The Oracle Games: Guide to Open Mic Night

What's this game about?

While the Oracle has trapped our 'heroes' (and I use the word lightly for some of the contestants) on a deserted island, other Neopets have been transported to a comedy club on the island to make up an impromptu audience. Your job is to take control of a chosen character from a rotating list to make your audience laugh. Remember, they've just been dumped here, so some will be very difficult to entertain.

How to Earn Points

While there are bonuses on some of the levels, your score will mainly be determined by how happy the audience is by the end of your set. A bar at the top will measure this happiness throughout the game – with the green end on the right representing happiness and satisfaction, while the left, red side will be an indication of disappointment. During your time on stage, you will have to choose a type of joke or action by gauging your audience's current mood and time left. More difficult levels have more obstacles to overcome but also more points to be gained.

How to Play

First, you will choose your character. There are no distinct advantages or disadvantages with any of the characters, so simply choose the one for which you are rooting. Second, you must choose your difficulty level, and this is very important to consider very carefully. While the basic gameplay between the levels is the same, there are some big differences.

The basic gameplay is that your character is up on stage and you must choose a series of jokes to tell the audience. When your character first appears on stage, a button saying 'actions' will appear above his or her head. Press this button and then choose 'tell joke.' (In the easiest level, that will be the only option available.) From there, you can click which type of joke you want to tell. You can do quick, short jokes, medium jokes, or long jokes. Quick jokes, as the name would indicate are short and will not take too much time but also don't add a lot to your audience's happiness. These jokes are good as openers or to gain control after a disruption, but should be limited in use. Medium jokes take a bit longer but garner bigger laughs. These will be the jokes that you use the most during the game. Finally, there are the long jokes. While these jokes will make your audience laugh the hardest, the time it takes to set up the joke may bore the audience and will cause their enjoyment to drop. Also, in the more difficult levels, these jokes may make it more difficult to take care of distractors and hecklers – but more on those characters later in the guide.

You only get points for how happy your audience is by the end of your set. Even if you have a rough start, make sure to end well in order to get more points.

Levels of Gameplay

There are three levels of gameplay. The first level, which is the easiest, is One Liners. Your character is given two minutes on stage to tell as many jokes as he or she can. The audience in this case isn't particularly frightened because they think this is just a promotional gimmick of some new comedy club, so they will start off with a slightly positive mood before you tell your first joke. Don't worry about doing too many quick jokes if you choose this level, but stick with your medium jokes. You will only have time for one or two long jokes, so save those for the end. Even if you do excellent on this round, you will not score that many points. I recommend using this level only to learn to play and don't waste time submitting your score. The pitiful points you earn won't help your chosen character or your National Neopian account.

The second level is Prop Comedy. You are given three minutes on stage, but this time the audience has a neutral opinion of you. It is good to start out with a few quick jokes and then stick with mostly medium jokes afterwards. This level has a new obstacle – the Distractors. The Distractors will talk loudly throughout your show and will begin to annoy patrons sitting nearby. If they get annoyed, their enjoyment level drops and so do your points. When you see a Distractor, click 'actions' and then choose the option of 'bombed joke.' You will only have ten seconds to use your mouse to aim and throw the bomb by clicking space or your left mouse button. If you time it right, the 'bomb' will explode covering your Distractor with pie. This will cause him to be quiet and the other guests' levels of enjoyment will rise greatly. If you take too long, the bomb will explode covering you in pie. While this will also cause laughter, it will stun you for a few seconds and prevent you from telling any jokes during that time. If you miss the Distractor and hit an innocent bystander, the happiness bar will drop greatly. For the average player, this level will earn them the most points. It is both challenging but playable by everyone.

The most difficult level is Stand Up Fanatic. You are again given three minutes, but the audience's initial mood is slightly negative. You're going to have to hit fast and quick with jokes immediately to raise their opinion. The Distractor is back once again, and you deal with him the same as before, but now you have a new problem: the Critic. The Critic will look like any other member of your audience until he starts to boo loudly and then throw rotten Froozles at you. If you are hit with the fruit, you will be stunned and the audience will start booing along with the Critic. If you hit the 'actions' button, you can choose the 'armor' option to protect you from the fruit, but it will make you tell jokes much more slowly. The best course of action is a bit difficult. First, after the Critic begins to boo, switch to quick jokes so you will be able to prepare for the next steps. When he does throw the fruit at you, wait until it is just about to hit your face. If you hit spacebar at just the right moment, you will slap the fruit with your free hand and it will fly back and hit the Critic, who will leave immediately. Although this is very effective, it is difficult to time correctly. You can score crazy points for this level, but that's true for only the most advanced and talented players.

Final Thoughts

As I said before, this game is lots of fun and the perfect way for you to get involved. Happy Oracle Games – and may your favorites never be at odds!