Not content with Alton's relatively boring form of potato counting goodness, one particularly rad Wocky took it upon himself to come up with a more exciting alternative. And so it was that Extreme Potato Counter came to be! Much like its inspiration, it is a game where you count potatoes. But wait! There's more! These potatoes don't just sit still and wait to be counted, oh no; they spin and fly across the screen recklessly with absolutely no regard for safety. Can you feel the excitement?!
Count me! Please?
Instructions
The controls are really extremely simple (extreme, get it?), all you do is sit and count the potatoes that fly across the screen. Then, when prompted, type in how many potatoes you counted.
The only thing that stops this game being as mind-numbingly dull as its predecessor are the distractions. As you progress, the potatoes on the screen will be joined by other vegetables: sweetcorn, carrots, and aubergines to name but a few. You don't count these at all, they're just trying to distract you from counting. And they do a really good job of it...for vegetables I mean.
Potatoes can fly in any direction and may overlap, as shown on the left in the screenshot below. Also, as you progress through the levels, the potatoes will move faster and there are typically more of them.
Guessing
Now that the potatoes have done their thing, it's time to guess! When the box pops up enter the number of potatoes you saw on the previous screen. Do not include the potatoes in rounds before the current one, you only need to enter the number you just saw and not a running total.
The number of potatoes that can appear in each level is determined by specific criteria. In the first level, there will be 6-10 potatoes to count (in extremely rare cases there may also be 11); in the second, there will be 9-15; in the third, the minimum number of potatoes will again go up by three, and the maximum by five. This will continue for every level in the game. The following table gives you the minimums and maximums for the first 20 levels:
| Level |
Minimum |
Maximum |
| 1 |
6 |
10/11 |
| 2 |
9 |
15 |
| 3 |
12 |
20 |
| 4 |
15 |
25 |
| 5 |
18 |
30 |
| 6 |
21 |
35 |
| 7 |
24 |
40 |
| 8 |
27 |
45 |
| 9 |
30 |
50 |
| 10 |
33 |
55 |
| 11 |
36 |
60 |
| 12 |
39 |
65 |
| 13 |
42 |
70 |
| 14 |
45 |
75 |
| 15 |
48 |
80 |
| 16 |
51 |
85 |
| 17 |
54 |
90 |
| 18 |
57 |
95 |
| 19 |
60 |
100 |
| 20 |
63 |
105 |
If you guess the number right, you will score the amount of points equal to how many potatoes you counted. (Ex: If you correctly counted 12 potatoes, you score 12 points for guessing correctly.) You then have the option to send your score, or continue to the next round. If, on the other hand, you do not guess correctly, you do not score any points for that round and the game ends!
Tips
Here are some quick tips for extreme potato counting:
- It helps to focus on the center of the screen and count them when they come in from the edges. It's less confusing than moving your eyes around, though it can make it harder to spot if two overlap.
- If it helps you, count out loud.
- Avoid distractions; you might want to suppress notifications from other programs so they don't draw your eye away at a crucial point.
- Check to make sure you entered your number correctly. You don't want to lose out just because of a typo.
- Mute the computer if you think the music will distract you.
- If you have somebody else nearby have them count with you and compare totals.
- Count the potatoes in pairs rather than singularly if you find that easier.
Ollie Appearance
Like many Flash games on the site, Extreme Potato Counter was worked on by Ollie, also known as the Phantom Orange Shirt Guy. There is a very small chance he will fly across the screen instead of one of the usual vegetables.
For a full list of Ollie's various appearances, check out our Phantom Orange Shirt Guy article!
