Bank Bliss - A Trouble at the National Neopian Guide

You hear the startled voices of angry Neopians shouting things like, "Oh no, not again!" and "Half of all the Neopoints!" 'What just happened?' you wonder as you peer around the overly-crowded bank. A chubby green Skeith wearing a suit brandishes some posters.

"It was was them," the Skeith informs you, prodding one of the posters with his sharp claw. "Be on the lookout...got it? They've been robbing us for months."

Whether you're feeling in the mood to be a good Samaritan, or you just want to make a nice amount of Neopoints, "Trouble at the National Neopian" is a must-play game ^_^ .

Like most games, you can only win up to 1,000 NPs per play, three times a day. The points-to-Neopoints ratio is one to one, meaning that you get the same number of Neopoints as you get points. On average, I get between 550 and 650 points-per-play, so that's 1650 - 1,950 NPs a day from just one game!

But you can't get a lot of points unless you can play the game well, right? Let's start out with the basics. In the game, various Neopians will come into the bank through six different doors. The different characters give you different amounts of Neopoints. Here's a list of the good guys and what they give you:

Bruce: 3 Points

Blumaroo: 5 Points

Shoyru: 5 Points

Jubjub: 5 Points

Kyrii: 8 Points

Aisha: 8 Points

Usul: 10 Points

Quiggle: 10 Points

Great! Now you're making some Neopoints... but it can't be that easy. Every once in a while, instead of someone eager to hand over their money, a thief will pop in through one of the doors. If you don't stop them, they steal half of your points, and you lose a life! You have only three lives, and then it's game over. The shady thieves are:

1. Two Meerca brothers.

2. Masked Scorchio.

3. Green Usul.

4. Red Techo.

In order to stop them, you've been given a security system that you control using the keys on your keyboard. S D and F work for the three doors on the left side of the screen, while J K and L work for the doors on the right of the screen. So, if the sinister Meerca Brothers are spotted in the last door to the left, you would press "S" as quickly as possible to bar them out of the bank.

Be careful though; if you bar in a good guy, then you lose a life, and if you accidentally bar in a closed door, you'll lose 10 points.

Another service that was added in with your spiffy security system was a way to transform your points into gold bars. Once you've accumulated 100 points, you can press the space bar to turn your points into one gold bar. The gold bars are too heavy for the thieves to steal, so you won't have to worry about losing your hard-earned points once you've changed them into gold. Since thieves take away half of the Neopoints you have on hand, these gold bars are an absolute life saver. But, if you accidentally press the space bar when you have less than 100 points, you'll lose 10 points.

Here are some extra tips that I find extremely helpful:

1.) I've found that it's easier to play the game on the Small (640 x 480) setting, because you can watch more doors in a smaller space.

2.) I usually look in between the two center doors when I'm waiting for a thief to appear; it's easier to spot one than if I'm trying to scan all six doors at the same time.

3.) Check your number of points as often as you can to turn them into gold bars, especially when the game really starts to speed up. You don't want to be caught by a thief when you have 300 points on you....because he'll take 150 away. But, make sure you don't accidentally miss a thief while you're looking up there.

4.) Try to keep your fingers as loose as you can. If you're all tensed up, it'll be easier for your reflexes to take over and accidentally bar in a good guy or a closed door.

5.) Try and memorize which keys shut which doors as quickly as you can, because there isn't enough time to have to look down at your keyboard and decide which key to press.

6.) If you accidentally miss a thief and he gets away with your Neopoints, under all circumstances...don't freak out! If you do, there's a really good chance that you'll miss another one, and then your whole game will be messed up. Just stay calm, and keep going.

7.) Keep the sound on low, or completely off. This might not pertain to some people, but the loud sound effects and the startling "KA-CHING" when a thief gets away with your Neopoints can really throw a person off track. Better safe then sorry!

8.) After the game starts speeding up, watch out for times when two robbers will appear almost at once. When this happens, try and hit both keys at once to bar them out at the same time. If you wait and do one at a time, there's a good chance that while you're blocking one thief's way into the bank, the other one will get away with half of your points.

9.) Never give up! As the game progresses, thieves will start to appear constantly, and the whole game gets faster. Even if your fingers get jumbled up at first, the more you practice, the better you'll get!

That's it! You're on your way to your shiny new Trouble at the National Neopian trophy already :) . Always keep the tips in mind, and don't hesitate to come back here for a little recap if you get stuck. So what are you waiting for? Go play!!!