World of Warcraft world events are a curious beast, at once wildly exciting for new players and a humdrum carousel of recycled content for jaded veterans of the long-tenured MMO game. Having said that, Blizzard usually makes an effort to include some new content each time the calendar rolls around, and July’s WoW Darkmoon Faire is no exception.
The Darkmoon Faire in World of Warcraft is perhaps one of the more understated regular events. Rather than a sprawling celebration that blankets every city, the Faire sets up in a single location, a chintzy carnival which characters from across Azeroth can teleport to for a bit of fun. Just like any funfair, the Darkmoon Faire is packed games and entertainment aplenty, including an arcade, concerts, a roller coaster, and various daily minigames like Whack-a-Gnoll or a Test Your Strength machine.
All these attractions earn you Prize Tickets, which can be traded in for transmog items, pets, mounts and toys. The grand prize is the Darkmoon Dirigible, a beautiful (if rickety) purple airship mount. Better have a whole lot of fun at the fair though, as it costs a whopping 1000 Prize Tickets.
That’s all well and good, but the latest attraction in WoW’s answer to Alton Towers and the Faire’s biggest draw is the Darkmoon Dance Competition, a DDR style minigame where you compete against an NPC in a footloose battle of rhythm.
We say DDR, but in truth it’s essentially a jazzed-up version of Simon Says. The NPC runs through a chain of smooth moves, which your character must then mimic. For your mad skills, you can earn nine different achievements for various dancing accolades, as well as a Dance Dance Darkmoon toy (we see what you did there, Blizzard), which summons a stage on which to strut your hot stuff.
Though the Faire runs every single month, it receives new attractions every year or so. In patch 8.3.0, the Mechafun Arcade arrived, bringing half a dozen new minigames to Darkmoon Isle. In patch 8.1.5, the roller coaster was added, which grants experience and reputation buffs after riding.
If you just need more vanity collecting in your life, you can earn for watching the WoW esports finals, or for the more serious minded, get a head start planning your Dragonflight Priest build with Blizzard’s rundown of the Priest’s talents.