Counting Babaas: A Guide to Maths Nightmare

First, let’s start off with a simple description of the game, for those who haven’t played before. This is what Neopets has to say about it:

Imiya the Aisha is fast asleep... dreaming of butterflies, flowers and other cute things. Tomorrow she has a HUGE Maths test that she needs to pass, so its vital she gets as much sleep as possible.

... and then THEY arrived. Babaas, hundreds of them, all carrying maths problems that have to be solved! Help solve the puzzles so the Babaas can jump over the fence and keep Imiya sleeping!

Click on the Babaa with the puzzle you want to solve, and then use the number pad to type the answer in and hit the Enter key. Try harder levels to earn more points - but watch out for the Mutant Babaas, their puzzles are much harder to solve!

So, to sum it all up, answer the math problems correctly before the Babaas reach Imiya at the bottom of the screen. I wouldn’t say the Mutant Babaas are MUCH harder to solve, but sometimes they are a little bit harder. They also give you more points than the regular Babaas. There are modes of play that you can choose from. They are: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, and Random. The first four modes are pretty much self-explanatory. Random is a mixture of all four types of math problems. At the end, each of the levels will multiply your sort-of-final-score by a number to get your real-final-score. Addition mode multiplies your sort-of-final-score by one to get your real-final-score; Subtraction by two; Multiplication and Division by four each; Random will multiply it by five.

Instead of using the mouse to click on the Babaas, you can also use the arrow keys to select a different Babaa with a problem. I would suggest doing this instead of using the mouse every time; it might be easier than switching back between the mouse and the keyboard whenever you have to type in an answer. You can only get a problem wrong three times, before your game is ended.

And now, for scoring. Your score is calculated as follows:

Score= Number of Babaas solved * bonus (mutant Babaas)

That score is then multiplied by a number, depending on what difficulty mode you played on (see above section). That is your total score. You will get 100 NPs per 100 points scored in this game (1000 NPs max).

Read on for my quick tips to success:

TIP #1: Always play on Random mode. That’s pretty much self-explanatory. It really isn’t much harder than the other modes, and it is the most rewarding. Always play on it.

TIP #2: Play on the first of the month. As with all games, it is much easier to get that shiny trophy or snazzy avatar you’ve always wanted if you try to get it on the first of the month. This is when all the high score tables are reset, and high scores are a lot lower than they are near the end of the month, when people have more time to make that devilishly high score.

TIP #3: Play on a computer with a fast reaction time if you have an option. If you play on a faster computer, it may be a bit more hectic, but I think it will also help you. I got my high score on a slow computer, and I lost because my computer didn’t get the answer entered in time (I did get it right), and counted it that I missed it (I would’ve played on my own computer, but was stuck on a slower one because mine was having problems, in case you cared). So, if you play on a faster computer, it will help you in the long run, and may prevent something like that from happening to you.

TIP #4: Use a manual calculator for harder problems. Hopefully, you will not have to use it all the time if you can do some of the problems in your head. Don’t use the calculator on your computer if you have one, because it would be too hard to switch back and forth between windows. If you are right-handed, I recommend using your right hand for the mouse and keyboard and your left hand for entering problems into your calculator. If, for some reason, you don’t have a calculator lying around, try using scratch paper and a pencil and doing the problems by hand.

TIP #5: Pause the game while figuring out the answers. This is the biggest tip I could give you. I figured out that you can pause the game by clicking and holding down your mouse on the top bar of the window (as you would if you were moving the window somewhere else). The only down part to this is you have to keep holding it down to keep it paused. What you need to do for each problem is follow this process: Select the problem, Pause the game, Use the calculator, Unpause, Enter in the answer, Select next problem, and start it all over again. Doing this will save time and also make the game a lot less hectic when the Babaas are moving much faster in the later levels.

TIP #6: Make sure you are uninterrupted while playing. Set aside about anywhere from a half hour to an hour of playing time, and make sure you won’t have to get up and do something away. In this game, if you step away from your computer for just a few seconds, your game could be over. So, if you absolutely HAVE to get up, maybe try getting your annoying little brother or other family member to stand there holding the mouse down on that top bar until you get back. Good luck getting them to do that for you, though. Maybe try bribing them? =P

TIP #7: Answer the problems in a row, don’t try skipping around. Some people say that you should answer the problems that are easiest first, but I don’t see the point of it. It will just make it more hectic, when you keep clicking around to different problems every which way, plus the game switches to problems automatically. So, when you are typing in the answer, it might switch back to the problem itself, wiping out the answer you’ve typed. It gets very annoying, and I think it’s just easier to do them in a row, because you can get the answer in before it switches most of the time. Plus, with the pausing tip mentioned in Tip #5, you are not spending much more time on harder problems when you can just pause the game every time. It just takes a little longer to type in the answer if it’s a longer answer.

TIP #8: Make sure you can see the whole screen. This isn’t too terribly important, but it might help some people anyways. The game screen is sort of an odd shape; it is very tall. Make the bar on the bottom of your screen small, so it is only a little strip, and then move the top of the window up. That way you will be able to almost see all of it. It just really annoys me if I can’t see it all. :P

And the final tip that I will give you is…PRACTICE! If it first you don’t succeed, try try again. Or, as I like to say it, if at first you don’t succeed, pout a little that you’re not a complete natural at it, and then try, try again. ;-)

Hopefully, the more you play, the more comfortable you will be with the game, and the higher the score you can get. And maybe you’ll be able to figure out your own little tips to the game to make it easier for you to play. Then you’ll be the one with that nice new trophy in your cabinet, or snazzy avatar for the Neoboards.

Happy Maths Nightmaring!