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Creative Contest Prizes

Fancy yourself the creative type? Or maybe you're looking to get rich, quick? Well, the creative contests might be the spot for you! But fair warning—like the old adage says, you can't make max bank without finding a few Globilols! Or, well, something like that.

There are four different active creative contests: the Art Gallery, Caption Contest, Neopian Times, and the Storytelling Contest.

Since the dawn of time Neopians have gotten a lil' extra something for their hard work in the form of a trophy, item prize, and/or Neopoints. Occasionally, you might even find a new avatar! Sure, we do it because we love it, but material recognition can be nice too.

As of December 2025 all active, item-awarding contests share the same base prize pool.

A Brief History

The general item prize pools were updated at the following times in Jellyneo's recorded history:

• Summer of 2012
• Autumn of 2018
• Spring of 2023
• Autumn of 2025
• Spring of 2026 (April 24, 2026)

Unfortunately, we don't have solid records of the pre-2012 era as JN did not collect that data during those times.

The Neopian Times began awarding prizes in January 2024 (it had previously only awarded items for certain themed issues). The Caption Contest stopped awarding prizes beginning with round 1478 in February 2024, but resumed again with round 1501 in December 2025.

The contests do not not always change over to the new item prize pool on the same date. For example, the 2023 prize pool rollout happened over the course of several months—starting with the Storytelling Contest in February, followed by the Caption Contest in March, and finally the Art Gallery and Poetry Gallery in mid-May.

The 2025 prize pool rollout occurred over the span of a month, with Storytelling again being the first to transition, in early September, and Art Gallery being the last to transition in early October. The Caption Contest, as mentioned before, began awarding prizes from the pool with round 1501 in late December. The Poetry Gallery was discontinued as a standalone contest during this period of time, holding its last official round on March 23, 2026, after which it was enveloped into the Neopian Times.

The 2026 prize pool was announced in the v0.8.10 Release Notes as occurring on April 24, 2026. All four active contests transitioned simultaneously on this date.

Trophies

Each contest awards a trophy for your cabinet. If it is not your first time being published, your trophy will update on your userlookup to include a multiplier beneath it, indicating your total number of publications.

Creative Contests
10xCHAMPION!!!

Neopoint Awards

Most contests award a meager amount of Neopoints.

• Art Gallery: 30,000 NP
• Caption Contest: 10,000 NP for places 1-5, and 5,000 NP for places 6-25
• The Neopian Times: 15,000 NP (poetry entrants only)
• Storytelling Contest: 30,000 NP

Avatars

All contests have exclusive avatars that can be earned.

Art Gallery

Random Contest Winner / Guide

Awarded to the winners of the monthly "Handmade/Homemade" themed Art Gallery, as of April 8, 2025.

Previously awarded for winning the Random Contest until early 2021.

Released: November 2, 2004

Easel-y the Best / Guide

Awarded to the winners of the Art Gallery.

Released: December 19, 2025

Caption Contest

Caption Contest - Funny / Guide

Awarded to the top 25 captions in every 10th round of the Caption Contest starting with contest #1400.

Originally awarded to the top 25 captions in every 100th round.

Released: April 14, 2004

Caption Contest - Hilarious / Guide

Awarded to the top 12 captions in every non-10th round of the Caption Contest starting with contest #1478.

Originally awarded to the top 5 captions, from rounds 1407-1477.

Released: February 22, 2018

Neopian Times

Neopian Times Star / Guide

Be published in the Neopian Times 10 times, then view your user lookup. Editorial questions do not count.

Released: July 23, 2004

Neopian Times Writer / Guide

Awarded to all users published in a 25th, 50th, 75th, or 100th edition of the Neopian Times, as of issue 941 (July 2021). Prior to issue 941, and since issue 200, you had to be published in a 50th or 100th edition.

Released: July 26, 2005

Storytelling Contest

Storytelling Competition / Guide

Win the Storytelling Contest, then view your user lookup.

Originally awarded to the winners of Storytelling #1000, #1005, and #1010.

Released: September 8, 2025

Item Prizes

As of April 2026, all four creative contests currently award prizes from a shared pool.

View All Active Creative Contest Prizes »

General Prizes

The current pool was introduced on April 24, 2026. All four active contests transitioned simultaneously on this date.

Neopian Times Exclusive Prizes

There are additionally some Neopian Times-themed items that can only be awarded via the Times.

Milestone Prizes

In addition to a general prize for winning, the Caption Contest, Neopian Times, and Storytelling Contest all award exclusive prizes for milestone issues—every 100th Caption Contest, every 25th issue of the Times, and every 100th story. For all contests except Caption this item is awarded in addition to your general item prize. For the Caption Contest, it has historically been awarded in place of the general item prize.

When it was still an active contest, the Poetry Gallery also awarded an exclusive prize for every 100th gallery, and also a special prize for the 1000th gallery.

Although the prize is now standardized, the Times previously awarded different prizes for each milestone issue, and has not infrequently awarded special prizes for themed issues, or sometimes just for fun! Check out our Neopian Times prize guide for more details.

Previous General Prizes

This page was written by Herdy & noileh and last updated on July 2, 2026.