Gears and Cogs: World Challenges

Now, I’m sure you’ve read other guides on world challenges. But, there have been changes in the game since we’ve been first introduced. These changes have made the game much more fair, and a bit easier to navigate. Knowing these rules, with hints and tips along the way, will get you on your way to winning maps quickly and efficiently!

Of course, you must start at the beginning. And that, my friends, is finding the world challenges. So, go to the games page. At the bottom of the page, there are two rows of links. Look on the top row, far right, and you’ll see something that says “flash challenges” with a picture of a partially completed map. Click on that. On the next screen, go to the second icon down, the picture of a world, and click on the link “world challenges”.

You’re here! Now to discuss choosing a game. The best thing to do is check through the games list. Go into each world (just click on the big picture above the name of each world on that page) and look at the games. Pick the games that you are the best at. Personally, I’m not very good at any of them. But I remembered when Meepit vs Feepit came out, I almost got enough for the Better Than You trophy. So, I decided to start there. Make sure you like the game too, you’ll be playing it often!

Also, depending on what world the game is in, you’ll be winning map pieces for that world only. If you play two or three games in the same world, all the pieces will go to that world’s map. If you play from two different worlds, each time you win a map piece, it will go to that game's corresponding world. So, if you want to earn Neopia Central, you have to play games that are listed under that world.

Now that you have a game, click on the world challenge page for it, so you can see a few crucial facts. How high is the highest score? It’s best to check near the end of the hour, to make sure you see the highest. Now, how high is the lowest score to also receive a map piece? (note: there will be a line in the table, dividing the people who win a map piece and those who don’t. Whoever is on top of the line, wins map pieces. If there is no line, it means no one has met the requirements.)

Keeping those scores in mind, play each game you picked. Determine which is closest to the highest score for that game. That is the one you are most likely to win with. Though, if you are at least above the lowest score to win a map piece for each game, you can rotate. I recommend sticking with one world at a time, so you can focus better.

Even if none of your scores are close to the lowest to win a map piece, figure out which is closest. When I started Meepit Vs Feepit, I could barely get 3200 for a score. Now I can get at least 3600, and that’s on a normal game. Of course, that took me about a month of practice. And I practice every single day. It takes a lot of discipline to keep getting map pieces!

Before you start practicing, enter the contest. It only costs 100np to enter, and if you lose, you really don’t lose much. After all, if you play your game even once, you should make that back. And most games you need to play three times before you meet requirements! So, it isn’t a loss at all, and is invaluable as a learning experience.

This is the most important thing you’ll ever do in the world challenges. I’ve said it before, but it must have its own paragraph. Make sure you enter the challenge! If you don’t, your score sending will mean nothing, and you’ll never gain a map piece. Make sure you enter!! Just click the link that says “Enter the Challenge”.

Note what requirements are needed. Every game needs at least 5 people to play before anyone gets a map piece. For the high score, usually that’s all that’s needed. But make sure you always check, just in case things change! To get a map piece by having the best tally/higher score, you usually need to send in at least three scores that hour, and have a tally higher than 1.

But maybe I should break down some of the terminology. A score sent just means any time you hit send score after playing that particular game. That score goes against someone else’s score, and whoever gets the higher score wins. If you win twice, you have a tally of 2. If you win once and lose twice, you’ll have a tally of -1. Every win is a +1, every loss is a -1. But they’ll do the math for you.

If many people have a tally of 3 (which happens often), the list will be in order of highest score. So, if it says that the top 3 win a map piece, and you have the same tally as 3 other people, but their highest score for the hour is more than yours, you won’t get a map piece. So, let’s say I got 3420, but person A got 3460 and person B got 3450, and we all have the same tally. It says that only top 2 win a map piece. That means that I don’t win one, since my score is the lowest. Highest tally wins first, then highest score.

All of this is explained in the rules, but it’s a little confusing when you first start playing. If you’re still confused, just keep watching the scores; eventually it will fall into place!

The rounds last about one hour. They end at :00 and begin at :03. So, the round for 2 pm NST will start at 2:03 and end at 3:00. So, if all the requirements are met (basically, if at least 5 people have sent in scores), the scores will be processed. If all the requirements have not been met, all the scores will be carried over into the new round.

There is more to this than just playing the game and sending scores though. There is a certain amount of strategy involved. Mostly, you have to keep the highest score in mind.

Let’s say, on Meepit Vs Feepit, you have a score of 3490, which is pretty good. But you, knowing that someone could get 3499, wait to post your score. Keep refreshing every few minutes to see if anyone else has sent their score. Once you see a high score, if it’s higher than yours, don’t send it in yet. If it’s lower, send it, and you know that you’ll win.

This doesn’t always work either though. Let’s say the high score is 3499. But, you look down and see that score has been processed, and they’ve already won against someone else. Then, you send your score, and just hope whatever score you’re against isn’t higher than yours!

Beware. If your score is 3499, and the highest score is 3499, you will lose. Whoever sends first wins a tie. Just be patient, and eventually someone who hasn’t read this article will send in a score that will lose to that score.

If you do get the highest score you can get, and see that either the highest score is lower or that there isn’t one yet, send it in right away! You will automatically win a match against whoever turns in a score next. But make sure to keep an eye on that high score…many times it can tell you who wins that match.

Another sound strategy is to ready a score before the hour begins. So, at :35/:40 (depending on how long the game takes to play), start a game and get the score ready. That gives you more time during the hour to play, especially for the games that need at least 3 scores sent.

But always send the score. If you have to leave the house, and have a score pending, even if you might not win…at least you aren’t wasting the score. Remember, it really doesn’t cost you anything to lose a round. I still lose sometimes, but I just pick myself up and try again.

Alright, now you have 20 map pieces. What should you do with them? Keep in mind that once you convert a map, you can never convert that map again. You’ll earn no more pieces in that map; you’ll never be able to buy one and convert it. You’ll be strictly earning pieces for the second map at that point. And, in the same vein, you can win pieces for the second map until you’ve converted the first map. This is the case in all the different worlds. There are a few options at this point.

My personal favorite, and what I do, is to sell off the map. Even for the first map in each world, there is still interest. Of course, the second map in each world tends to sell for more. Also, some world maps sell for more than others, depending on how many games are in that world, and how hard they are. Map rarity is determined by how many people can play the games in that world and win. So, research how much your particular map usually sells for. Neopia Central 1 maps sell for about 260k-280k at this point, but you should always double check. If you want to sell the second maps only, you have to convert the first map you make, and then you can pieces for the second one.

You can also trade the maps. Many people trade their 1 maps for other 1 maps. Let’s say you have a Maraqua map, but that’s the only map you can really make. So, instead of converting it right away, you trade it for all the Krawk Island map. In that way, you can trade until you have one of each, and then convert your map.

Or, you can just convert your map. Keep in mind, once you convert both maps, there isn’t another one to earn pieces for yet! So be careful if you choose this option. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that periodically TNT will come out with more maps, but nothing is certain! You win 2,000 NP from every map, and a random prize. I’ve heard of people winning: Pirate Paint Brush, Pink Petpet Paint Brush, Striped Paint Brush, and and assortment of petpets. There’s a lot of debate on how profitable it is to convert maps, but many of the prizes are really good. It just depends on your luck!

You can also sell the pieces individually, but they usually don’t sell for as much that way. Still, it’s about 20k a pop, so it’s a good way to make quick NP, but if you stick with it for the long run, you’ll get a lot more profit!

If you do collect whole maps and sell them, make sure you leave them in place until you have all them. Don’t put any into your inventory until you have all 20 pieces. Otherwise, you run the risk of duplicates, which are a pain and not worth the time.

Just remember to be diligent, and most of all, have fun! In as little as one month, you could have 1 million NP sitting in your bank, looking pretty! Oh, and practice practice practice! You too could become a world challenge champion!

Author's Note: It's my first entry in the NT!!! Can I get a whoot whoot? If you have any questions or comments, feel free to neomail me.