Neggsweeper: Tips and Tricks to Avoid Trap (Neggs)

Introduction

Neggsweeper comprises of a field of Neggs. Many of said Neggs are safe, however, be wary as each difficulty has a definitive number of traps. Your objective in the game is to clear the safe Neggs while avoiding the traps. Simple enough, right? It depends on the difficulty of the game.

Easy is a 9x9 field with 71 safe Neggs, 10 trap Neggs, and a base jackpot of 50 points. Medium is a 12x12 field with 119 safe Neggs and 25 trap Neggs with a base of 100 points. Hard is a 14x14 field, meaning there are 156 safe Neggs and 40 trap Neggs but a base of 150 points.

Difficulties and Scoring

Scoring on this game is somewhat straightforward. Every Negg you clear is worth 1 point. Each Negg you clear has the possibility of containing bonus points. Blue Negg is worth 50 points; purple Negg is worth 100 points; rainbow Negg is worth 150 points; crystal Negg is worth 300 points; and fish Negg is worth 500 points. All of your points are added to the jackpot that you earn when you clear the entire field.

You can earn additional points when you clear large areas of the field in a single click. While on Easy mode, you can earn 1 point per Negg you clear plus an additional 1x multiplier (i.e., you clear 50 Neggs, you get 50 points for the Neggs and an additional 50 points). On Medium, you will net 1 point per Negg and a 2x multiplier, and Hard nets 1 point per and a 3x multiplier (such that as with the example above, Medium will net 50 points + 2x(50) for a total of 150; Hard will net 50 + 3x(50) for a total of 200 points).

Setting a Goal and Choosing a Difficulty

Your choice of difficulty will largely depend on what your goal for the game is.

If you are looking to earn the trophy for highest score in an individual game, most would say best bet is Hard; And they are right. Why you ask? Hard, while the most difficult level, is ideal for a few reasons. First, you have a base of 150 points and 156 Neggs to clear, guaranteeing you a minimum of 306 points for clearing the board. Second, when you uncover a large are of the field, you get the 3x multiplier. Finally, 156 safe Neggs are 156 potential bonus point Neggs! In my experience, I only play Hard if I’m after a high score. Keep in mind though, you could potentially earn a high score on ANY level depending on your luck.

If your goal is to get a score on the board towards the Top Gamer avatar or if you are like me and after the elusive and rare cumulative score trophy, I would recommend Easy. It might seem counter-intuitive to play Easy for the cumulative score trophy because you need MORE points and Easy nets you the least amount of points. But hear me out! As I said, Easy has 10 trap Neggs and 71 safe ones, which means the field is roughly 90 percent safe. This increases the likelihood you will be able to finish the game, thus earning points. While the alternative, is spending a long time on Hard or Medium only to have to start over or barely getting through the game.

Let me put some examples to this. Say I finish a game on Medium in roughly 90 seconds (I have yet to time myself on Medium or Hard) and I get 0 bonus points and multipliers. I would earn 219 points. I can finish a game on Easy in 20-30 seconds, meaning I would earn 121 points per game. At my worst I would be earning 363 points in the same time that it would have taken me to finish Medium! That is quite a difference.

Tips and Tricks

Now that we have taken care of that. It is time for the tips and tricks that I have picked up over the months of playing. Mind you that these are more for Easy but could apply to any level.

Basic tips include take your time and control + click to flag the trap Neggs if you need to (eventually you may not need to). Practice helps so it is okay to have to start over on games.

I like to start my games in the corners because it narrows the numbers to a smaller field. What do I mean by this?

In Example A, the 1 points to any of the eight surrounding the number. While in Example B, the 1 points to any of the three around.

My last tip is to look at the pattern of numbers. The numbers and their occurrence reveal a lot about where the trap Neggs are. Some key patterns that I like to look for include are as follows:

1-1 by the edge: It tells you that the trap Negg is one of the two on the touching the sides, which means that the third from the edge is SAFE to click.

1-2-1 in an “L” shape: It tells me the trap Neggs has to be adjacent to the 1’s, leaving that corner Negg touching the 2 as SAFE to click.

2-3-2 in a row (not touching other grey Neggs): indicates the three Neggs touching the 3 are traps!

1-2-1 in a row (not touching other grey Neggs): tells you that the Neggs touching the sides of the 1’s are traps and the Negg touching the side of the 2 is SAFE to click.

2-2 surrounded by 1’s: in this instance, trap Neggs are the two Neggs touching the sides of the 2’s.

2-4-2 in an “L” shape: the corner Negg touching the 4 is the only safe one to click!

This is a pattern I have found to be useful after using the 1-1 by the edge. In this one, we used 1-1 by the edge to open up the third from edge Negg. It creates a “T” shape of 1’s. The top middle 1 tells you that one of the two Neggs touching its corner is the trap Negg, which means that the 1 underneath has to touch a trap Negg either on its direct left or right. Therefore, the three Neggs under the 1 has to be SAFE to click.

Conclusion

The patterns are in no way the definitive way to win each game, but they do provide a starting point at how you look at the board. With this in mind, keep practicing and good luck on your way to Neggsweeper gold! If you have any questions or if you just want to cheer me on as I work towards Neggsweeper Cumulative gold, feel free to Neomail me. Good luck!