Volcano Running With Glubgar

Glubgar is a Tyrannian Scorchio who has been flying through lava long before the Magma Pool was discovered. He is the star of the famous flash game Volcano Run II, a game in which the objective is to fly down a tunnel deep inside a volcano while avoiding obstacles such as rocks, fireballs, and lava geysers. It's a pretty treacherous journey, but for Glubgar it has just become his daily commute.

He is such a pro at maneuvering the caverns, he has starred as a challenger in the competition Better Than You a total of four times. In his first appearance, he seemed to be quite lost in the tunnels, but as he returned over the years he had clearly become much more skilled and rather than asking you to help him out, he was using the space as a hiding spot to avoid the Tax Beast! What a wild way to dodge your taxes...

Before we start with our interview, I'll give you a basic rundown of Volcano Run II, how to play, and some tips that I've found in my experience.

The game requires you to control Glubgar through the skinny tunnels deep inside of an active volcano using your mouse and keyboard, avoiding obstacles. You'll come across both stationary and moving rocks, fireballs flying straight towards you, and lava geysers that shoot up from the bottom of the screen, blocking your path for a short period of time. The geysers are only found much deeper in the cavern.

You keep Glubgar flying by clicking your mouse, each click raises him up a little bit. He will gradually drop during the times you aren't clicking, so make sure you are ready to click frequently. By pressing C on your keyboard, you will cause Glubgar to stop flying forward, and pressing the V key will make him speed ahead. Using C and V will make it easier for you to avoid obstacles better. For example, using the C key to stop Glubgar in his tracks when a geyser erupts will allow you a moment to let the geyser go back down before you pass. Using the V key will cause Glubgar to make his body slimmer and more aerodynamic. This not only makes him faster, but it makes it a tad bit easier to fly through the narrower spaces.

Aside from that, not everything you encounter is bad! There are many gems to collect that will give you bonus points. Yellow gems will net you a bonus of 10 points, while the rarer red gems will award you 20 points. You'll also come across a bubble on occasion; this acts as a defense shield against objects. It doesn't last very long, but if you happen to fly across one, it is extremely useful.

Bonus points are also the only part of your score that carries between lives. You start the game with three lives and the bonus points accumulate between lives, but your distance score does not. For example, if you travel 200 meters on your first life, then 100 meters on your second life, you'll only be awarded points for the 200 meters as that is the furthest distance traveled. Gems collected add onto this and create your final score.

If you are able to reach a score of 1,500 points or higher, you'll win this avatar:

This may sound pretty easy at first, but the game is fairly difficult. It's very hard to find that right balance of clicking and maneuvering, snatching up as many gems as you can while also avoiding giant fireballs being hurled at you. With that being said, it brings me to the reason why we've sat down with the expert himself, Mr. Glubgar!

Glubgar-

Hello, hello! *dodges a flaming rock* I'm surprised you came all the way down here to meet me.

Interviewer-

*dodges the same flaming rock* The Tax Beast may avoid coming all the way down here, but I'll do what I can for a good scoop! So tell us Glubgar, first of all, why are you down here?

Glubgar-

Growing up in Tyrannia, in the start of civilization, in the shadows of a great volcano, there wasn't much to do except explore the caves with your friends. Of course we could battle in the arena, but I never was the fighting type. So my pals and I went off into the caves, seeking out ancient cave paintings and old tools, anything interesting we could find. As I got older I realized I had explored all of the caves, I figured that I had found everything there was to find, and then it hit me: the volcano has caves. So I set off, exploring deeper and deeper into the volcano, wherever my little wings could pull me to. With a lot of practice I've been able to see so many things I couldn't before, and experience quite the adrenaline rush!

Interviewer-

Wow, that is incredible! You've seen the birth of civilization and still had a thirst for more. What advice do you have for someone like me, who hasn't visited the volcano as much but wants to go deeper?

Glubgar-

Practice, practice, practice! If you want to get good at something, you have to work for it. You won't find a rare avatar inside if you don't get a few burns along the way. You need to set your mind on your goal and keep trying, over and over. Turn any frustration you feel into motivation and push yourself. Don't worry about collecting every gem on your first run-through, the most important thing is distance. Once you've got the distance part learned, use the rest of your lives to collect gems. You only need to make it to 1,050 meters then focus on your gems. The deeper into the cave you get, the more narrow the passageway becomes. While you should focus on distance for your first life, only the greatest runners can go past 1,050 meters, so the gems are important and should not be ignored on your following run-throughs!

Interviewer-

So since we have three lives, use the first one to get gems when they are convenient but focus mainly on distance, then the next two lives should be gem hunting missions? Got it! Have you made it past 1,050 meters? *dodges another fireball*

Glubgar-

You need to remember I've been visiting the volcanic caves for over a decade, I've had lots of practice and gotten lots of fireballs to the face. I have surpassed 1,050 meters, but the treasures found back there...well I'll have to keep that a secret for now. I don't want the pirates of Krawk Island to try claiming and taking from my land.

Interviewer-

Treasure? Is that what you've been hiding from the Tax Beast?

Glubgar-

It seems I've said too much already, thank you for having me and farewell!

Before I knew it, Glubgar was gone...I suppose he has some secrets stashed back there and is worried that the Tax Beast may be browsing the Neopian Times. Thankfully, we got a couple good tips out of him, so while you go off and practice, practice, practice, I'm going to try to find my way out of this volcano. Happy and safe flying to all of you!