LeavingBabylon

My account will be 12 1/2 on December 2nd!

TNT said in the Editorial that no harm will come to your petpets in the catacombs- no worries!

For petpet snare, just make the smallest, fastest triangle you can. You just need to cover a piece of the petpet; you don't have to encircle it (if you're trying to, you're probably getting timed out by your opponent). I try to start each "circle" just above the center of the petpet's back, then I jerk my hand down and to the left, then over to the right and back up, sort of in a very small circle (it's more a small spasm than a precise movement); this combo ensures that I always have a correct loop no matter how fast I move my hand. Playing on low quality during the mini-game also helps if you have a slow computer.
 
For berry blaster, I go after the black fruit (though I pick up anything on the way), and I usually win (unless it glitches -- KQ glitches on me a lot lately).
 
I know where the double spots are on the watering game, but I don't have a screenie. I'm sure someone does. I line it up based on where the bottom of the can hits the grass blades at the bottom (it's a more precise visual than trying to position the top of the can in the middle of a blue field).
 
 
Thanks for the fruit picker and spyder game tips (especially the right-click-left-click one!).
 
For the umbrella game, it's 100% time under umbrella times the number of petpets protected times any bonuses, and it's binary -- either the petpet is protected or it's not. So at the beginning, I rush to the side to protect a petpet heading "off" screen, hoping he'll bring some friends back. I do not give up a double or triple (or the rare quadruple) to gain a pink bonus or avoid a gray bonus (but of course I avoid lightning, trying to hold onto as many of my set as I can to decrease the likelihood of it being completely stolen). Since some move faster than others, I keep an eye out for any other sets that might form soon, especially if mine is threatening to break up, or if someone's about to join my opponent's set and I don't have a set of my own, I'll go snag it first to avoid letting him rake up more points. My goals in this game are (in "order," in that I don't sacrifice an earlier goal for a later goal): 1) get the biggest combo I can, 2) prevent my opponent from getting huge combos by escorting anybody threatening to join his group under my own umbrella) 3) get any pink bonuses/avoid gray bonuses. Obviously lightning stops all of these goals, so I guess avoiding it is goal 0.

I think I don't care what anyone says, as long as they aren't being vicious. I've had people make threats and say really odd things and I think "I hope you have a weird sense of humor because you are freaking me out!!!" I am a fairly "nice" player as described by siniri. While I may not always win, I prefer to win by making smart moves rather than taking every chance to mess up the other player. I do get that it is fair to do so but I hate when people constantly do it to me (put a lintball in front of me the second they get it just because), so I treat others how I want to be treated :)
 
But I came to this topic to say I wish there were more in-depth guides for the mini-games. Winning those keys is often the difference between 1st and 2nd place.
 
Here are some of my mini-game tips/comments/questions:
 
For Berry Blaster, just click as fast as you can machine gun style near any fruit/group of fruits. I almost always win as I see other people aiming and shooting one fruit at a time. I've only been beaten by people who use my same technique.
 
Fruit Picker: I believe the rainbow fruits are worth the most points. Again, I almost always win because I go for these rather than whatever is close. I'd love to see a point break down of the different fruits.
 
Neogarden Grow: I wish I knew exactly where to position it to water two seeds at once. It happens sometimes but don't have it down to a science by any means.
 
Orbliteration: I wish I knew which orbs pink orbs were clickable from which blue orbs. Sometimes I will move to an orb with a pink one right next to it, but it won't be clickable. Even if this happens, I have done well by constantly moving from blue orb to orb.
 
Petpet Snare: I think opponents think I am about 5 years old based on my performance here. I have only ever successfully looped ONE INSECT. EVER!!!!! I have no clue what I am doing wrong and how to fix it. It always says incorrect loop. So it is the kiss of death if this game pops up >.< If anyone has a clue what I may be doing wrong, I'd love some tips!!!
 
Shenkuu Showers: Do you get more points for protecting the same petpets for the longest amount of time? Or the larger amount of petpets (moving to where you can cover the largest group)? I never win this game and I am not sure why. Tips??

I will always say good game except when someone cheated on me (went afk after a pant devil/lint ball event while just in front of a key or treasure chest). I really don't care if I win or lose.
 
For the mini games:
(Thanks for the fruit picker tips! Didn't realize they had different points)
 
Orbliteration: You have to keep looking at what your opponent does. The ones that are not clickable are the ones that your opponent already picked. If you try to remember those and check for "really new" orbs you can get more purple orbs by only clicking on the real ones and you wont waste time clicking on the false orbs.
 
Petpet Snare: You might be moving too fast. Try making the circles without moving your mouse so fast, but fast enough so you have the petpetpet before your opponent has one. If he/she catches one before you do, even if it's a different one, you will have an incorrect loop. Try by just making a triangle, Make a move like this: \ / . So go down next to a petpetpet and move your mouse back up, don't make a circle, just down and up. It will count.
 
Shenkuu Showers: As far as I know you don't get more point for a longer time, a bigger group give more as each petpet will give you points and the pink umbrella doubles the score. I will even stop protecting them for a while if there is a black cloud on top so I don't get the lightning, then move back to them as quickly as possible.
 
For the "freezing spider game" if you get stuck (apparently when you grab those things that are REALLY close to you) you can right click the game screen, then left click on the game screen again. That will unfreeze the game for you. It really comes down to picking the purple orbs. Freeze your opponent as fast as you can and you'll win. I believe the 6 angled items to collect gives the most points. In this picture it's the top one from the items to collect (with an arrow pointing upwards) But grab as many items as you can.
 
 
 
You can find some additional tips here:
http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=500496&week=463

and my luck continues... Just got this from the snowager





And even though I didn't win anything from it, while I was scratching the card, this happened: