Conquering The Castle Of Eliv Thade

     Are you whacky about words? Do you love the scarier side of Neopets? Do you dream of being locked away in the castle of an evil Kacheek, trying to solve anagrams to escape and save your own life? The Castle of Eliv Thade is the game for you!

     Eliv Thade is one of the most notorious villains in the Haunted Woods and epitomizes the spirit of Halloween. He has a menacing grin and an affinity for language and puzzles that will send your head spinning. He is near impossible to understand because he speaks almost exclusively in anagrams, and no one is totally sure why. One of the most believable rumors is that one of his servants once presented him with a puzzle he could not solve, so difficult that it drove him mad...One can only hope you won't fall victim to the same fate by playing this game...

     "In the game you control Gilly, a poor Usul who was lost in the woods and accidentally stumbled into the Castle of Eliv Thade seeking shelter. As you enter, the heavy iron door slams shut, and locks behind you. Uh oh.

     To escape, you must visit all four rooms, and collect an item from each, and then head to the Crypt to put the spirit of Eliv Thade to rest. Beware, this terrible spirit has been driven insane over the years and will do anything he can to stop you escaping his domain."

     Controls

     "You can move 1, 2, or 3 spaces using the mouse, but beware - each time you move Thade will give you an anagram, and the further you try to move the harder the anagram will be! Watch out for the cracked floor also - you don't want to fall into the basement, oh no, that would be bad!"

     Yikes, you are going to need to read the dictionary a few times if you want to get through this game.

     The controls are simple, as the game description above said, you just click on the space you want to move Gilly to within 3 spaces of her current position), and then you will be propositioned with an anagram to solve. There are two difficulties available to play, Scaredy Cat and Super Brave.

     Game Modes

     Scaredy Cat, also known as easy mode, will give you anagrams between four and six letters long.

     Super Brave, also known as hard mode, will give you anagrams between five and seven letters long with a more diverse and difficult dictionary.

     I recommend playing on Scaredy Cat, as it is a bit easier and there are a few tricks to get just as high a score as on Super Brave, it just takes a little bit longer to achieve.

     The Words

     The words that you encounter are most often words around Neopia. You may find names of toys or items, heroes or villains from various games, and types of food. They can also be regular words that you'd use in your every day life. Keep an open mind though, there are also a few words that you won't be familiar with like "outwoe" or similar.

     If you miss a word, you'll lose one of your three lives. Once all your lives are gone, so are you and you won't ever be able to escape from the horrifying castle. You will just end up as one of Eliv Thade's countless victims.

     Don't fret if you are not sure of a word right away, you can use hints to help you through the word. You'll start with just three hints, but you will unlock more as you progress through the game. These hints will solve the first letter of the word (and subsequent letters for hints used on the same word).

     Is that it? Just solving anagrams?

     I'm glad you asked! No, the game is a lot more complex than that. As you navigate the halls, you will stumble upon different rooms within the castle that contain unique items. Your overall goal is to collect one of each of the four items, one from each room, and then escape the castle.

     Once you try to make the final break, Eliv Thade will challenge you with his longest word yet so don't get too confident thinking you'll be free once you hit the door. And the path is very treacherous, there are many cracked tiles in this ancient castle that will cost you one life if you STOP on one. You can walk over them just fine, but stopping on one has a high chance of it breaking and injuring Gilly.

     So how do I get a high score? Or the avatar?

     If you were lucky enough to beat the game once, you may notice that your score wasn't quite high enough for you to unlock the avatar or get a trophy. There are a few nuances to the game to get a higher score. First, let's go over basic scoring:

     On easy:

     Crossing 1 tile awards 1 point.

     Crossing 2 tiles awards 3 points.

     Crossing 3 tiles awards 6 points.

     On hard:

     Crossing 1 tile awards 2 points.

     Crossing 2 tiles awards 5 points.

     Crossing 3 tiles awards 10 points.

     Collecting the different items from the rooms will award you 50 points per item. You'll also get 50 points for entering the crypt, 150 points for solving the final anagram, and 150 points for completing the game.

     The way you want to play to achieve an avatar or trophy worthy score is by repeating moves and keeping yourself in the castle longer to solve more anagrams. There is no time limit on this game, so spending more time in the castle and solving more anagrams will give you more points. Continue solving until your score is at least 850 for the avatar, then you can go on to complete the game because the bonus points you get from the final puzzle and all will award enough to earn the avatar.

     If you want the trophy, you are going to be trapped in the castle for a while, but once you finally do escape...everyone will be impressed with your brand new expanded vocabulary!