Stop Spinning the Theoretical Wheel of Monotony

This is a guide to doing the complete opposite. This is how you have fun in the grand world of Neopia when you're sick of the cycle.

1) Answer a few polls. On the "Pet Central" page, after you've answered the Daily Trivia question, there will be a Random Poll in its place. The poll can be anything from "Have you created your own Neoadventure?" to "Which is your favourite wheel?". They're incredibly entertaining, and there are tons of different ones, so you can vote on a new one each time. If you want a different poll, you can simply refresh the page! It's quite funny when you see old polls with questions like "What do you think of the new grey Neopets?"

2) Play games more than three times. When you're caught up in earning neopoints, you can tend to play games three times and go onto a different one so you can continue earning. But what's wrong with playing a game simply because you like it? Go ahead and have fun playing them as much as you want. You can also go ahead and play games you love but aren't very good at or games that don't give out many neopoints, just for fun.

3) Congratulate competition winners. Although a shiny trophy is always nice, when someone has won a competition, they want their fifteen minutes of fame. Dropping a simple neomail saying something like "I loved your story for the Pet Spotlight - so touching!" will make them feel accomplished and recognized. After all, they worked so hard to win!

4) Get your fortune told. The Island Mystic, living on none other than Mystery Island, is quite happy with telling people their fortunes. He won't charge you a dime to tell you that "You will quickly decide to never eat bananas", and whether the fortune is true or not (hm... I don't think I'll eat bananas anymore. They're all mushy and gross), it is always entertaining!

5) Clean out your SDB. Remember that Packrat avatar you got so long ago? There are probably tons of items left over that you've completely forgotten about. Maybe there are some old Advent Calendar prizes or toys you didn't want stolen. Go through the categories and see what you can find, or just type in a random word in the searchbox. I dare you all to go to your safety deposit boxes RIGHT NOW (and by that, I mean as soon as you're done reading this article) and see what you get when you type in the word "Chokato". You might even find something worth selling, or hoarding for longer!

6) Go to today's concert. Chances are, the only concerts you've ever gone to are the ones that give out avatars, and you've only ever been once. Not only do I feel bad for you, but I feel bad for all those other bands that don't ever have many people cheering for them! Go and see who's playing, and go buy yourself (and your pets, of course) a ticket! For an extra "challenge", so to speak, don't go hunting on the Shop Wizard, just buy one straight from the Techo at the ticket booth. Bring me back a T-shirt!

7) Ride the Roo Island Merry-Go-Round. For a mere 50 neopoints, you can send your pet off on a carousel Uni on Roo Island. Relaxing and fun, it'll brighten up your pet's mood, and nothing's more contagious than a smile. The yellow Blumaroo will be happy to let you on. Let all your pets on, twice, even. You can also trek on over to Mystery Island and take a Tiki Tour. Make sure to listen to the tour guides; they have some cool stuff to show you!

8) Spin a wheel. Round and round it goes; where it stops, nobody knows. Pick a wheel and spin it. If you want something inexpensive, try the Wheel of Mediocrity. Are you more of an intellectual? Try the Wheel of Knowledge. What? "Terrible prizes", you say? Perhaps, but the anticipation of what it will land on is absolutely tantalizing.

9) Play the Featured Game. If you're a gamer as your main profession, you might have a list of games you go through to earn your money (I know I do). Maybe you're not very good at the Featured Game, or maybe it doesn't give out many neopoints. Maybe you don't particularly like it. You should give it a try anyway, and whatever score you do get, you get double neopoints on, so there's really no harm in playing it! (Similarly, why not try your hand at one of the new games?)

10) Read a haiku.

Read Rorru's Haiku.

There's a new one every day

On Mystery Isle.

11) Play a card game. There are tons of Neopian versions of card games to play; Sakhmet Solitaire, Cheat!, Pyramids, Tyranu Evavu, and Go! Go! Go! are just a few. They're usually pretty easy to learn and are really fun to play. Anything with other players (computerized or not) is a great boost to your self-esteem if you win or a great reason to buy a fancy new computer when you lose and throw your mouse at the screen. Most card games cost a small amount of money per game/round, but it's easy to win back.

12) Buy Something "Just Because". If you're saving for something, it's likely that you don't buy anything at all. If you do buy something, you might scour the Shop Wizard and refresh the page a hundred times to find the lowest price. It's unlikely that you buy from the main shops (unless you're restocking, of course) at all. Sometimes it's good to let loose. You don't have to destroy your bank account either. Here's how:

Obtain a certain amount of neopoints. By "a certain amount", I mean around 2-4 thousand. Pick one of your favourite places in Neopia; mine is Terror Mountain. Go to a shop that looks interesting, let's say, the Super Happy Icy Fun Snow Shop (because that's the best shop name ever). Look at their stock, and pick something. Don't worry about how much it is, don't worry about its rarity, just pick something that looks cool or that... "attracts" you, so to speak. At the SHIFSS, I saw a delightful-looking Brucicle that I knew my Kougra would love. So I bought it and gave it to him. If you have leftover money, go buy a toy in Neopia Central or something. Why did you just buy that overpriced plushie? Just because. It's delightfully refreshing to forget all your cares for a moment and just buy something, and I'm sure your pets will appreciate something other than their newbie-pack Blue Ixi Plushie or more omelette to eat.

13) Read the Neopian Times. Hopefully, you intend to read the rest of the Times, comics, stories, and articles alike. Read something you don't normally, like a series, perhaps. Explore the older issues of the Times. And maybe refer back to number three for the authors that get in. ;)