I remember on Saturday afternoons (after watching the morning cartoons, that is), at the ripe age of 10 years old, I would trot over to my mother’s old Macintosh laptop and search for Neopets. I had no clue how I happened to stumble upon the site that was so popular at the time.
The game was very simple: set in a variety of webpages, players create their own Neopets and trawl through never-ending pages, visiting the world of Neopia. As you explore, you can battle your Neopets, feed them, play with them, spin the many wheels of fortunes (or misfortune), and more.
So, what exactly was so appealing about the game? I remember being so confused back then. The stores were constantly sold out, my pet was sick, I somehow adopted 2 more pets (so I could redeem more Neopoints). Also, I always felt lost. I had no clue how to navigate the Battledome, no clue how to get more cash and yet, I spent hours on the site. It didn’t make sense (except for getting free food once a day - I was somehow always begging at the Soup Kitchen and Omelette Plateau).
Now, fast forward almost twenty years later - I am almost thirty and honestly surprised that the site had survived the test of time. For some reason, I thought that the site would make more sense to me as an adult. So I thought it’s time to take a trip down memory lane.
Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t for the life of me remember the login I used for my Neopets account back in the day so I made a brand new one. The login screen was definitely different than what I remembered it to be back in the day. It had a lot more animations on it and I was instantly excited to get on just to see how much has changed.
However, once I logged in, I realised that everything else still pretty much remained the same as it used to be back in 2001. The white pages with the Neopets logo splashed all over them still remained and exploring area to area requires loading each page separately.
As Adobe Flash is no longer available on Google Chrome, I found myself unable to play certain activities but it isn’t really a big deal. The map of Neopia still remains the same and I get excited when a random happening spawned on the next page I loaded. Sometimes, I’d get a free item or Neopoints, sometimes I’d get mugged somehow, forcing me to head over to the Battledome to challenge them to give my stuff back.
In terms of making money, I’m still as lost as I was when I was young. I had no clue where to begin and where to go. Starting off wasn’t too bad like I remembered as you’re given 2,500 Neopoints to spend (I used almost all of them on throwing dice or the many Wheels of Fortune). You’re also given a backpack with essentials like a snack and some plushies.
Trawling through the marketplace was still as annoying as it was before - everything was sold out as soon as I got on the page. I’m not sure if players are quietly camping the pages to mass buy items or the pages are not refreshed every eight minutes as promised.
The Spring of Healing in Faerieland is still not working (not unlike the ice-cream machine at McDonald’s) and the fetch quests that were given to me by various NPCs were still not doable for me as I 1) have no clue where to get the items or 2) can’t purchase the items required as they're sold out.
As frustrating as it all sounds, the game still has a certain charm. I thoroughly enjoy randomly stumbling into random events that reward me with special items or more Neopoints. Getting a single Neopoint after spending 10 points on a dice roll? That’s a total win to me. Perhaps it is just the small adrenaline rush I get from gambling away my few points.
I enjoy feeding my little pet (I got a Wocky which I fondly named Ewok12) and playing with her. I managed to get a pair of sunnies for her and she is adorable.
Perhaps I don’t understand how to play the game. Unfortunately for me, the tutorial wouldn’t work for me so I had to jump in blind like I did twenty years ago. For some reason, I thought the game was abandoned as it felt so quiet playing but the forums proved otherwise with such an active community interacting on the boards.
Will I ever return to the game after this? Probably not. Will I have my kids play the game? Also no but the game will always have a place in my heart.
Did you grow up with Neopets? What was your experience like?
