Like those dastardly difficult claw machines at the arcade, the NC Mall’s Bigsby Shadington’s Wonderclaw is a game that involves Neocash (real money) and a lot of luck. You need widgets to play, which you can buy from the NC Mall, and you can win great wearable prizes!

The homepage of the NC Mall Wonderclaw game.

GETTING STARTED — WIDGETS & POWER-UPS

To play Wonderclaw, you need to buy widgets. Widgets are the item that you enter into the machine like currency — each widget gives you one play. You cannot play the game without them, so when you go to the home page (see the image above) and press “CLICK TO PLAY!”, the game will tell you to buy widgets to continue. Widgets are sold at the NC mall in packs, and there are three packs:

The larger the packet of widgets you buy, the more NC you save. While a 1-pack sells for 150 NC, a 5-pack sells five for essentially 100 NC each (5 X 100 NC = 500 NC, the cost of a 5-pack!). Depending on how many times you want to play Wonderclaw, and how many different machines you want to try, buying widgets in bulk can be a wise choice for your wallet.

The arguably only strategic aspect to the game is the use of Power-Ups. These can also be purchased at the NC Mall and have different in-game functions, which we’ll get into in the next section. There are two Power-Ups that can be purchased individually:

While the Power-Ups are not necessary, they are highly recommended, especially if you are going for a specific prize!

As mentioned, you need to use the widgets to play Wonderclaw. After you have purchased a widget from the NC Mall, go to your inventory, click on the widget, and then active it by clicking “Active Your Wonderclaw” from the scroll-down options:

Once you have widgets in your in-game inventory, you can start playing! You can either click the link that will be provided after you active your widget, or you can go to the Wonderclaw homepage and click “CLICK TO PLAY!”.

CHOOSING A MACHINE

Welcome to Wonderclaw! This is the homepage of the game which will tell you what you have to work with:

As you can see, I have one widget and one of each Power-Up to use in the game. There are also “PURCHASE” buttons that will link you to the NC Mall to buy more, if you so desire.

One of the most critical parts of the game is choosing the machine that you want to play on. Each machine gives out a different set of prizes, so it’s important to know what you want — or at least which group of things you’d like something from — before selecting a final machine. As of Summer 2015, there are three machines to choose from: Jewel Tones Machine, Skeletal Machine, and Stormy Ombre Machine. To determine which machine is which, click a machine and hit “PLAY GAME”. Don’t worry — you have to confirm a second time if you really want to play that machine. Clicking the play button will bring you to a confirmation screen that tells you the theme of that specific machine, so you can make sure you’re picking the one you really want:

When you have decided on which machine you want to play, click “YES”.

PLAYING WONDERCLAW

To start the game, you need to draw your widget from the top, right-hand corner of the screen to the machine:

At this point, you will also be asked if you want to use one of the Power-Ups.

• Large Claw Wonderclaw Power-Up — This Power-Up gives you two prizes from the machine instead of one.

This is where your basic strategy comes in. If you want multiple items from one machine, but not another, apply your Large Claw Power-Up to that machine. If you want a rarer item, apply the Tier Boost Power-Up instead.

Then, it’s time to play!

You then have 30 seconds to move the claw with your arrow keys and press the space bar to release the claw. It will pick up one (or two — if you use the Large Claw Power-Up) prize pod and deposit it for you to collect. If you don’t press the space bar and manually descend the claw after 30 seconds, it will simply descend automatically and pick a pod at random. The color of the pod does not have any determination on the prize you will receive.

After you’ve played with the claw, click the prize pods that have won to see your prize(s)! This also the time that you can use the other Power-Up if you have it:

• Tier Boost Wonderclaw Power-Up — This Power-Up upgrades the prize you initially receive. There are “tiers” of prizes, so this will upgrade your prize to the next highest tier.

If you have received one pod, you can choose it to use your Tier Boost Power-Up. If you have two pods from using the Large Claw Power-Up, you can choose either. Tier boosting is random and you will not know which item you are boosting until after you’ve opened your prize pod(s). After you’ve collected your prize and used the Power-Up, if you have chosen to do so, you will receive your items which can then be found in your inventory.

THE PRIZES

There are three active machines, so there are three sets of prizes that can be won. Each machine gives items based in four tiers: Wood Tier, Bronze Tier, Silver Tier, and Gold Tier; there is also one bonus item per machine that can be won. To see the retired prizes from past machines, go here: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. The prizes that can currently be won (as of Fall 2015) are as follows:

Jewel Tones Machine

Wood Tier Prizes

Jewel Tone Side Tree

Jewel Toned Glass Lights

Jewel Toned Vanity

Jewel Toned Vases Foreground

Jewel Toned Tea Party

Jewel-Encrusted Sword

Bronze Tier Prizes

Brightly Jewelled Necklace

Emerald Green Trousers

Jewelled Bangle Bracelets

Radiant Jewel Toned Wings

Sapphire Shield

Silver Tier Prizes

Jewel Toned Forest Background

Jewel Toned Tutu

Jewel Toned Wig

Puffy Jewel Tone Vest and Shirt

Gold Tier Prizes

Jewel Tone Faerie Background

Jewel Toned Dress

Jewel Toned Ombre Wig

Jewel Toned Suit Jacket

Bonus

Vibrant Neighbourhood Background

Skeletal Machine

Wood Tier Prizes

Bone Cave Frame

Bone Walking Staff

Bone Finger Necklace

Jewelled Skull Wand

Lacy Skeleton Gloves

Skeletal Toe Shoes

Bronze Tier Prizes

Black and White Makeup

Bone Tights

Elegrant Bone Shrug

Gothic Bone Chest Piece

Rebel Spyder Vest

Silver Tier Prizes

Boned Bustle Shirt

Three Headed Skull Monster Costume

Embroidered Bone Shirt

Wig with Bone Hand Accessory

Gold Tier Prizes

Bone Chest Paint

Mystical Bone Dress

Skeleton Moon Background

Solid White Contacts

Bonus

Throne of Bones Background

Stormy Ombre Machine

Wood Tier Prizes

Stormy Ombre Flower Foreground

Stormy Ombre Flower Wand

Stormy Ombre Glasses

Stormy Ombre Leaf Shower

Stormy Ombre Paper Garland

Stormy Ombre Waves Foreground

Bronze Tier Prizes

Icy Ombre Shield

Ombre Storm Clouds with Rain

Shiny Stormy Ombre Rain Boots

Short Stormy Ombre Wig

Stormy Ombre Umbrella

Silver Tier Prizes

Stormy Ombre Contacts

Stormy Ombre Shirt

Stormy Ombre Side Tree

Stormy Ombre Twist Wig

Gold Tier Prizes

Icy Ombre Wall Background

Stormy Ombre Dress

Stormy Ombre Open Jacket

White Dress with Ombre Lace

Bonus

Shattering Ice Background

Notes & Reminders

• Because the game does not award Neopoints or NP items, you can play this on side accounts.
• If your game glitches, freezes, or you have to exit from the Wonderclaw game at any time, don’t fret! You can pause in the middle of the game, so you won’t lose the widget you were using. Simply return back to the Wonderclaw homepage and resume your game.
• Power-Ups do not appear in your inventory once they’ve been purchased. Instead, they appear in your in-game inventory, which you can view under “Widgets Remaining” in the game screen. This also means that you cannot send Power-Ups to your Neofriends or side accounts.