Neopets: Codestone Quest was released by MumboJumbo and Nick Arcade in September 2007. It's a match-three style Windows PC game, available on CD-ROM or as a download from the now defunct Nick Arcade and Shockwave websites. The game was described on Nick Arcade as:
An alchemist named Oswoc needs codestones to activate a mysterious spell, and you must travel to seven Faerie Rings to collect them. Trouble is brewing, though, as the evil Balthazar is kidnapping faeries in record numbers. Free the faeries, collect codestones, and save the day in this Neopets adventure.
Game Features
- Venture to exciting Neopet lands!
- Gain special powers to defeat Balthazar!
- Call on Petpets to help!
It features some well-known Neopian characters, Balthazar and Aethia, along with unique characters Beyla, Oswoc, Meut, and Wourt.
You play as either Meut or Wourt, apprentice alchemists sent on a quest to locate Codestones across Neopia, by their teacher, Oswoc. Oswoc wants a specific set of Codestones to power up a mysterious spell, but you quickly find out that Balthazar has been sent on his own quest to capture as many faeries as possible. Aethia promises to help on your quest to locate these Codestones in exchange for freeing the trapped faeries. As you venture through Neopia, you free faeries, collect dubloons, and find the Codestones.
The sleeve the physical game CD came in, along with the CD itself, featured some unique art and provided a description of the game.
This is the front of the CD sleeve.
The back of the CD sleeve.
What the CD itself looks like.
The game starts in Meridell. Each level has a unique name with different backgrounds that correspond to areas in the lands, like Meri Acres Farm in Meridell. Some of the level names are invented for the purposes of the game, like Jackals Ruin in Lost Desert. The other lands in the game are Maraqua, Mystery Island, Tyrannia, Terror Mountain, Haunted Woods, and Lost Desert. The lands unlock as you progress through the game. There are ten levels per land.
Neopia: now with less Faerieland!
The game uses the mouse as your main way to control the character. There is no difference between the two player character options, both Meut and Wourt are functionally the same, it's just up to you if you would like to be a Kacheek or a Blumaroo. You move your mouse left and right to adjust where your cannon shooter is positioned on the bottom of the screen, and left click to shoot. Right click will allow you to rotate through three colour faeries in the launcher. Pressing the space bar allows you to pause and unpause your game.
This is an example of how levels appear.
Mutant Meepits appear through the game with large chains of bottled faeries, quickly pushing these faeries across the screen along a pale blue path. If the faeries reach the end of the blue line and into The Magic Cart at the end, you lose a life and have to start that level over. Later levels feature multiple paths with their own Magic Carts at the end. Your goal is to free these captured faeries by making matches of at least three of the same colour by shooting the corresponding faerie from your cannon into the chains. Every match that is made frees the faeries and shortens that chain. The level ends once all of the faeries have been freed.
There is little downtime between chains, as soon as you complete one the next is ready to take over your screen. The game's pace is very fast and you may have multiple chains on the screen at once. The overall speed increases as you complete more levels. As you progress through the levels, you need to free more faeries to finish the level. The game automatically saves your progress, even if you are in the middle of a level. Once you complete a level, you are brought to a screen that shows your performance on that level.
Obviously the most important part of any good game.
The game prioritizes the colours that you need in order to make matches, and will switch the available faeries in your shooter to only be colours that are in the chains. New colours of faeries will unlock as you progress through the game.
The Meepits slow down as they get closer to the end of the path, but new chains will continue to move at their regular speed until they also get closer to the end of the path. If you are too slow at making matches, the chains can merge together, making them much longer and erasing one of the Meepits. There are obstacles on the maps that will prevent your faeries from making contact with the chain, including the faeries going entirely off-screen for short periods of time as they move closer to the end of the path.
There are three game modes: Adventure, Survival, and Timed. There are also three difficulties in Adventure Mode: Easy, Normal, and Hard. The only differences higher difficulties have are speed and the amount of faeries you need to free to finish levels.
There are two power ups in this game, Faerie Magic and Petpets. You can also purchase extra lives with dubloons in Adventure Mode. The purchase price of an extra life is always five dubloons and you may purchase as many as you can afford.
The power ups as seen in-game.
Certain combinations of colours will grant you a one time use power up. These do not unlock automatically, as you progress through the game you will unlock these boosts. The game will alert you through a brief pop-up about the combination you will need to create to earn a power up. Match combinations for power ups need to be done three in a row, and in a specific order. If a combination requires you to make matches of just yellow bottles, you cannot match green bottles in between, the combination counter will reset. If a combination requires blue, yellow, and green bottles, you need to make a blue match, followed by a yellow match, and then a green match to receive the power up.
There are four Petpets in the game for you to purchase with dubloons in Adventure Mode. You may have up to five of each Petpet at any time. The cost doubles for each Petpet, based on how many Petpets you own of that type. Once you use your Petpets, the cost goes back down. When you use a Petpet, they move along the same path as the bottled faeries, starting at the end and going backwards from the end of the path to where the nearest bottle is.
This is where the story comes into play as the other modes do not feature story elements. Petpets and dubloons are also features in this mode. You can click on your Petpets on the left side of the screen to activate them and use their temporary powers to help make the levels easier to pass. Dubloons will generate throughout the game, and you will need to move your character left and right to catch them, though the game tries to aim them towards your character. Dubloons are used to purchase Petpets and extra lives between levels.
The Meepit will turn into a dubloon for you to collect when you defeat their chains in this game mode. Once you have either cleared enough faeries, Balthazar appears with his own chain of faeries. You can track your level progress with a rainbow progress bar on the left side of the game window. Balthazar does not act differently than the Meepits, but his chain is always the last one of the level. He also turns into a dubloon when defeated, and several more dubloons may also generate randomly at the end of the level. Once you have finished a level, you see a screen with your performance.
After you have cleared all of the levels in the world you are on, you receive a Codestone and the next land unlocks. Once you have beaten Adventure Mode, you can start a new game with your current score, dubloons, and Petpets carried over, just on a new difficulty. You cannot go back and replay individual levels in Adventure Mode unless you start a new game.
The flattest Codestones in Neopia!
The collected Codestones automatically appear on the front of this book, and the full set looks like this:
This game mode does not feature the use of Petpets or dubloons. Balthazar also does not appear. In this mode, your only goal is to make matches for as long as possible without losing a life. This mode continues endlessly until you lose. Once your faeries end up in the Magic Cart, your game will be over and you need to start a new survival game to try again. If you have not beaten levels in Adventure Mode, you will start at Meridell 1-1. Once you have beaten levels in Adventure Mode, you can select levels to play. This game mode is always set to hard difficulty.
This game mode is similar to Survival Mode. You begin on a timer, and the more matches you make the more time you have to complete levels. It also does not feature Petpets or dubloons, and once you run out of time or your faeries reach the Magic Cart, the game is over. Balthazar does not appear in this mode to indicate that you've beaten a level. If you have not beaten levels in Adventure Mode, you will start at Meridell 1-1. Once you have beaten levels in Adventure Mode, you can select levels to play. This game mode is also always set to hard difficulty.
Each land has a unique map, styled like a hand drawn treasure map held up by faeries, showing your progress across the levels in Adventure Mode. Levels also have themed backgrounds for each land. An incomplete level shows an outline of an X. Once a level is completed, the X marker darkens. Each land has ten levels.
Meridell features ten levels and acts as the game's tutorial. It introduces your first power up, Colour Blast, and introduces you to earning and spending dubloons.
The Meridell world map.
An example of how a Meridellian level looks at the beginning.
Maraqua features ten levels and unlocks the next power up, Targeting Beam.
The Maraqua world map.
An example of how a Maraquan level looks at the beginning.
Mystery Island features ten levels, with three of these levels having two Magic Carts to keep an eye on. Wildcard unlocks here. The levels with two Magic Carts are 3-2 Mouth of Stone, 3-6 Tiki Tiki, and 3-8 Hidden Hut.
The Mystery Island world map.
An example of how a Mystery Island level looks at the beginning.
Lost Desert has ten levels, with one level having two Magic Carts. White faerie bottles are introduced here, along with the Lightning Bolt power up. The level with two Magic Carts is 4-9 Pathway to Treasure.
The Lost Desert world map.
An example of how a Lost Desert level looks at the beginning.
Tyrannia features ten levels, with two of these levels having two Magic Carts. The Wild Card power up unlocks here. The levels with two Magic Carts are 5-9 Pit Traps and 5-10 Prehistoric Paths.
The Tyrannia world map.
An example of how a Tyrannian level looks at the beginning.
Terror Mountain features ten levels, with one level having two Magic Carts. Purple faerie bottles are unlocked in this stage, along with the Fireball power up. The level with two Magic Carts is 6-6 Frozen Peaks.
The Terror Mountain world map.
An example of how a Terror Mountain level looks at the beginning.
Haunted Woods features ten levels, with one level having two Magic Carts. The level with two Magic Carts is 7-9 Eerie Guardians.
The Haunted Woods world map.
An example of how a Haunted Woods level looks at the beginning.
Read the full story!
You can read the full in-game story on our supplemental archive.
The game opens with a mysterious figure and Balthazar meeting, and the mysterious figure offers Balthazar a large bounty for captured faeries. Balthazar agrees, as he enjoys hunting faeries. This figure also provides Balthazar with two new magical items to help make him more dangerous, a cage of Mutant Meepits that do his bidding, and a magical charm.
Oooh...mysterious.
Oswoc then shows up, asking the player to go on a quest for Codestones for a powerful spell. Oswoc says that these Codestones are guarded by faeries, and that you need to go to various locations to find the Codestones. The details of this spell are not made clear, but you head out to complete the task at hand. Arriving in Meridell, you find Aethia, who immediately accuses you of working for Balthazar, saying that he's kidnapped faeries in record numbers. You clear your name, and she promises to help you if you help them. In exchange for freeing the faeries that Balthazar has trapped, she will help you get the Codestones you need.
Your first Codestone comes from a Dark Faerie named Beyla. She says that Aethia has tasked her with being your guide and helping on your quest. She provides a Seaweed Necklace to you, saying you're going to Maraqua because Balthazar is already there. Mystery Island is next, after Maraqua is cleared of Balthazar's presence, then Lost Desert.
It's nice to see a Dark Faerie being helpful.
Tyrannia next to be freed from Balthazar's presence, and then Terror Mountain is second to last. Once Balthazar leaves the land, Beyla is nowhere to be found. Balthazar heads to the Haunted Woods, and you learn that Beyla has been kidnapped and imprisoned in a bottle. Balthazar tries to insult you and doubts your ability to defeat him, but ultimately you win. Balthazar mentions that this hasn't been worth the money, and you pressure him to say what he's doing and who he's working for. Aethia and Beyla threaten to teach Balthazar a lesson he won't forget, and he says he'll talk if you keep the "flying monsters" away from him.
I get the feeling Balthazar doesn't like faeries.
Balthazar explains that he was offered payment by a mystery figure, and he wouldn't turn down a chance to capture faeries for money. You leave Balthazar in the hands of Aethia and Beyla to handle, and you go to find Oswoc to deliver the Codestones and ask about who could be paying Balthazar. Oswoc thanks you for bringing the Codestones back, and says he knew you were capable of doing this task for him. He then mentions how easily you handled the bounty hunter that he paid, and it went as expected. Oswoc's motives quickly unfold. He wants to become the most powerful Neopian in history.
Really reaching for Kreludor there, turning dung into Neopoints.
Unfortunately, Oswoc does not want you to be able to tell anyone else his plans, so he threatens to bottle you like a captured faerie. Balthazar shows up, but not for long as he is not interested in continuing to lose to an apprentice alchemist. He calls Oswoc an old man on his way out, and Oswoc begs for Balthazar to stay. When he doesn't stick around, Oswoc promises that he will be good in exchange for you going easy on him. Instead, you tell him that he's lied to you for years and the only fitting punishment you can think of is to capture him in the same bottles he was having faeries trapped in, and the game ends.
Each profile has its own achievements and do not transfer between profiles. The achievement list is short, but ranges in difficulty from incredibly easy to obtain to incredibly difficult. You receive a brief pop up on top of the game when you unlock an achievement. They are tracked by being faded out before you earn them, and then darken once the qualifications for that achievement were met. The list of achievements is below.
That last one sounds incredibly easy, right?
Enjoy some video of the gameplay, along with the game's theme song! (Or view the playlist on our YouTube channel.)
Opening Gameplay
Playing through Meridell
Instructions and Credits
Game Theme
There was very little promotion for this game on Neopets.com (not even a shout out in New Features!), but there was one banner ad that ran at the top of page:
This page was written by Steph and last updated on May 1, 2026.
