 Raiders of Maraqua Avatar Guide
by fire_brand
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In Raiders of Maraqua, you play as a Koi named Karpoh, searching for treasure and trying to destroy the enemies lurking in the ruins of Old Maraqua. Score 800 points and you’ll earn yourself a new avatar, and maybe even a shiny trophy! I played this game as a teenager and found myself to be very good at it; after a long hiatus, I rediscovered Neopets, and thought I’d give one of my favourite games a try. Even after all this time, I could still remember all the patterns and tricks of the trade so I figured it would be a nice idea to share these with others rather than trying to hog the gold trophy spot each month!
Movable objects: Light blue bubbles: can be moved in any direction and will stop when hitting another object. They can be popped when pushed against any object directly next to it (including the walls). Dark blue bubbles: Similar characteristics to the light blue bubbles but they can only be popped by rocks. Rocks: will destroy all bubbles in their path, they can be stopped by treasure, the walls and other rocks. Please note if a bubble is directly next to the rock in the direction you are trying to push it, the rock won’t move. Large Treasure: will be stopped by any other object. These cannot be destroyed. Other items: Extra life: a red cross which may randomly appear during any level Small gold piece: awards 5 points and will disappear as you swim over it Bonus bubble: When an enemy is destroyed, a bubble will sometimes float upwards from the bottom of the screen. They are slightly transparent so keep an eye out as they can be a little hard to see. These are worth 5 points x by the level number (e.g. a bonus bubble on level 9 would be worth 45 points). Enemies: They can spawn within any bubble, which may cause you some issues on certain levels if you need a specific bubble. If this happens & you can't finish the level, play as long as you can before restarting. The enemy will be stationary for the first couple of seconds, which may be a good time to try to destroy them. The slug monster moves slower than the others - more about this in the Tips section!
Cheat code (don’t worry, it’s a legal cheat): Type 1morekarpohplease for an extra life. Only do this when you have less than 4 lives or it will not work.
Useful Tips Tip #1 – Slow is the aim of the game Whilst it may be tempting to speed through the levels as fast as possible, that is not a good strategy to earn the avatar score and beyond. Patience is key in this game. You’re likely to need at least 30 minutes to get to the avatar score. It is also good practice to wait to push your final treasure into the chest, even on the earlier levels, and continue to destroy the enemies for the chance of a bonus bubbles. This is particularly critical on levels 10 – 13. Tip #2 – Maximise points on every level Ensure you always destroy all the enemies which give points on every level. Enemies can be destroyed by pushing an object into them. See below on each level how many enemies will give points.
Tip #3 – Bonus bubbles are your best friend! Play each level as long as you wish to for the chance of a bonus bubble. Remember that the bonus bubble score is 5 points multiplied by the level number so I generally don’t waste much time trying to get bubbles on the earlier levels. Tip #4 – Not all the enemies are bad On the later levels, the slug monster will start to appear. Try not to destroy them! The slug moves much slower than the other enemies, and, more importantly, they lay (is that the right term?!) fresh bubbles. This is great news as the fresh bubbles mean you can keep playing the levels for longer to get those all-important aforementioned bonus bubbles. Tip #5 - Practice An obvious one but as with any of these pesky games, practice is key! You can’t account for the spawning positions of the enemies so sometimes you will need to adjust your strategy slightly, but the more familiar with the levels, the more the patterns will become second nature to you. Tip #6 – Do not go beyond level 13 Level 14 is not ideal for point scoring, so I tend to try to achieve the avatar score by level 13. Levels 15 – 18 are very low points with no enemies and level 19 is extremely difficult (I have never actually completed it!). Focus on playing levels 10, 12 & 13 as much as you can stomach.
Gameplay Use the arrow keys to move Karpoh and the spacebar to push the movable objects. I won’t give exact instructions for each level as the best strategy is to have a picture or video guide open at the side of your game that you can refer to if needed; however, I have detailed below the key points for each level. Level One: 3 enemies can be destroyed for points. You can choose to keep restarting this level until you get a red cross for an extra life or 3 small gold pieces. Level Two: 3 enemies can be destroyed for points. Level Three: 5 enemies can be destroyed for points. Level Four: No enemies If you need a rest from the computer (perhaps, to bang your head against a wall or sit in a dark room), this is your only chance! Level Five: 5 enemies can be destroyed for points. Levels Six & Seven: 3 enemies can be destroyed for points. Level Eight: 1 enemy can be destroyed for points BUT do not destroy it unless you absolutely have to. This is because there aren’t many bubbles and if the enemy spawns within the critical bubble at the bottom left, you’ll be unable to complete the level. Level Nine: 3 enemies can be destroyed for points. Once you have pushed 2 of the treasures into the chest (leave the right-hand one till last), spend some time destroying enemies for possible bonus bubbles. This is first decent opportunity to do so. Level Ten: 3 enemies can be destroyed for points. Do not finish this level too quickly, this is a great level to get some bonus bubbles. Keep allowing the slug monsters to fill the screen with bubbles and destroying, once you start to get too low on bubbles (or just bored out of your mind!), move onto the next level. Level Eleven: 3 enemies can be destroyed for points. Focus on finishing the level rather than destroying enemies to maximise as you can get some awkward spawns on this level. Level Twelve: 3 enemies can be destroyed for points. This is another fantastic opportunity for points. I tend to spend most time on this level, if you are running low on bubbles and have enough lives left (2 or more), you can restart the level and play again with the same strategy, you will retain your points from the previous go. As long as you have reasonable luck, you should have the avatar score by this point. Level Thirteen: 1 enemy can be destroyed for points. Same as level twelve, play for bonus bubbles. If you have extra lives, play till you are low on bubbles and then restart the level. Unless you are really curious and want to go further, repeat until game over. Level Fourteen & beyond: If you are wanting to check out level 14 onwards, just make sure you have avatar score by the time you finish with 13 as scoring becomes tricky after this point.
This game may seem super daunting and impossible at first but following the above strategy (remember, practice!), that avatar should be within reach.
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