A strategic guide to Godori

     Several minutes later, my confidence was nowhere to be found. Cards flew across the screen in all directions, confusing me. I lost my first hand. A little while later, I lost my first match. Now that hurt my self-esteem and I got frustrated. How on earth was I going to win 250 hands? And in one month? This shouldn’t be so hard! Not understanding where it had all gone wrong, I read the rules a second time, but the rules didn’t help me win. It wasn’t until I had played about 50 hands that I started to get the hang of it, even though I still lost about half the time. After about a hundred hands I started winning more and more until I had finally developed a strategy that worked for me. With this strategy, the game is really quite easy. Today I’m sharing my strategy with you, so that, hopefully, you will have an easier time earning this avatar than I did.

     First of all, there is one thing you need to understand if you want to play this game right. That is the difference between Capture Matches and Scoring Matches. And that difference matters, because Capture Matches do not automatically give you points, but Scoring Matches do. So what’s what? I will explain below:

     - Capture Matches are used to draw cards to your side of the playing field. You capture a card you want by playing a card that matches the same Neopian world. So, if you want to capture a Faerieland card, you have to play a Faerieland card from your hand to capture it. If you want to capture a Mystery Island card, you play a Mystery Island card, and so on. You can only capture cards when they form a set of two or four cards. You can’t capture a set of three cards. These sets will sit in the middle of the playing field until either you or your Neopet plays the fourth card.

     - By capturing cards from different worlds, you can start making Scoring Matches, which will get you points. There are four sorts of Scoring Matches you can try to make: Neopets matches (cards with a Neopets star on them), Petpet matches (cards with Petpets), Altador Cup matches (cards with Altador Cup flags) and Neopian World matches (empty cards). The number of points a Scoring Match will give you, depends on the match, but more on that later. An easy way to remember which cards are the most valuable is this: every card with a picture on it is more valuable than an ‘empty’ card. Therefore, capturing a picture card with another picture card is always preferred to capturing a picture card with an ‘empty’ card.

     So, in short, you want to capture those cards that will give you the best Scoring Matches. You do not want to ‘just’ get as many cards as possible. This will, of course, still get you points, but there’s a better way to it.

     Mentioned below are the best Scoring Matches. In every game of Godori, I always aim to get these:

     - All Neopian Words cards (worth 15 points), though this is very hard

     - If I can’t get that, I will still try and get at least three Neopian World cards (4 points for 4 cards, 3 points for 3 cards, 2 points for 2 cards and 2 points for 3 cards if Haunted Woods is included)

     - The three flying Petpet cards (Carmariller, Vaeolus, Avabot, worth 5 points)

     - Any set of all three waving, hanging or ribbon Altador Cup flags (3 points per set)

     Note: Your Neopet will try to make these matches as well, so it’s important to mind his or her Scoring Matches as well as your own. As a general rule of thumb: if I can’t make any of the matches mentioned above, I make sure my Neopet doesn’t either, by capturing the cards my Neopet needs.

     Alright. Now that you know which Scoring Matches you want to get, it’s time to practice what you’ve learned. Start a new game of Godori. Don’t worry if you don’t know what to do. I will walk you through it, step by step.

     - First of all, always check for Neopets cards in the middle. Those are the ones with the Neopet star symbol. If possible, claim those first, preferably with a Petpet or Altador Cup card (picture cards). If you don’t collect the Neopets cards in the middle, your Neopet will.

     - Second, check for Neopets cards on your hand. Play them when you can capture them, no sooner. As these cards are on your hand, you don’t have to rush them.

     - If there are no Neopets cards to capture, it’s time to shift your attention to the flying Petpet cards (Carmariller, Vaeolus, Avabot).

     - First, check if there is a flying Petpet card in the middle and capture it if you can. If not, your Neopet will. If possible, play an Altador Cup card to capture it, as picture cards are more valuable than Neopian World cards (‘empty’ cards). If you don’t have an Altador Cup card, capture it with an ‘empty’ card.

     - Check if you have flying Petpet cards on hand. Play them when you can capture them, no sooner. Like all other cards on your hand, you don’t have to rush these. Of course, matching your flying Petpet card with an Altador Cup card is ideal, but don’t wait for that possibility.

     - If there are no Neopets cards or flying Petpet cards to capture, shift your attention to the Altador Cup cards.

     - Check what kind of Altador Cup cards you already have, both on hand and already captured. Also, check what kind your Neopet has. Try and get three Altador Cup cards of the same kind. Also, prevent your Neopet from doing just that.

     - If you can’t, capture any Petpet Card with an Altador Cup card or the other way around. If you can’t combine two picture cards, capture one with an ‘empty’ card.

     - If none of these options is available, capture a land card with a land card, as catching something is better than catching nothing.

     - If you don’t want to do that, or if you can’t make any Capture Matches at all, play an ‘empty’ card from your hand and hope the drawn card from the stockpile will create a match for you.

     Of course, even if you follow this strategy, you won’t win every game. There is also luck involved. The order in which the cards from the stockpile are shuffled and drawn, can either help or harm you. Sometimes, when you make a Capture Match, a third card from the stockpile is added to that same match. And, as you may remember, any collection of three cards cannot be captured. If your Neopet plays the fourth card in their turn, and it usually does, you will have lost those capture matches. Other times, your Neopet will constantly snatch away the cards you want to capture, leaving you with almost no cards in the end. But I’ve found that following this order at every turn helps me win most games, regardless of who starts.

     Some final tips:

     - For your first go, make sure the game speed is set on ‘slow’. Watch which cards are matched by your Neopet. That way, you’ll quickly learn what cards form Capture Matches and what cards are most wanted. As you get more experienced, you can set the speed to ‘medium’ or ‘fast’.

     - During the game, you can check both your own and your Neopets score and how exactly it is built up. Simply click on your username or your pet’s name in the yellow bar. You can only do this during the game, not after.

     - If you have a Capture Match on hand (two cards that belong to the same Neopian world) and the other match of this world has already been captured, that means this Capture Match is yours anyhow!

     - In that situation, some people will advise you to keep that Capture Match on hand until the very end, as it is yours anyway. I don’t always do that. Sometimes, I play one of those cards when that prevents me from playing a good card I can’t capture yet. Other times, I play them if I want to see what card the stockpile will draw.

     - Of course, the more you play Godori, the easier it becomes and the faster you will get.

     Well, that’s it for this strategic guide. I hope it will help you win 250 hands more quickly than I did, giving you that shiny avatar. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to neomail me. And don’t forget to have fun!