Tips, tricks, and cheats for Poptropica

Poptropica Acquisition, Hide & Seek Winner, and more

6/11/2015

The results for the latest Poptropica Hide & Seek are in! Congratulations to Gentle Scorpion for winning the last Poptropica Hide & Seek competition! In case you're new to the party, every two weeks I post a screenshot of something on Poptropica, and anyone can guess what it is. Whoever answers in the most detail wins! This time, Gentle Scorpion guessed this image:

If you want to know the answer, or participate in the new challenge, head on over to the official page.

Some exciting news... Poptropica (the company) has been bought by Sandbox Partners! It's a company based in the U.K. Previously, Poptropica was owned by Pearson (you know, the ones who write all your textbooks). The amount it was bought for hasn't been revealed. It seems like this is for the best, as Jeff Kinney and the CEO of Sandbox Bhav Singh were optimistic in their interview. The important phrase was "helping to bring the brands to new markets." So Poptropica could be expanding in the near future. Already there is speculation that it will become a TV show. Seems more likely now, right?

And finally, Mystery of the Map Island has just today been released to all players. Check out the walkthrough if you're stuck, and have fun!

0 Comments

MOTM Review, Poptropica Hall of Fame, and more

5/31/2015

0 Comments

It's been a little more than a week since Mystery of the Map Island released to Members on Thursday. It was also the first island in a long time to have a demo for non-Members. The demo is actually of a nice length — you can get as far as rescuing Octavian — so what did you guys all think about the island? Something about it (and OK, the long weekend too) made me want to write a short review. So, here it is!

Quality

The first thing I noticed was the theme music (click here to listen or download). It fades into the background at first, but eventually it grows on you and it's an extremely fitting piece for the "island mystery" sort of theme. (Of course, technically all the islands are "island mysteries" but this Mystery of the Map is even more so — more on that later).

Next striking feature: the map. The map is a magical device that not only shows the current state of the island, but allows you to travel anywhere on it with a single click. The attention to detail and quality is pretty stunning. Objects on the map are constantly moving, making it seem even more realistic.

Some more general quality notes: the animations were fairly good, and there were few bugs. No complaints there.

Story

Frankly, the story didn't make very much sense. Sure, if you've read the graphic novel you can follow along, but its mediocre on its own at best. And not even an island that's based on another story should be like that; look at Nabooti, Big Nate, and Red Dragon. Main complaints:

Several important plot points seem to happen automatically, and the player feels sort of cheated. For example, the Viking on the beach is guarding the gunpowder at first, but then suddenly goes to sleep later.
The whole gunpowder scheme didn't make sense either. Why would you needlessly demolish a mountain, create a landslide, and change the course of a river, just to get into the fortress? Aren't we as Poptropicans cleverer than that? The island would have been so much more fun if the way to get in was more creative, e.g. distract the guard with the gunpowder and then sneak in through the door. Well, I'm no good at designing an island, but you get my drift.
Side note: causing a rockslide is dangerous at best (more likely suicidal) and changing the course of a river will definitely destroy the ecosystem that is living there. Not trying to ruin your fun, but I wonder if they should include this in a children's game.
You're never given a good motive to find and rescue Oliver, Jorge and Mya. In fact, those characters hardly matter at all to the story, whereas they're supposed to be the stars of the show. Neither did they mention anything about the map. I was honestly sympathizing with Octavian the whole way, since he seemed the most human, realistic character.

Still, some parts were nice and interesting, like catching a fish in a goblet, escaping in an oversized costume, and the goblet trials. Depends on your perspective (have you read the comics yet) and your ability to suspend disbelief. All in all, I would give this island a 2.5 out of 5. It's severely lacking, but not quite abysmal.

In other, slightly more exciting news... The Creators have announced something new, the Poptropica Hall of Fame. Every week, people who have earned medallions are entered into a raffle (the more medallions you have earned, the more raffle entries to your name). Every Friday, some winners are chosen and their avatars will be put into one of 6 islands. So you basically become an NPC in an island quest for that week, as I understand it. Sweet! Start replaying islands and dressing up in your most unique costumes. As always, check out Poptrickia's walkthroughs for straightforward help on Islands.

0 Comments

Mystery of the Map Island is here!

5/22/2015

0 Comments

Mystery of the Map Island has just released for Poptropica Members! It's the latest, non-episodic island that is based on the graphic novel of the same name (you can read it here). Here's the official description:

A lost Viking settlement… an island unstuck in time… a magical map with power beyond understanding… and a devious plot that could unravel the very fabric of Poptropica! Join Mya, Oliver, and Jorge for a thrilling new adventure that lifts the veil from the greatest secret of all: the origin of Poptropica!

Poptrickia's guide has now been completed! Click here to see it. However, the video walkthrough might be delayed a little, since I have lost the computer that I use for recording (I know, shame on me). As soon as I find it (or set up my recording software again), I will make the guide. In the meanwhile, here's the official guide:

0 Comments

Poptropica Acquisition, Hide & Seek Winner, and more

MOTM Review, Poptropica Hall of Fame, and more

Quality

Story

Mystery of the Map Island is here!

That's Me!

Archives

Tags