Deck Ball

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We rate this game medium. (This is our rating, not Neopets')		NP Ratio: 0.24 240 pts :: 1000 NP

Introduction

Deckball is one of the oldest games around in Neopia today. It was around in Year 3! Yet it's still going strong. The petpets still enjoy playing it, and hopefully you will too as you venture into the galley of Deckball.

Controls & Instructions

Your instructions are simple. Score more goals in your opponents end than in yours. Rules and aims vary with what style of game you are playing, but the idea remains.

You play a Pawkeet using the up, left and right arrow keys to maneuver around the deck. To hit the ball, you run into it using the up button.

Tips & Strategies

There are 3 types of games you can play :
Survival - You play until you are scored against. This is good if you don't have anough time to play an in-depth game.
Timed - You play a normal game against the clock. You have 3 minutes to score as many goals as possible, without getting any in your end. The game ends after 3 minutes. This style of play is a good idea if you want to maximise your point scoring, without having to worry about if a goal goes in at your end.
Points - You play a normal game which finishes after 5 goals have been scored by one person. This mode is best suited to the novices of the game, as they can practice with no rules prematurely stopping play.

The idea of each game is exactly the same. Get the ball into the opponents goal. When you do that, flags will come out the opponents goal and 1 goal will be added to the scoreboard in the top middle of the screen. Depending on what game you are playing, this may or may not show a time. If it shows an infinity symbol (a sideways '8') the type of game you are playing does not require doing something in a time limit, and is something you do not need to worry about.

But, before we start going on about scoring, we need to know about how the game starts. Once you have chosen your settings and clicked either 'PLAY' buttons, you start with a plain deck, a hole comes out, and a ball appears! The delivery of the ball comes at varying speeds. These can be categorised as simply slow, medium or fast balls.

Slow balls are easy to hit for you, but also easy for the Mirgle. When you get these sorts of balls, it's a race to the ball.

For medium speed ones, they are hard to judge and you may bump into the Mirgle trying to get it after a rebound off of the side of the deck.

Fast balls may look very hard but are the easiest. The computer controlled Mirgle won't be smart enough to time it right, but you are. Set yourself about a line or 2 away from the ball, and when the ball rebounds off of the side, hit the 'up' arrow key. You will block the ball from going any further, confuse the Mirgle and have (hopefully) a clear shot at his goal.

When playing, you will see 2 powerups. A cookie and an anchor. The cookie speeds you up, and the anchor slows you down. Hardly rocket science, is it? :) My advice would be to avoid these as they make the game harder. If you do get them, however, their effects will disappear once a goal has been scored.

You may also encounter little bonuses through game play. These events are random, and you cannot do anything to trigger them. If a bar goes across a goal, a ball cannot cross the line and a goal cannot be scored that end. If a gap appears across a goal, the ball doesn't cross the line, it disappears and pops up in the middle of the deck going the other way. Those are great if they aid you, but not if they aid the Mirgle. A somewhat neutral power-up is the crows nest with a pirate Mynci on top. Ignore the Mynci, he just points. The pole however blocks the ball and rebounds it. It's right in the middle, so it is very annoying!

Conclusion

There isn't really much too this game. All you really need to do is to find the type of game setting which suits you best. Plus, don't forget to play the hardest opponent to be eligable for any neopoints. Happy Deckballing!