I’ve been playing this game ever since I became a member of Neopets (back in the dark ages when we didn’t have a stock market) and it’s still one of my favourites.
For a while, neopets put the ratio of this game down to a ridiculous 0.3 or something like that – but now they’ve got it up and running so that with a ratio of 2.81 you don’t have to get much over 400 points in the game to earn your 1000np
As with my Hasee Bounce guide, this is not an actual description of the parts of the game, and how to play it. There are other guides for that – this is more of a strategic guide with some tips and tricks that I’ve picked up over the years.
1. Seeing the future
One of the most important things in this game is your aim. You need to practice this so that you can determine when to click on a moving ball. If you’re waiting unti it’s just above the right pot, you’re wasting time (in addition, if the ball is travelling quickly, you’ll miss the pot. Have a few goes until you can predict a diagonal path for the ball depending on how fast it is travelling. Unfortunately I can’t help you with this. It’s a matter of training yourself.
2. Fill ‘er up!
If the toy you have to build requires filling the yellow pot to the top, don’t ignore the other balls passing by. It’s likely that the next toy you have to build will have the other colours too. If your yellow ball isn’t forthcoming, then build up the other pots until they are full. If you know that your toy is going to use up all the paint in your pot, then if there’s a paint of that colour coming up, you can put it in the pot once you hear the toy production sound. That way you won’t overfill your pot, and you’ll have something in there for the next toy.
3. Bigger may not be better
As you have probably noticed, there are different coloured balls on the line and they all fill a pot with a certain amount of paint. It’s important to learn how much paint each ball will put in your pot. Not that you have to measure exactly, but if there are only two white spaces until your pot is full, then it’s pretty obvious that you don’t want to add a huge ball of paint. Once you get good at this, you’ll avoid the evil splashmeter.
4. Too much splashing can be bad for you
If you miss a pot, or are unlucky enough to hit an angry ball, your “splash meter” (as I like to call it) will fill up. Obviously this isn’t good.
HOWEVER don’t let it distract you. If a sponge comes along then use it, but don’t go crazy trying to click on it because you’re more likely to hit a ball going the other way. Keep your cool, and play with an eye on it, but don’t obsess – keep trying to fill your pots, and improve your accuracy.
5. Better the Grundo you know
When I started playing Freaky Factory I thought that the only way of getting the grundo thief out of the way was to hit him on the head with a ball of paint – which improved my accuracy no end. However you only have to click on him to stop him stealing your toys. The guy’s quick though, so if you have a line of toys coming, he may pop up twice.
My advice for dealing with the thief is to LEAVE HIM ALONE between paint jobs. If there’s nothing coming out of your conveyer belt, it’s better to concentrate on filling your pots. If you click on him while nothing’s happening, then he’ll vanish pop up unexpectedly. If you KNOW where he is (because he won’t vanish on his own) then you can click on him just before your toys reach him. Be careful if he’s standing right at your conveyer belt mouth.
6. Time is of the essence
You are of course on the clock, but like the sponge, don’t go waiting for a clock bonus to bail you out – because it’s unlikely to happen. Again, this is an accuracy issue which requires practice. Also, keep calm if the clock is almost done – you may have time to squeeze out another few toys.
7. Angels may not be your saviour
Everyone gets excited when they see the white angel ball. “Yay! A full pot!” you think with delight. Don’t get too happy though. If your angel isn’t angled correctly, your splash meter gets a sudden kick, and you end up with an empty pot. “So, what do I do?” I hear you say. Most times you’ll be able to get your angel into a pot because you don’t have to put it in any specific colour. However, if there’s no way you can get it into a pot i.e. it’s going too fast, or another colour’s in the way, or the pot is already full then don’t bother. Concentrate on getting your pots full without relying on an angel ball. If you can get it, fine – but don’t depend on it to win.
8. Putting on an angry face
Trying to avoid angry balls is generally an easy task (apart from when one comes to fill up the screen). If you need one of the balls and an angry ball is coming up, prepare to lose your ball. Do not try and click on your ball when the angry one passes, it’s likely that the angry one will go in front, fall into your pot, empty it and kick up your splash meter. Take the opportunity to sit back, relax, and see if there are any other balls on your screen you can put in the pots so you don’t waste your time.
Well, I hope this guide has been helpful to you. I generally score around 600 points in this, and once you’ve practiced a bit, you will be able to do it as well – but as I mentioned, you only need to get around the 400 point mark to earn your 1000np. – Katdragon