Tips, tricks, and cheats for Poptropica

Timmy Failure Island, and Money Problems for Poptropica?

7/9/2015

The good news: Timmy Failure Island has been confirmed as the next new island!

Coming to Poptropica (R) September 2015... Timmy Failure Island in full color! Only on Poptropica.

This is going to be another sponsored island, featuring the Timmy Failure comic book series, which features a boy who runs a detective agency (and presumably, is a failure at it). Although I haven't read it, it sounds like a fun premise for an island! Check out the official sneak peeks for more behind-the-scenes information.

Not to sound negative, but have you noticed the number of original Poptropica islands has gone down lately? Timmy Failure, Galactic Hot Dogs, and Mystery of the Map (the most recent full islands) have been based on other comic books, and Arabian Nights is based on the Create Your Own Dream Island contest winner. Poptropica's original ideas have been the most popular; take Survival Island from last year as an example. So they must be doing more sponsored islands for one reason: money. This coincides with Poptropica's break from its major sponsor, Pearson, while they are in the middle of major expansion into comics, mobile apps, TV shows, and other languages. Already we've noticed the slowdown in island releases. Perhaps that's going to be the permanent situation until Poptropica gets more funding and more employees to handle the extra load (I remember the Creators saying that they have less than 50 employees). But it gets worse...

The Creators just announced that the following 7 islands are now for paying Poptropica Members only. Forever. Keep in mind, these islands used to be open to everyone; some are classics that have been open for years.

Nabooti Island
Wimpy Wonderland
Big Nate Island
Red Dragon Island
Great Pumpkin Island
Wimpy Boardwalk
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Notice how they are all sponsored islands? In the new Poptropica, Membership and sponsored islands are becoming increasingly prevalent. Anyway, sorry for the negative news, and enjoy Arabian Nights 3!

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Careful What you Wish For

7/5/2015

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The long-delayed final episode of Arabian Nights Island, "Careful What You Wish For," has released for Poptropica Members! This completes the first island so far to be suggested by a player in the Create Your Own Dream Island contest. Sorry about the late response; I've been on vacation and very caught up in other stuff. But now I have time and the full written, illustrated and video walkthroughs will be up on the Arabian Nights page in a couple of days.

UPDATE: The full written guide is complete! Click here to see it. And here's the video guide below:

And just another quick bit of news before I let you play the new episode... there are new Common Room chatting options! Those were getting boring before because they haven't been updated in years, but this should finally spice up multiplayer rooms for a while!

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Realms Sharing and Membership Changes

6/26/2015

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First of all, sorry for the lack of posts over the last 2 weeks; I've been on vacation and only just got Internet access. Okay, some much-awaited exciting news is finally here: Realms sharing! Members can now make any of their realms public, which means that anyone can see or rate them (by pressing the "like" button). The Creators apparently have to approve each realm before it's published, though. In addition, every public realm has a unique code that you can share directly with a friend, like Multiverse rooms. Here's the official guide:

In other news, beating an Island now gives you 150 credits instead of the previous 50! (Of course, longtime players know that it used to be 100). It's not clear why they did this; perhaps they will be adding more items to the Store which can be bought by non-members. But there is another, more worrying possibility...

Image credit Poptropica Help Blog

Nabooti Island just recently became closed to non-Members! This is the first time a previously free island later became Members-only (well, except Poptropolis Games, Mythology and Shrink Ray, but they were being upgraded to have sound and the bigger screen size). It's a worrying sign that Poptropica is going to such lengths to expand to TV, comics and mobile while neglecting the original game. Not only that, but recent island releases have been delayed significantly, or been of lower quality (Mystery of the Map, and the third episode of Arabian Nights is still not in sight). Oh well; the message being sent clearly here is that Poptropica is for paying players, and you know what? It's a high-quality game that most people wouldn't mind paying for. Anyway, enough ranting. Enjoy the summer and play Poptropica!

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Hide & Seek Winner & Island Sneak Peeks

12/22/2014

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Congratulations to Barefoot Sky, who won the Hide & Seek challenge for the second time in a row! Here's the image that she successfully guessed:

It's never too late -- if you want to race Barefoot Sky next time, take a shot at this week's challenge!

The Creators haven been working full force on Galactic Hot Dogs Island recently -- I'll just link to the Sneak Peeks archive for you to check them out. As we can see, the art style is definitely very different from classic Poptropica. The last time they did that was for Wimpy Boardwalk Island, way back in 2012. This is also the first time in a year that they'll be making a full island, too. Here are some of the interesting scenes released:

Meanwhile, the Creators are currently on break. So for the past week, they've been releasing some concept art from very old islands. It's kind of interesting. Can you guess which island each of these images is from?

Over on Twitter, there's some even more exciting news going around. Although this is all speculative and not officially announced, there might soon be an island based on the Poptropica Comics! They've been proven successful, there's a comic book coming out sometime soon, why not a whole island?

These two tweets give some hints about an island not previously announced -- and very closely connected to the comics.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES at Poptropica. What's going on? For when? (Link is a hint.) http://t.co/6Rjj8Thc0G pic.twitter.com/PhrEGaJinm
— Poptropica Worldwide (@Poptropica) November 18, 2014

Escape balloon on Poptropica? ??? A Behind-the-Scenes moment. pic.twitter.com/KVXoaIwOV9
— Poptropica Worldwide (@Poptropica) December 18, 2014

Moving on... Arabian Nights is on everyone's mind right now, what with the second episode released, but the Creators are already planning out the third one. Check out this sneak peek; it depicts the bazaar spire from the first episode, but at night. This could be the first time an episode has returned to the scenes of a previous episode!

And wait! Before I go, one last thing. The Creators have also given us the name and logo of the final version of Poptropica Land! It's going to be called Poptropica Realms, and the logo looks not too different from the original.

Whew, what a long post. And it reminds me -- I'm going to be off on vacation for a few days as well, so I won't get to make a New Year or holiday-themed post. So: happy early holidays and have an awesome new year!

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Arabian Nights Ep. 2 Released!

12/11/2014

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Lair of Thieves, the second episode of Arabian Nights Island, has just released to Members today! To recap: In it, you've been captured by the Forty Thieves while on a quest to recover the sultan's magical lamp.

In the den of the forty thieves, danger lurks around every corner. To outwit the most dangerous thieves in the desert, you'll need a little help evening the odds — and you'll find it in the form of an incredible magic power!

Check out the written guide and video walkthrough on the Arabian Nights page! Members can also get the Shield and Scimitar items pictured right, as well as the Plundered Armor outfit, from the Store while it's in Early Access. Non-members, you'll love to check out my sneak preview of the episode.

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Arabian Nights Ep. 2: Sneak Peek!

11/24/2014

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The second episode of Arabian Nights Island has been uploaded to Poptropica! In case you forgot, in the last episode, "How Bazaar," we enter the lair of the Forty Thieves while on the lookout for the Sultan's magical lamp. The episode won't be out for Early Access until Dec. 11, but I've discovered the episode's files, scenes, items and probable storyline. Spoilers ahead! But first, here's the official description of the episode:

Lair of Thieves
In the den of the forty thieves, danger lurks around every corner. To outwit the most dangerous thieves in the desert, you'll need a little help evening the odds — and you'll find it in the form of an incredible magic power!

Hmm, what could that "incredible magic power" be? One possible answer is hidden among some of the item files. These items go together and suggest a recipe for a bomb of sorts -- except the bomb is called "magic sand." That sounds right, although a quick search reveals that those items don't commonly appear together.

Either way, the sand is not technically magical. According to the dialog files, you are thrown in the thieves' jail and meet a fellow prisoner, the Vizier, who guides you to craft a bomb that turns solid ground to sand, use it to take the key from a guard unseen, and unlock him. Following that, he will help you both to find the Sultan's magic lamp and then escape. But then, we're back to square one: what's the "magic power"?

Vizier: Why are you here?
You: The Sultan sent me to recover his lamp.
Vizier: Ah... what did he tell you about this lamp?
You: He just said it was "like no other."
Vizier: I see. Well, I may be able to give you something to aid in your quest, but I can't pass it through the wall. You'll need to find a way to my cell door without being seen.

The way you get to his cell without being seen is by dying your white prisoners' robe black to match that of the thieves'. We know this because of two of the items, White Robe and Thieves' Garb. Now by this point there have been a few action scenes, but I won't spoil their secrets just yet.

Vizier: Quick! take this formula, you should be able to find the ingredients around here and assemble them at a crafting table. ... You made the magic sand, great! try to use it to get the key to my cell from the jailer upstairs!

Now let's look at another dialog file. The only way to escape from the prison is to accept the Master Thief's challenge: place the correct lamp onto the altar; if you place the wrong one, you get "destroyed," whatever that means. And the correct lamp is, of course, the Sultan's magical one, which you and the Vizier aim to run off with as soon as it sets you free. But there are so many lamps! Which one is it?

That's a secret that I'll allow the episode to reveal. The answer is very obvious once you see it. Hint: staring at the picture won't help, use your mind! Now, let's get to the juicy part -- images of all the scenes from the island! There are only four:

(Sorry about the Entrance scene. I haven't been able to fully decode it yet, possibly because it's not finished. I've posted the parts that are intact). That's not all. Have a look at a few choice Daily Pop sneak peeks from the past month or two. They're often better quality than the stuff I've just hacked together, but focus on mystery rather than spoilers. Oh well:

I hope these sneak peeks have got you excited about the next episode of Arabian Nights and got those imagination neurons in your brain firing (I'm fairly certain that's a real thing). I really enjoy making sneak peeks like these, just as much as you enjoy reading them. Happy Thanksgiving week, and keep an eye on the horizon for another sneak peek from Poptrickia... about Galactic Hot Dogs Island!

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PoptropiCon Ep. 2 & Arabian Nights Sneak Peeks

10/23/2014

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The second episode of PoptropiCon has come out for Members today! I finished it fairly late, but still got #82, and enjoyed it quite a bit! The full written guide is finished! Click here to see it. Also, the video guide is now done. In the meantime, everyone can now play the cool first episode of Arabian Nights, and the guide for that is here. One strange thing about PoptropiCon is that the Creators didn't release a video walkthrough for the episode immediately. I think that was a pretty wise move. Members, don't forget to get the Popzilla Costume!

Before you go, for those of you not active on Twitter (hint: you should follow me), here are some very early sketches that the Creators recently posted:

The first one is obviously from the upcoming Arabian Nights 3 -- looks like they're going in a cool direction! The second one is really interesting. Why is that guy playing basketball in space? And why is the illustration not flat 2D like Poptropica and perspective like the Poptropica comics? I think this might be a sneak peek from the upcoming comic book (in February) rather than a really bizarre island idea, but you never know. And the third one is a little bit too random for me. They all have something wrong with/coming out of their mouths though. Some strange genie ideas, perhaps? We'll find out eventually. Have fun, and make sure to enter the Land Challenge!

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Arabian Nights Release Date and P-Con Common Room

9/27/2014

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Arabian Nights Island, the winner of the Create Your Own Dream Island contest, is so close to being released at last! The official release date is October 2, which is a Thursday, as usual. The trailer is pretty interesting, though it made no sense to me (view it below). And remember, click here for Poptrickia's sneak peeks for the episode!

There's some more surprising news: PoptropiCon has its own common room now! Not only have the Creators almost never changed an island after release (except bugfixes), this is the first new common room since Monster Carnival from early this year. It's called the Facili-Tee, and it's just lodged in the right side of the main convention building. Here's what it looks like inside (well, currently it's filled with 7th birthday balloons):

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How Bazaar! An Exclusive Sneak Peek

8/8/2014

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Since I made this post, Arabian Nights has been confirmed by the Creators! Here's the info page. Keep reading though, there's a lot more sneak peeks here than you'll get from the official site.

What's with the title? you're probably thinking. How Bazaar is going to be the name of the first episode of Arabian Nights Island. If you'll recall, Arabian Nights was the winner of the Create Your Own Dream Island contest, and by my predictions, it's going to come to life right after PoptropiCon! Warning: spoilers ahead. This is another one of Poptrickia's exclusive sneak peeks of unreleased islands, which I got by looking at Poptropica's files. By the way, what do you think of these sneak peeks? Awesome? Interesting? Creepy?

UPDATE: I picked up a few more files since I made this post, so if you're coming back, then there's some new details, scenes, and the storyline/plot here now! And here's the island's sountrack to the right:

Click here to listen to it on Poptropica's servers (add a ? to the URL if it doesn't work).

On Arabian Nights Island, Poptropicans go on a quest across the desert to rescue a sultan's genie from the Forty Thieves.

So far, the only official word on the island is below; let's try to figure out how it fits with the first episode.

First off, you start inside a cave. Definitely can't fly a blimp in there, but the blimp's been dead since Survival. I find this unlikely, so let's assume that you actually start in the desert. From the desert, you can get to the Cliffs, and from the Cliffs, into the Cave (or vice-versa). Here are the notes for the cliff and the cave:

UPDATE: The near-complete versions of the Cave and Cliff scenes has been uploaded as well! Check them out:

(Click to zoom). As you can see, it's not very complete, but an interesting insight into the Creators' design process. Zoom it in and you can get some hints for the island. Watch for the quicksand when the island comes out for real!

Now it gets exciting: there's also a palace! Your goal for this episode seems to be to get into the palace, because it's guarded by two guards. Inside the palace is the sultan. As you can see in the picture, all is not well...

The sultan's palace has been ransacked! Lots of precious things are gone (like his bed), but most of all, one very special lamp. Here's a conversation you have with him:

You: What happened here?
Sultan: The forty thieves happened! They ransacked my palace and left me with nothing.

You: You mean, you're broke?
Sultan: Money can be replaced, But the thieves took one precious thing from me: a lamp that is like no other. Find it, and I will grant you a fabulous reward.

You: How can I find the lamp?
Sultan: I don't know. But perhaps you can start your quest with this. It is my last jewel. Trade it wisely.

The Sultan

And now, to explain the title of this post. A bazaar is what you'd call a market in the Middle East (read: Arabia). There's going to be a Skullduggery trading post-style bazaar in Arabian Nights 1, with an inventory and everything. Check out these images, which show the items from the island inside images of the three different bazaar stalls you can visit. In the episode, you need to trade items you find for bazaar items.

Notice the salt bag? You can find that in the Cave, seeing from the image above. And the telescope can be found on the palace minaret. So here's the deal. You start off with only the sultan's orders and the jewel, and go back and forth between the bazaar and other places to try and trade the lamp away from the bazaar people. In the meanwhile (or maybe this will tie in with a later episode), you try to find the hideout of the Forty Thieves in the Cave, Cliffs and Desert. Sounds like an exciting island, especially if it has more than the usual 3 episodes! UPDATE: It doesn't.

I also found the Desert scene. It connects the Bazaar and the Cliffs. Here it is:

So now the map of the episode is as shown to the right (splendid illustration, I know):

Sultan's Chamber \|			Cave \|
Palace Grounds	Bazaar	Desert	Cliffs

Comment if you can draw even more connections from this ragtag collection of sneak peeks. The official sneak peeks can help you a ton as well.

Anyway, those are the preliminary findings! There's one item, the Camel Harness, that hasn't been uploaded yet, and obviously the Desert, Cave, and Cliffs need some work, so I'll keep this post updated until the day Arabian Nights 1 releases. In the meantime, you can play Survival 4, Mission Atlantis 3, PoptropiCon 1, and Land. Have fun!

P.S. Guess what I just made? A Daily Pop Sneak Peek gallery! It automatically fills with the latest Daily Pops, lets you browse by month or date, loads fast (I mean really fast, considering it's 900+ files), and makes things a whole lot more convenient. Check it out!

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Arabian Nights Island & CYDI RUnner-ups

4/16/2014

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The long-awaited winner of the Create Your Own Dream Island contest is... Arabian Nights Island!

I gotta tell you, I was kind of tired of the hype by the time I saw the name of this Creators' Blog post. But I was not disappointed when I read it. The premise is: "On Arabian Nights Island, Poptropicans go on a quest across the desert to rescue a sultan's genie from the Forty Thieves."

I've always loved the Arabian Nights stories. Seeing the next Poptropica Island be based on it gave me goosebumps! I think it's going to be able to get the same amount, if not more, of success as Mythology. Both are based on exciting, ancient stories that never get old. I'll be eternally grateful to Magic Eagle, the Poptropican who proposed this island.

UPDATE: Check out this short video of the Creators reading the contest entries! I wonder what the woman at the end did with that envelope -- is there a bin or something down there? The world will never know.

Update: Review of the runner-ups
You can read through all of the runner-up entries on this Creators' Blog tag, some of which were (I thought) as good as the winner. They don't give nearly enough details, but my personal favorites (in no particular order) were Stormchaser Island, Space Bar Island (Cyberchase anyone? I loved that show), and Shakespeare Island (I didn't get the gameplay at first, but it would have been extremely fun). House of Cards got a lot of praise, but I personally found its plotline lacking, though the setting was awesome. Pharoah's Fantasies and Prehistoric sounded like stale ideas (but both were unique), Golden Mustache was too cheesy, Fashion Crisis sounded like a cheesier version of Night Watch, and Bikes vs Boards... don't even talk to me about that. It was blatant plagiarism of Teen Beach Movie, and the Creators really set a bad example by awarding that a prize. Not being a music person, I can't judge Symphony Island (though I love classical music).

I have some evidence that our beloved Mythology Island, is going to be re-released for the big-screen! In the store, there are two new Members-only items (see left). Also, the Mythology Island page has gotten the tell-tale makeover. There's even going to be a new player map to show new winners! We already knew about it's upgrade, but I never expected it on such a big scale. There's even a new poster and wallpaper!

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Timmy Failure Island, and Money Problems for Poptropica?

Careful What you Wish For

Realms Sharing and Membership Changes

Hide & Seek Winner & Island Sneak Peeks

Arabian Nights Ep. 2 Released!

Arabian Nights Ep. 2: Sneak Peek!

PoptropiCon Ep. 2 & Arabian Nights Sneak Peeks

Arabian Nights Release Date and P-Con Common Room

How Bazaar! An Exclusive Sneak Peek

Arabian Nights Island & CYDI RUnner-ups

That's Me!

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