there are 5 players, and the 2 top scorers are on a tally of 1 (with only 1 win, no losses and no draws), meanwhile there you are in third place with a tally of 1, but the top 2 scorers have a higher score than you, leaving you in third position and no chance to win a prize for that hour. Well, here is a simple solution. Send another score! You will either win again, giving you a tally of 2 wins (meaning you have first place to win tally score for the hour) OR you will lose (or draw), but that isn't a problem, because those 2 scores added together will give you the highest ranking Score Totals for the hour with a tally of 0 (or more if the situation had more players and more scores sent). This option for winning is possibly my favorite.

When should you play?

Whatever time of day best suits you. The first few hours and last few hours of the neoday seem to be the busiest (along with slots of time within the neoday). World Challenges do have what I call down time, hours here and there where players are not playing as much or lower scoring players are on more than players that excel at a given game.

The time a game challenge starts is at :03 past the hour, it finishes at :00 the end of each hour and prizes/neopoints are awarded at approximately :01 past the hour.

Finding the best time for you to play will take trial and error. Finding your favourite games in World Challenge areas will take time as they swap and change (you should also trial games you don't usually play. You may surprise yourself and find a new favorite World Challenge game that way).

How should you play?

Well, there are a range of things to consider. Many guides that are out there will tell you to send your scores and just keep sending to gain a win. However, as a long time World Challenge player I advise against this if you don't want to risk wasting hour upon hour of playing and sending scores.

I advise you send a maximum of 2 scores, then wait for those scores to be processed and see where you are in tally standings. Those 2 scores sent COULD get you a win for the hour; then again you may lose with a tally of -2. Losing one hour gives you the option of playing less of that game and spending less time trying (possibly) in vain to get your tally back to 0. Sending 2 scores per game you want to and have time for each hour, well, it frees you up for more World Challenges and in turn more possible areas to win in. Now in saying all this, if you excel in a game, I would actually advise sending only 1 score (especially in less popular games; this will provide you the option of winning Hour's HS or Tally score). The reason for this is that you may want to focus on one area to collect map pieces in and not a variety. If you don't mind mixing it up, well, it is often possible to win 3 World Challenges in your first hour playing World Challenges, leaving you time to play other games for neopoints, restock, kad feed or whatever else it is you enjoy doing on Neopets.

The one issue players may have in playing World Challenges is that sometimes when your score is being processed you can get lucky or extremely unlucky. I have felt the bitter taste of losing by 1-5 points in a game I usually do exceptionally well in with World Challenges. While it is unlucky for me, it may be luck for others with lower scores as when their scores match up it is against other low scores providing them with a better chance of a win. Now while there is an element of luck to World Challenges, there is also a timing factor. See, because the players are from varying time zones, at certain times of the day certain game World Challenges are harder to score in and from my observations, regular World Challenge competitors tend to play within a certain time frame each day (this time frame could be as short as one hour or as long as five hours – possibly more). The more frequently you play the more you will recognize user names and the approximate times that they appear.

The more World Challenges you enter into in one hour, the more chances of winning when we include luck into the equation (luck really is a big factor, believe me). Not only that, though; the more games you play and the more regularly you play them, the better you get at them (increasing your own luck by sending higher scores as you gain experience).

Ending Notes

*World Challenge is often referred to as WC.

*Threads regarding World Challenges often have shortened terms for games or areas. Example: PPCB - Petpet Cannonball or HB – Hasee Bounce.

*There are many guides out there for not only games that are included in the World Challenge, but also a World Challenge games list and guides for the World Challenge area/s.

With the Altador Cup come to an end you may find yourself with spare time. If you enjoy healthy competition against other players, then the World Challenges are ideal for you.