Neopets' Best Puzzles: Revisiting 25 Years of Plots

     The Constellation Puzzle, Altador Plot-

     Part of the Altador Plot, Neopets’ only continuously available event, users were tasked with visiting the Observatory where they could find their very own telescope. From there, each user was provided their own uniquely generated Star Chart where they were tasked to find a set of 12 constellations relating to each member of the Hall of Heroes. As this plot was unveiled, steps rolled out progressively and led to finding various artifacts and discoveries that contained the eventual shape that each user would have to find among their own set of stars. Fansites inevitably developed Constellation Finders that would identify the coordinates of each hidden shape for each user’s unique code, however, half the challenge was being able to find it on your own based on nothing more than the clues that you had on hand.

     Completing the Tablet, Lost Desert Plot-

     This puzzle followed the completion of the Temple of 1000 Tombs, which at this point of the Lost Desert Plot, relied on users' ability to record their mappings of their own uniquely generated tomb in order to be able to traverse it more accurately in the future. This is helpful for the Tablet step, which begins with various pieces of parchment containing 3 clues that correlate to a door within the temple that the user would need to find. The pieces of parchment contained the color, shape and symbol on the door, and upon visiting the correct location, each user would receive a part of their Tablet. From there, players would have to fix their tablet fragments by visiting Donny and then visit the Fortune Teller to receive the next clue to proceed. Upon collecting all 12 fragments, users were able to complete their tablet and continue on to the arduous task of translating it to receive their Prophecy and an avatar. This is considered one of the most challenging plots of early Neopia as many were lost somewhere between navigating the temple and deciphering the tablets, a step that required players to take notes into their own hands to keep up with the rapid pace of the plot as opposed to following a guide.

     Potion Making, A Tale of Woe-

     Potions became a recurring theme within the Tale of Woe plot once players discovered Sophie’s Shack and her massive array of ingredients. At this point of the plot, players were provided with three of those ingredients that all had a different effect when placed inside the cauldron before them. Their aim was to make the potion inside turn a certain color, so users were encouraged to record the individual effects each ingredient had as it varied per player. The goal was to make Bruno drink the potion upon achieving all requested colors and return him to normal, but as each wave failed, Sophie provided the player with more ingredients to try and more color combinations to obtain. This plot step continued into a third week with the most complicated variant of this puzzle, now tasking players to analyze their ingredients for properties such as quantity, relevant property, and target value… All of which were randomly generated for each unique player to decipher and construct on their own using the supplied ingredients. Properties of the ingredients could be changed by burning, crushing, soaking and desiccating the items, with longer actions increasing their property in bulk. They’d now have to mix and match their complicated items into composites and see how each reacted within the potion brew, of which Sophie was constantly changing the requirements for with specific riddles until the potion was just right. The dialog and failed transformations that paired with this puzzle made it extra enjoyable in context of the storyline.

     Token Testing, The Return of Dr. Sloth

     Now I had a difficult time choosing a favorite puzzle from this plot. The Return of Dr. Sloth featured many unique challenges worthy of a shoutout, but in terms of most memorable, the Token Testing Facility stood out above the rest. At this stage of the plot, players found that Dr. Sloth had created millions of defective Space Faerie Tokens in the effort to replicate its power for his army. Cylara and Gorix decided to test and see if any of the tokens in the facility were in fact the real one, this was done by conducting three tests: Exposing the tokens to extreme heat, Submerging the tokens in acid, and using extreme gravitic forces to try and tear the token apart. In order to do each of these stages, the players had to first create materials. The first two materials, Control Rods and Acid were created by presenting the player with materials and asking them to calculate whether or not they were viable using arithmetic against a chart of values relevant to each material. Black Holes were found via a “Black Hole Farm”, a bit more simple as it really just involved a 20% success rate that the user would NOT be thrown out into outer space with a short time out. Once these three phases were complete, the testing could begin. These tests were a bit more challenging as they paired four players who had reached this stage onto joint testing-stations where they had to conduct the three stages mentioned earlier: Heat, Dissolving, and Gravitics. On the Heat station, players all had to align their control rods to the approximate position shown on the minigame screen via an interactable slider. For the Acid test, players were tasked with a little trial and error in deciphering which of their terribly labeled beakers were the acid requested on the screen before they could enter the individually requested amount, of which could be typed in milliliters. In the Gravity test, users were able to place their token on the screen in three turns, the first two to get positional clues toward the final position which the user would have to guess correctly in turn three using either careful observation or a distance formula. If all four players made it to the end of these three phases of testing with a correct final answer, the puzzle was considered complete.

     Coltzan’s Murder, Usurper Plot

     This plot was in its entirety based on a classic logic-based murder mystery dinner. After Coltzan’s untimely death was held at his own celebration dinner party, users were tasked with determining which of the 5 dinner guests were likely responsible and why given a variety of clues. Users could create their own Logic Grid in order to correlate each guest with what meal they ate, the number of courses they ate, and the behaviors each had displayed during their time at the table. Ultimately, it was determined that Princess Sankara was behind the feat. The first 100 guessers were given a trophy, one of the rarest event trophies considering its age and limited quantity awarded. This plot step was nearly mirrored in the later plot Hannah in the Ice Caves, which is a real shame considering it appeals to a different type of puzzle-hunter than many of these other events.

     Potion Concoctions, The Wraith Resurgence-

     Remember the plot when we were invaded and threatened by Wraith Neopets? During this plot, and specifically during this puzzle, you had to help Taelia the Snow Faerie by gathering ingredients and helping her concoct potions that would heal the wraith curse ravaging the land.

     The only way to gather ingredients for Taelia was fighting wraith enemies in the Battledome. You were tasked with fighting these enemies a certain amount of times until the achievement bar was filled, afterward collecting all the ingredients daily. Once you collected the ingredients, you had to go to Taelia’s Brewing Centre and create potions depending on which step of the plot you were, for a total of 10 concoction potions. The really fun part came from when you and your friends were supposed to decipher Taelia’s hints as to where to take each potion! Each potion had to be taken to two different places in order to fully complete their function and heal Neopia! We all remember the famous clue: “When one thing ceases to exist, another takes its place!” (Such as with the Giant Omelette, don't forget to visit today!)

     Shhhhhhh! The Faeries' Ruin

     What's better than a puzzle with a specific theme? One that has multiple themes within it!

     The puzzle of Shhhhhhhhh! For The Faeries' Ruin, is memorable for the number of possible solutions it has, from arranging books by sides that have different geometric shapes, to grouping them according to the order of colors in the rainbow. The best part? It is also one of the plots that has the achievements system applied, so you could have different results either by getting the order of the books right the first time or completely wrong.

     This capability of being able to have different results, combinations and approaches within the same activity is something that all plots should follow as they lead us to think outside the box and everyone can contribute with the right idea to achieve the final result of a very interesting puzzle.

          The Plain of Peace, The Faeries’ Ruin

     Who can’t remember the frustration of being able to decipher a spell but not the one needed by Xandra to reinforce the barrier shield and protect Neopia?

     During the Faerie’s Ruin plot, one of the most iconic puzzles was to team up with three other Neopians so you can form a team consisting of a Suppressor, Stabilizer, Container, and a Guider. With time running out, each member was supposed to complete different tasks in order to Reinforce the Barrier Shield. Here is a short summary of each activity that made our hearts race:

      1) Stabilizer: this member was supposed to find the correct combination for every aura orb. Depending on the orb shown, the person needed to find the right combination of the following:

     -Shouting Faces (small, medium, and large)

     -Glowing Hands (red, blue, and green)

     -Mortar and Pestles (Light gray, medium gray, dark gray)

     If this member was able to cast the right spell, it will prevent energy spikes during the shield reinforcement.

     2) Container: Containing the core was an extremely important task, preventing it from rupturing. During this tedious task, the container was supposed to make each quadrant of the orb able to contain the energy. In order to do so, strength percentages were supposed to be in the range of 50%-70%. If any of the quadrants did not have the right percentage, the container had to pick one of 6 different options that would help him modify the quadrant percentages (weak increase, strong increase, even stronger increase, strongest increase, weak decrease, and strong decrease). Once you are set up, it is time to move the orb.

          3) Guider: During this phase, the member of the group needs to guide the energy orb to the hole in the barrier. In order to do so, you will have to push the orb and counter its current movement with the different selections within the time. You can pick strong, medium, or weak actions and they can be applied to both arms and legs.

          4) Suppressor: Last but not least, In our opinion this is the most critical and fun part of the puzzle. Here, the Suppressor will have a certain amount of shields that can be used to protect team members from energy spikes from the orb. The real fun in this section is that every single spell/game is different: you will have to make your own decisions and even sometimes SACRIFICE your own teammates for the greater good. After you are done with this step, you and your team will be able to lock the shield in place.

          The Tombs - The Tale of Woe.

     Once again this plot had one of the most entertaining dynamics we have seen in a plot. Starting on day 5 of the plot, we headed straight to the Haunted Woods cemetery to start digging in the graves. The challenge of this game was to find an unoccupied grave where we could dig up objects and then test the bones until we found the right one. This activity stands out for its collaborative nature as each tomb allows 4 players to perform this spooky activity.

     Finally, and related to this activity, on today 6 you had to find among some books the name of the owner of the tomb. Something very sinister but really fun because far from being the classic puzzle, it encouraged us to collaborate with other players in the search for information to solve the mysteries.

     Mysterious Dig Site and Buried Relics – The Obelisk Plot

          Although these activities were somewhat simple, the mechanics are classic in Neopets itself. For the mysterious dig site, players first had to discover the window of opportunity in which they could dig and try at least four times to obtain prizes; in the case of the relics, this was focused on NC gifts, but obtaining something every day added to the Battledome fights, made this stage memorable for having the opportunity to win both in-game prizes and to customize our Pets with a Tyrannian theme.