Overview: Neopets has been around for a long time, and it shows. There is a ton to do, but the navigation is confusing at best, and finding the really cool stuff can be quite a challenge. Overall the game has a lot of charm, but it’s got quite a lot of room for improvement.

You start off by creating an account and then your first Neopet. It’s not at all obvious what the choices mean – how does your Neopet’s personality affect gameplay? – but the options are cute. Once that’s done, you’ll be taken to the game proper. There’s a tutorial option – I’d strongly recommend taking it. It will give you some grip on the bewildering complexity of navigation.

There are a couple of main areas of play. The most obvious one is the collection of Flash games in the Games Room. They are fairly typical games in a wide variety of genres – if you like Flash games, you’ll find fun ones here. Playing the games earn you Neopoints which can be used in many other areas of the site, so this isn’t a bad place to spend some time.

Exploring Neopia is the next major area of the game. There are hundreds of minigames, shops, puzzles, and curiosities scattered through dozens of areas on the map. Click everywhere – there are unmarked surprises in many areas! There are quite a few spots that give free items, food, or other bonuses. You may also encounter random events as you explore – these are messages that appear above the map, and may be positive (free items or quests), negative (your items could be stolen), neutral (game hints), or simply quirky messages with no apparent effect.

The third main area is the collecting and decorating game. You can outfit your Neopet, build a Neohome, or simply assemble a collection of any of the many, many kinds of virtual items offered in the shops. Neopet outfits and Neohome decorations tend to cost real money (Neocash) although there are some free options. Assembling, for example, a complete collection of plushies is time-consuming and occasionally frustrating, but does not require any other investment than the willingness to stalk player or game-run shops for rare finds.

Running your own shop can be a major attraction as well. Because the game-run shops stock items randomly, there are rare items you can grab at rock-bottom prices and then make a killing on, if that’s your thing. Unfortunately the interface for player-run shops is pretty hideous (people should pretty much never be allowed to write their own HTML,) but it seems to be a lively sub-game for many players.

Overall, Neopets is a safe place for kids to explore, and the Flash games are as good as anywhere. The interface makes it very hard to get into, but there’s plenty of complexity if you’re looking for it!