Smashing Your Way Through TNT Staff Smasher!

For years, this game has been the bane of many Neopians' existence. It is annoying, infuriating, and, most importantly, has an avatar! To get a high score, one must score points through bonking staff members on the head with a big mallet. Sounds easy enough, right?

WRONG!

Though the concept of the game is simple, this game is by no means easy. It starts out very slow and easy, but progressively gets faster and faster, until it's at lightning speed! It requires many important concepts that must be reviewed constantly in order to perfect the ideas necessary to be good at this game.

1. Reflexes

Around the first few levels, it's very easy to bonk every staff member that pops his/her head above the cubicles, but around Level 9 or so, things start to get tricky. TNT staff will hardly look over the cubicles, then quickly slink back below to Sloth-knows-where. Try to keep your screen as small as possible for minimum mouse movement, as that will increase your chances of hitting the indicated staff member.

Also, I found it helpful to alternate between clicking and tapping the spacebar, simply because sometimes one hand fumbled from such rapid clicking. Many people prefer to just use the spacebar, so they don't need to worry about clicking AND moving with one hand, but this is a personal preference, so find which one works best for YOU!

2. Strategy

Before you click the Play button, select the little gear button in the lower right-hand corner of it. You will get a few options for your game, and I recommend Small Size on Low Quality. Sure, Low Quality isn't the prettiest or clearest choice, but the game tends to lag on the other Qualities, slowing down even your mouse movement! The Small Size works well if you're trying to take as little time as possible to move your mouse, but this is more flexible choice. If the screen size is too small for you, just select Medium; it's very possible to get a good score on Medium as well!

Of course, there will be many times in the game that multiple staff members will appear at the same time. In the first few levels, you should be able to hit all of the staffers who show up, though later in the game, it will be nearly impossible to hit two (or more!) in the designated second or so that they'll be in hitting range. You need to brush up on your knowledge of the points that each staff member gives, because in the end, you'll need to prioritize your staff members if you ever want the avatar or a trophy.

Number Six (male; you'll recognize him from the Number Six avatar) - 3 points

El Picklesaurus (male; caped superhero who will blurt out Spanish phrases occasionally) - 4 points

Snarkie (female; short brown hair) - 5 points

Mr. Roboto (male; spiked brown hair) - 6 points

Voodoodidi (female; long, dark brown hair, rather gothic-looking attire) - 7 points

DJ Skellington (male; black ponytail with skull T-shirt) - 8 points

Blue Lady (female; long, light brown hair with blue clothes) - 9 points

Viola (female; short blonde hair) - 10 points

TPOSG (male; medium length orange-brown hair, long face) - 11 points

Tiger Catcher (male; short black hair and goatee/mustache) - 12 points

Mr. Insane (male; cropped light brown-blonde hair; bulbous head and cross-eyed) - 13 points

Dragona (female; long, light brown hair, sweet face) - 15 points

Poptart (female; she's the Revenge Is Sweet face) - 20 points

(Check out Sunnyneo's guide for great pictures of these staff members!)

3. Self-Control

Now, there's a catch to all this whacking. Though you're supposed to hit as many staff members as you can, DON'T, and I mean DON'T, hit any Neopets. Blumaroos, Myncies, and Usuls always pop up as a distraction, and it will take a lot of self-control not to smack every poor creature that decides to show up on your screen.

Many people suggest just ignoring the creatures and pretending they're not on the screen. I know for a fact that this is very difficult, but after a lot of practice, it'll become easier. Make sure you're not too stressed when playing this game, because that's just a recipe for disaster! Before I got the avatar, there were two times where I got about 50 points short of the avatar score, then starting freaking out, resulting in getting a very quick Game Over. :x

4. Luck

Yes, sorry. This game also requires a TON of luck. You might get unlucky and have Number Six be one of the only staff members to pop up for the rest of your game, resulting in a quick loss, or have Poptart grace your screen a multitude of times throughout the game. A good measure of your progressing luck in the first few levels of the game is to make sure you get approximately 200 points per level. If, in the first 5 levels, you don't get that much, then it's probably in your best interest to restart the game so you can try to get better luck in later games. The first few levels will make or break your score!

5. Perseverance

Trust me, you probably won't get the avatar or a trophy on your first shot. This game requires experience, luck, and persistence. Don't let a few Game Overs bring you down! Coltzan knows it took me weeks of continued tries to finally get the beautiful avatar, and it's definitely worth it in the end; the satisfaction of finally accomplishing a much-desired goal is worth hours of hard work. Don't quit at it! Continue to endure the game, and soon, that avatar or trophy will soon frame your lookup. Good luck! May Queen Fyora be with you in your endeavors! (:

Author's note: If you're reading this, then that means that I've gotten my very first entry into the Neopian Times! *gasp* Please neomail me if you have any comments, questions, or just want to say hi! Thank you so much for reading! (: