| Designer(s) | Mike Elliott |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Wizards of the Coast |
| Players | 2 |
| Playing time | Approx 20 min |
| Random chance | Some |
| Skill(s) required | Card playing Arithmetic Basic Reading Ability |
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The 'Neopets TCG' is a collectible card game and a spin-off of the popular virtual pet website, Neopets. Launched in 2003, this game is produced by Wizards of the Coast, a large trading card company that produces a variety of other trading card games. Neopets is aimed at a slightly younger audience than other Wizards of the Coast offerings such as Magic: The Gathering.[1] As with many other trading card games, there are two purposes of the trading cards; the first to collect the cards, and the second to play a devised game using the cards.
The card game was discontinued in 2006.
Gameplay overview[edit]
Neopets TCG is a two-player game, where each player has a play deck of at least 40 cards and a separate deck of at least 10 Basic Neopets. Most deck-building articles suggest a limit of 2-3 species for the Basic Neopets, along with a minimum of 20 Item and/or Equipment cards (essentially half of the deck).[citation needed] Each card may have only 3 copies included. Players start with a single Neopet on the first turn, moving up to three by the third turn. These Neopets compete against opposing Neopets in four different arenas: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Magic. Winning a competition during a player's own turn allows the player to bank or draw a card; banking enough cards of sufficient value eventually leads to victory.
Types of cards[edit]
The various Neopets cards are divided into categories that affect gameplay in different ways. The different card types are as follows:
- Basic Neopet
- Experienced Neopet
- Item
- Equipment
- Hero
- Villain
- Something Has Happened!
- Location
- Fate (Curse and Quest)
- Constellation
Basic Neopet (Yellow)[edit]
The Basic Neopet cards are the foundation of the game, and are based upon fictional Neopets taken from the Neopets website, including the species and color of the Neopet. The cards list four abilities or attributes, which are: strength, agility, intelligence, and magic. Each of these is given a value, with a higher number denoting a greater power or skill in a given category. Basic Neopets never have a printed score higher than 10, or lower than 1.
Experienced Neopet (Grey)[edit]
The Experienced Neopet is much like an evolved Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. An Experienced Neopet has higher attributes, and often has helpful side effects that influence various part of the game. The Experienced Neopet cards consist of a Neopet species, and an adjective describing that Neopet's advanced occupation, e.g. Jubjub Engineer. However, only Neopets of the matching base species can transform into the Experienced Neopet role, so, for example, only a Jubjub could turn into a Jubjub Engineer, while a Mynci could not.
Item & Equipment (Red and Blue)[edit]
Item and Equipment cards both increase a Neopet's abilities, by adding points onto the printed base number in one or more categories, and frequently have certain side effects that affect gameplay. Whereas Items can only be used once before being discarded, Equipment is attached to the Neopet and remains there until it is removed by another card. The advantage to Items is that they can be sprung upon an opponent unexpectedly.
Item and Equipment cards are also the only cards worth points, ranging from 0 to 8. A player needs to 'bank' 21 points worth of Items and Equipment cards to win the game.
Hero & Villain (White and Black)[edit]
Villain cards and Hero cards both have extremely high ability numbers, and are designed to oppose one another. If a villain is played, the arena in which the villain is located is effectively sealed off until the villain is confronted and beaten, until which point the players cannot start contests against their opponent in that arena, only the villain. A Hero card can be used to fight a difficult battle (often against a villain), but can be used only once before being discarded.
Something Has Happened! (Purple)[edit]
Something Has Happened! cards usually cause a one-time, instantaneous event or effect to occur. These cards often are used to influence the outcome of a battle, and are then discarded. Because one can discover that 'Something has Happened!' at virtually any time, such cards can introduce a heavy element of surprise.
Location (Green)[edit]
Location cards can be played in one area to affect all future battles taking place there (until they get replaced by another Location). The Location can give an advantage to a certain kind of Neopet, or can cause some side effect to any battles occurring there. Location cards are typically based upon fantasy locations on the Neopets website.
Fate (orange)[edit]
Fate cards are divided into two sub-categories: Curse and Quest. Curses are usually placed on a Neopet belonging to the opponent, and have a negative or detrimental effect on that Neopet. Because Curse cards typically remain in play, they can cripple a given Neopet's ability to perform effectively. Quest cards affect all parts of the game, and are (usually) neutral.
Constellation[edit]
Constellation cards represent constellations in the sky which impact play in some way. For example, a given Constellation might confer an additional power to the Neopets in play, or otherwise might change the game in some fashion. Wizards of the Coast has not given any official ruling as to the rules regarding constellations, but popular rule sets online (most notably in player-created 'guilds' on the Neopets website) considered them similar to Magic's enchantments.
Expansions[edit]
The Neopets Trading Card Game has seen a series of expansions, with each release including new cards and in many cases, new categories of cards. Only three Neopets species did not make it into the TCG, as produced by Wizards of the Coast: Gnorbu, Ogrin, and Xweetok. Checklists can be accessed if players have a Neopets user account.
Base set[edit]
The first Neopets card set was simply an introductory 234-card set, with no prevailing theme whatsoever. This set introduced the card types Basic Neopet, Experienced Neopet, Hero, Villain, Item, Equipment, and 'Something Has Happened!'. The Basic Neopet types that were introduced were Aishas, Korbats, Myncis, Scorchios, Shoyrus, Kacheeks, Acaras, Lupes, Wockies, Poogles, Eyries, and Grarrls.
Battle For Meridell[edit]
This expansion's release was coordinated with an online plot/war, which was set in the virtual feudal-themed land of Meridell. Thus, the 140 cards in this set were designed with a Middle Ages-like style. This expansion introduced ten new species of Neopets, (Basic Type: Blumaroo, Draik, Gelert, Ixi, Meerca, Quiggle, Skeith, Uni, Usul, and Zafara) in addition to the Location card type.
The Return of Sloth[edit]
Intending to be tied into an online plot, this set was released in 2004 & the online tie-in was delayed until early 2008 due to workload.[2] This set totaled 100 cards. This expansion's theme was space, providing players with futuristic and robotic items and equipment. Six new Neopet species made their debut in this expansion (Basic Type: Cybunny, Grundo, Jetsam, Jubjub, and Kougra).
Mystery Island[edit]
Based upon a tropical island locale, this 100-card expansion provided no new card types, but did introduce four new Neopet species, including the Pteri and Techo (other Basic Type: Krawk and Peophin). The related plot was the Secret of the Volcano mystery plot in Fall 2003, but the plot and the expansion were not released together.
Hannah and the Ice Caves[edit]
Revolving around a central popular game character known as Hannah the Usul, a substantial plot was released on the Neopets website along with this 150-card set; it was also the first set to have 'secret' cards (5 Jelly cards 151/150-Jelly Poogle, 152/150-Jelly Shoyru, 153/150-Jelly World, 154/150-Jelly Puppyblew, and 155/150-Orange Jelly). The locale for this expansion, released in October 2004, was a wintry, icy environment. A game is also based upon the plot of this expansion of the same name, and is currently online at the Neopets website. This expansion introduced the Basic Neopets known as the Bori, and the Bruce (other Basic Type: Elephante, Flotsam, Kyrii, and Moehog). One new card type was released: Fates.
Curse of Maraqua[edit]
This 120-card expansion revolved around the underwater city of Maraqua, which was rebuilt during the plot of the same name on the Neopets website. Four new Neopet species were released with this set, including the Yurble (other Basic Type: Chomby, Lenny, and Tuskaninny).
Lost Desert[edit]
This 100-card expansion took players to the shifting sands of the Lost Desert. Basic Neopets released in this expansion are the Ruki, the Kau, and the Tonu. Site-wise, there was a plot and war revolving around this expansion.
The Darkest Faerie[edit]
This 150-card expansion (with 5 secret cards) featured several cards relating to the PlayStation 2 game, including several familiar characters from previous sets. The most notable of these were the Darkest Faerie, the Dark Faerie Sisters, and the Werelupe King. This expansion also introduced another new type of card, the Constellation (Basic Type: Buzz, Koi, and Nimmo). Oddly, this expansion was absent of any Fates.
Secret cards: 151- Amulet of Thilg, 152- Bewitched Ring, 153- Fyora, Tower Guardian, 154- The Hidden Tower, 155- Wand of Ultanova.
Travels in Neopia[edit]
This Neopets card 'expansion' is actually a re-packaging of 200 cards from previous card sets. This includes favorite cards, as well as Neopets from each and every known Neopet species; 3 exceptions from the list of 54- Gnorbu, Ogrin, and Xweetok (introduced Basic Type: Hissi, Kiko, and Lutari). Only one color for each Basic species was included. The general theme of this set is about encouraging fans to re-live past plots, or, for those new to Neopets, catch up to them with some of the more well-known aspects of the series. There was barely any publicity at all related to this expansion.
The Haunted Woods[edit]
The newest expansion, featuring 100 cards with a spooky theme. Cards are related to ghosts, werewolves, and zombies, among others. This deck is associated with the plot, Tale of Woe; where a village has fallen under a curse, and only the Neopets can determine what happened to the townsfolk. There are no new Basic Type cards, although they did fill out the basic 4 colors for the Lenny and Tonu. Special color versions are included for Acara, Aisha, Cybunny, and Korbat. As with previous recent releases, this release appears to be been done with a minimum amount of publicity. This is the last expansion produced by Wizards of the Coast.
Hubrid's Hero Heist[edit]
A game was created to tie in with the TCG, and it was named Hubrid's Hero Heist. It features several Neopian heroes being captured by Hubrid Nox and the player, as the Poogle Apprentice, is tasked to save these heroes. The heroes which the player saves are, in order of saving, Magnus the Torch, Jeran, Master Vex, Illusen, Jerdana, and finally, Fyora the Faerie Queen.[3]
References[edit]
- ^Kaufeld, John; Smith, Jeremy (2006). Trading Card Games For Dummies. For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN0470044071.
- ^'Neopian Museum: The Return of Dr. Sloth'. Jellyneo. Dreamhost. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^'Your Friendly Walkthrough to Hubrid's Hero Heist'. Neopian Times.
External links[edit]
- Wizards of the Coast Neopets product page[dead link]
- Neopets Trading Card Game at BoardGameGeek
The Neopets site boasts 55 different species of pet for you to own; to obtain a few of them, though, you'll have to work a little bit harder than usual. In particular, getting a Krawk, a Lutari or a Draik can be a bit tricky -- so much so that we've given them their own guides. Click on the images below to be taken to a specific guide for the Krawk, the Lutari or the Draik.
Creating A Pet On Its Day
Each species of pet has its own special day to commemorate the day that species first appeared in Neopia. On this day, TNT will usually release a bunch of items related to that pet; on Limited Edition pets' days, they may also make it possible for users to create a certain number of pets from that species. The pets are 'released' at random times throughout the day in groups of about 1,000; once they are released, the option to create one is made available at the Create a Neopet page until enough have been created for the current batch to run out.
Here is a list of the limited edition/restricted pet days. Note that TNT have also been known to release random pets for special occasions such as the site's birthday in November.
Neopets Paintbrush Types
Tonu February 21st | Chomby March 22nd | Lutari April 19th | Cybunny April 27th | Hissi May 4th |
Koi May 25th | Kiko July 17th | Grundo August 24th Available to create all year around here | Poogle September 19th | Jetsam October 16th |
Ruki July 29th |
Pet days for the Neopet species in the table above will generally include a release, but it's not guaranteed, and Lutari in particular do not get released every year. There's no way of telling in advance whether TNT will decide to release any Lutari on their day, so would-be Lutari owners will just have to be extra vigilant.
Draiks and Krawks are not released on their pet days; TNT seem to want to keep the creation of these two species as a special experience. However, a glitch in the pet creation system on Draik Day in Year Eleven meant that a very small number of players were temporarily able to create Draiks in the early hours of that morning. This error was corrected within a few hours, and it's almost certain that TNT will never let this kind of mistake occur again.
Unlike the other Limited Edition pets, Tonus are also released every time the Giant Omelette is completely devoured, but only in batches of 50 at a time -- so you'll have to hurry if you want one!
On November 11, 2014, the Ruki became LE when the Vandagyre was introduced to Neopets.
How Do I Know When A LE Pet Has Been Released?
By checking the Top Neopets page, you can see how many of each pet exist in Neopia. You'll be most interested in the bottom of this page, this part:
The number in brackets is the number of pets that TNT has released; the number outside the brackets is the number of that pet which has been created (not including any pets that have been zapped by the lab ray or morphed). When a certain pet is available to be created, the number in the brackets will be higher than the number outside of it; that is your cue to run and create one while you can. However -- as you can see with the number of Cybunnies in the above screenie -- the numbers are sometimes a little bit inaccurate, and it can look like there are still pets available to be created when there aren't. The best plan is to look for a large gap (about 1000) between the two numbers before getting excited.
Other Ways To Get A Rare Pet
If you haven't managed to create a pet during its festival, or are just feeling a bit impatient, don't despair! There are alternative ways of getting your dream pet.
Magical Items
If you don't mind changing the species of one of your existing Neopets, there are plenty of items you can use to do so. The most obvious course of action is to use a Morphing Potion, which will instantly change your pet to the colour and species listed in its name (for instance, an Orange Koi Morphing Potion to produce an Orange Koi), but there are other options. If you don't mind a Mutant Neopet, or are planning to paint your new rare pet anyway, you could use a Transmogrification Potion. There are also Magical Plushies available for certain colours and species. Alternatively, the Mysterious Swirly Potion will produce a random Limited Edition pet. You can read more about how and when to use all these items here.
The Lab Ray
As well as changing your pet's colour and altering his or her stats in the battledome, the Lab Ray can also change your pet's species. Chombies, Cybunnies, Grundos, Hissies, Jetsams, Kikos, Koi, Lutari, Poogles and Tonus can all be obtained at the lab. TNT seem reluctant to confirm or deny whether your pet can be zapped into a Krawk or Draik; if it does happen, it's certainly an incredibly rare occurrence.
I have the Wooden Spoon award for a reason, you know!
Adoption and Trading
Every now and then someone will place a Limited Edition pet in the Pound to find a new home. You're welcome to adopt these homeless Neopets, but since rare species are very popular, you may have to be quick! Your account must be at least four months old to be able to adopt one of these pets (except Grundos), however. Younger accounts won't be able to see rare species in the Pound at all.
If randomly searching the Pound doesn't suit you, you might be able to find someone looking for a home for a rare pet on the Neopian Pound Neoboard. Whether you decide to adopt a foster pet or swap pets with another user, you can read more about what to do in our adoption and trading guide.
One important exception to remember is that Lutari cannot be placed in the Pound or given to any other player at all. So if you want a Lutari, you'll have to morph, zap or create your own!
Petpet Types Neopets
This article was written by: Weepit & Dream