Snow Roller Avatar Guide

OVERVIEW

You start off as a small snowball with a low size (around 5-10%). Every time you hit an obstacle, you lose 5% to your size, and every time you pick up an object you get points as well as 2-3% points. There are 3 levels, and each level has 2 stages: the 2nd stage you have to pick which way to go down the mountain but it really doesn’t matter which you pick. Your total score consists of two things: the total points of the items you collected along the way, and a bonus equal to your snowball percentage multiplied by the total points of the items you picked up (with a caveat).

POINTS BREAKDOWN

Neopets (Chias, Poogles, Cybunnies): 40 points

Petpet/Taelia: 20 points

Food items (Neggs and slushies) and assorted items: 10 points

Here’s how the points work: As you roll down the mountain, you collect objects and get their points added to your score. However, you might notice that whatever item you pick stays around in your snowball for a few seconds before disappearing. During this time, if you hit an obstacle, the item can get knocked out. Your score will stay the same, but you won’t get the scoring bonus of that item at that end of the level.

Example: Let’s say you roll down the mountain and get 10 Poogles, that’s 400 points. And let’s say your snowball reached 100%, that’s 100% X 10 Poogles for another 400 points. That’s a total of 800 points. Now, if one of the Poogles happens to get knocked out before it is “assimilated” into the snowball, then you get 100% X 9 Poogles, for 360 points, and you only get a score of 760. For this reason, it is absolutely imperative that you try not to hit any obstacles! Also, Poogles/Chias/Cybunnies happen to be worth effectively 80 points if you reach 100% snowball size, whereas everything else is 20-40 points. Always do your best to collect the Neopets!

POWER-UPS AND OBSTACLES

There are 2 power ups: The black hole slushie and the super traction slushie. The black hole slushie will cause every item to be moved to where your snowball currently is, while the super traction slushie will make your snowball a bit easier to move around, but apart from that it doesn’t seem to have any effect.

The obstacles are pretty self-explanatory, hitting them will cause you to lose 5% of your size and knock out an item from your snowball. There are also yellow spots and ice patches that can make your snowball slippery and lose a little bit of control. Finally, the Tiki head is normally a bonus item you can pick up, but if your snowball size is too small, then it is actually an obstacle.

HOW TO ACTUALLY GET THE AVATAR

So now that we’ve gone through the basics, here’s the easiest way to get the avatar:

1. Start in low quality. If your computer is slow, then eventually at later levels the particles from the snow will slow down the game so much that it will never end.

2. Press the down arrow key at the start of the game, and hold it! This will slow down your snowball to the point where you can actually react to the obstacles and collect them.

3. During cutscenes as you move to another stage of the level, I usually keep the down arrow key held down. It doesn’t matter what patch you take.

4. There are a lot of tips that I’ve heard from other users that tell you to avoid the slushies, the yellow patches, or the ice patches, or you’ll lose control of the snowball and speed up. I haven’t actually had this problem, as long as you start in low quality and hold down the down button, your snowball should remain slowed down. (Anecdote: The day I got the avatar, I played a few games on low and a few games on normal quality. Each time I played on normal, I would randomly lose control of the snowball and speed up even with the “down” button held, but when I was in low quality, this never happened.

5. Focus on collecting all items for points as you can. Remember to prioritize the Neopets: These are your major point earners! It’s effectively 80 points per Neopet, which is a lot of points.

OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS

The above tips should help you get the avatar pretty easily. Here are some other tips to make your life easier:

1. Obstacles: Usually while my snowball is slowed down, I like having my snowball on the leftmost side of the slope. I time my jumps by looking at the shadow, jumping right as the shadow overlaps the object, and then I move my snowball to the right while in midair. I’ve found that this is the best way to avoid obstacles: by strafing right in midair rather than just jumping. This is especially useful for larger obstacles.

2. Levels: The levels get longer as you progress (which is a good thing because you can collect more items and score more points!) There seem to be more obstacles in level 3 than compared to level 2.

3. For level 1, aim to get around 1500-2000 points. I would restart if you score less than 1000 points. For level 2, aim to get a total of 2500 points for the avatar, 3500-4000 points if you are going for the trophy. In level 3, you can get up to 4000 points if you get the full bonus, but otherwise the goal is to try to get 6500. ;)

4. Hardest part: I think the hardest part is actually the first parts of each level, when you’re at low percentage of size. The worst is getting to level 3, and then losing in the first 20 seconds because you couldn’t avoid hitting the obstacles. However, once your snowball gets bigger in size, it moves slower and it becomes easier to react to everything.

5. Time: Make sure to take your time! The full game can take up to 30-40 minutes, especially as the snowball slows down as it gets really big. Make sure to set aside time to play the game, and if you get frustrated, take a break! It takes some practice and a little luck.

In closing, remember to start in low quality so it doesn’t glitch out on you, keep the down button held down during each level, avoid the obstacles, collect the Neopets, and you should be well on your way to the avatar, or even the trophy. Good luck!