Wimpy Boardwalk Island, Wimpy Wonderland Island

Don’t be such a wimp, ride that blimp to April’s IotMs!

rowley

We’re already done with the first quarter of 2017—time really flies when you’re getting pranked, eh? With April Fools’ past us, we can say that a new month has dawned on Poptropica—that means we’ll be having a new pair of islands featured as the Islands of the Month (IotM)!

In celebration of the Wimpy Kid Month on Poptropica, comes this month’s IotMs: Wimpy Wonderland and Wimpy Boardwalk!

wimpy2017

You might wonder why we celebrate Wimpy Kid Month every April, and it’s—of course—to celebrate the time when the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book was published in 2007 (April 1, to be exact). To also note that, like Poptropica, it’s also celebrating it’s 10th anniversary this year! As you all know, Poptropica and Diary of a Wimpy Kid are both created by Jeff Kinney. Seriously awesome.

You may also recall that Wimpy Wonderland was recently an IotM for December, but who cares? It’s cool to see it open to all for a while now, so make sure to stock up on the credits before they close again!

Skinny Moon also shared the video walkthroughs by Captain Crawfish, so make sure to watch those if you need any help getting through the IotMs! If you would prefer a written guide, the PHB has them as well! Check out the guide for Wimpy Boardwalk here and for Wimpy Wonderland here.

Just so you know, first-time finishers of the island will receive whopping 500 credits and repeat finishers will get a bountiful 300 credits for replaying the islands!

Also, make sure to check out the Diary of a Wimpy Kid’s Giveaway Calendar! They’re giving away lots of prizes (signed books, tote bags, and etc.) all month long! If you would like to grab some, make sure to participate!

10years

What are you waiting for? Go and play these not-so-wimpy islands now! Staaaay awesome.

heffleys

-💦🐊

Home Island, Islands of the Month, Social Media, Super Power Island

Super sketches, snowy spring, and bingo games

Hey guys, my name is Brave Tomato, and I’m here with good Poptropica stuff for you all today!

To start, as we know, Super Power is one of the two Islands of the Month for the month of March. And since that is the case, we get to see behind the scenes sketches from the production of that Island! Although we have seen some of these sketches before, there are some new ones in the mix. Check them out below (click to enlarge images):

Interestingly enough, according to the Creator’s Blog post, these are sketches are from a Poptropica artist named Lance. Well, there’s one Creator that we know of that has that name: Lance Fry! Even though it’s kinda hard not to stop chuckling at Crusher’s over-sized arms and chest, these sketches do give quite the insight on Poptropica’s development in 2008.

In other news, over here in the East Coast of the US, nature decided that the definition of “almost spring” weather is not sunshine and decent temperatures – instead we’re getting snow! Skinny Moon lamented this over on Snapchat, yet at the same time, has hyped up the new Movie Theater on Home Island. What will come of it? We’ll just have to wait and see…

Finally, just for fun, Skinny Moon also posted a bingo game on Poptropica’s various social media channels! Check it out below:

Bingo

Within the bingo cards are not only in-game/multitasking parts, but also community-related activities, like “hang out in a Poptropica Discord chat”!

Does anybody have a bingo? Or two? Did anybody black out the board? Let us know! Plus, share your bingo board with Poptropica and they’ll feature it on social media!

BT out! 

24 Carrot Island, Books

The End of Dye-me

Hey guys, my name is Brave Tomato, and I have some interesting stuff to share with you all today! Be warned: Spoilers for an upcoming book ahead.

The fourth Poptropica graphic novel, The End of Time, now has a cover and synopsis, as seen on its Amazon page! Check out this whirlwind of a cover:

end of time

And behold the synopsis (there does seem to be a spoiler-y tidbit for the end of the third graphic novel, however, so tread carefully):

Following the epic penultimate conclusion of The Secret Society, Oliver, Mya, and Jorge find themselves at an impasse: The Protectors’ headquarters lie in ruins; the nefarious Octavian is nowhere to be found; and they have no idea how their tampering with the timeline of Poptropica might affect history. As our heroes band together to save the mysterious, uncharted island world and find a way home, they are reminded of crucial events from their pasts—including how they were transported to Poptropica in the first place. The trio suddenly finds itself in the heart of Poptropica, where the Protectors discover the nexus of all time and are offered the opportunity to see what their lives would be like if they could change just one thing from their pasts. But will they choose to go down these alternate paths? Filled with heart and humor, this is the breathtaking finale Poptropica fans have been waiting for.

There’s a lot to take away from this synopsis. Yes, it does seem that the fourth graphic novel, as mentioned in Mitch Krpata’s interview from way back when, will be the finale of the Poptropica graphic novel series. (At least for the foreseeable future.)

Secondly… well, it seems like there’s going to be some intriguing stuff in the finale: changing fates, a ruined society, impasses… seems like everything’s all coming to a head here, ye who are fans of the graphic novel series! Don’t forget, the fourth (and final) book will come out September 12!

As for Book 3, that’s coming up sooner: it will be out in bookstores and will start shipping (if you pre-ordered) on April 11, a little under a month away.

Book 3 spoilers ahead: The Amazon listing for Book 3, The Secret Society, now contains a couple of spreads from inside the book: pages 50-51 and 74-75 respectively (oddly enough right smack in the middle of the story). You can check them out below if you’re interested, or shield your eyes away if you don’t want to see it just yet!

Anyway, what’s your first impression on The End of Time? How are you feeling about The Secret Society? If you’re a fan of the graphic novel series, are you excited? Share your thoughts in the comments!

In other (less exciting) news, a new how-to video was recently posted on the Poptropica Creators’ YouTube channel, demonstrating how to change your Poptropican’s hair color on 24 Carrot Island. Although you may already know how to do so, here’s the video in case you either don’t know or just want to see it!

Nice Bruno Mars reference to start off the video, by the way. 😉 🥕 It was pretty inevitable.

BT out! 

Escape from Pelican Rock Island, Guest Posts, Reality TV Island

Tips & Tricks for Escape From Pelican Rock and Reality TV Island

(Hey Poptropicans! This is a guest post written by Gentle Fang, a Poptropica player in the community. In this post, she’ll be sharing some game tips, particularly for last month’s Islands of the Month, Escape From Pelican Rock and Reality TV. Enjoy! –🐠)

tips efpr rtv

Since Poptropica’s kickoff in 2007, we have seen many islands, each filled to the brim with adventures, puzzles, brainteasers, and fun. But within this wonderful world, there are also secrets that may not be obvious, things that I’ve picked up on through my experiences of playing the game. (For example, did you know that the later episodes of Survival Island are based on the short story The Most Dangerous Game? There’s a PHB post about it here.)

Anyway, this post will be all about these cool tips and tricks! I’ll be sharing with you all some tricks to help you succeed, cultural references, and other neat facts that you may or may not have caught onto.

General Tip: Explore around instead of overlooking things.

If you climb on the tops of buildings, you can find things and meet characters that, while maybe not important to the story, can be just as interesting as the people and things below.

An example of this can be found on Reality TV Island. If you jump to the top of one building, you see a woman holding a camera. She is not part of the story, but what she tells you is a hint about finding a celebrity in the motel.

Similarly, if you go inside buildings they might not seem important, you can still find super cool stuff, some of which you may need during the island quest. In 24 Carrot Island, I got my super cool bright teal hair from drinking the juice that changes your hair color. While not necessary, I do now look a lot cooler than I did before with my typical blonde hair!

Now we get into the specifics…

Although it’s March, I wrote this in February, so in honor of February’s Islands of the Month, I’ll share my tips about Reality TV and Escape from Pelican Rock. These are both some of my favorite islands. The competition of Reality TV really drew me in, as well as the fun escapades of EFPR.

Tips for: Escape From Pelican Rock Island

efpr2bfloodlight

In Escape from Pelican Rock, we have a prison on top of an island, with the city in the distance. The security is higher than that of the other prisons, like Azkaban from Harry Potter. As the guard with the brown hair so eloquently put it, “Break the prison rules, and you come here.” It’s a lot like a former real-life prison in California: Alcatraz.

For those who don’t know, Alcatraz was the highest security prison in America. It was where the worst criminals went, and it was home to many psychopathic people. The only comfort was the sea air, which has been eroding Alcatraz. Very few people were known to escape, and often they were later proclaimed dead. In short, it was a tough place.

Now for some tips regarding the island:

Get out of prison in 7 days

During the mini-game where you make license plates for cars, which is very boring and generally just a waste of time, I figured out that – assuming you made 7 sticks of gum per day (to the point where the machine breaks down) – you could get out of prison in 7 days.

On the first day, your character only makes 5 sticks of gum, not wanting to make the machine overheat. In total, to complete all purchases, you need 21 sticks of gum. So, you would need a total of three days of playing the game to get the total amount of gum. With four days gone (first day + 3 work days), you only need to work the day you overwork the machine and sharpen your spoon (day 5), and the day before your escape when you have fixed the air vents (day 6). On day 7, you can escape.

Trapped in vents?

When you are in the ventilation corridor right above the mess hall, if you misstep for any reason, you can fall through the vents into the kitchen. If this happens, don’t panic: the guards will not find you in the kitchen. While you can decide to take stuff or stir the mashed potatoes while you are down there, it is of no significance.

Instead, in order to get back up, go to Home Island and click on the island icon that shows up below the blimp to continue. This will restart you from the end of mess hall.

Skip (most) meals

Uh, Cook’s food tastes disgusting. You can never stomach her food, and the twins are pretty sure that s/he never trained at the Cordon Bleu. (I certainly agree…) So with that being said, do you really have to sit through mess hall? The answer is no.

The exceptions are: on the first day when you get your second spoon, and when you get the noodles, as well as when you dump plaster into the potatoes and start the food fight. All of the other days, it is not important in the slightest to sit down. The people say the same things every day.

With that being said, if Alcatraz was still operating with all of the breaking and entering I’ve done in Poptropica, I would be there!

Tips for: Reality TV Island

balanced diet

Well, look at you! You managed to get onto a Reality TV show! And now you have to pick off the other seven contestants in an array of mini games! Well, while someone has to get voted off every round, there are definitely ways that you can minimize your chances of being that person.

Here are my top three tips for Reality TV Island:

Pay attention to what people are saying!

If Merry Muse says that she’s in it to win it and Sickly Skull says she doesn’t care, it might not seem important. But it actually is. The more devoted a person is to winning, the longer they tend to last, and the less likely they are to get voted off.

Therefore, you want the person in the final round to be someone who cares the minimal amount. I know this seems crazy, but I have played the game multiple times and found this to be true for me.

Geyser Guess

In Geyser Guess, the mini-game where you step on different geysers and contestants are eliminated one by one, it seems all you can do is cross your fingers and hope for the best. That’s true for the first round.

However, after the first person gets eliminated (hopefully it isn’t you), your strategy should be to pick the geyser that just exploded. Based on my experience, it’s less likely to erupt again because it already did. Using this strategy, I have won multiple times.

Don’t sweat it

If you know you cannot win no matter what you do, don’t sweat it. Unless it’s the last round, chances are, people will either vote off the person who came in second place (because they are a threat) or will vote off someone who constantly wins but didn’t this round. If you come in dead last, you are actually one of the least likely to get voted off.

With that being said, I wish you luck on your drama-filled adventures with the seven other characters you’re up against. Grandma Gracey and Merry Muse hate me for some reason, no matter how many times I play. Honestly, they’re probably just jealous of my gorgeous hair. (I’m so vain…)

This also concludes February’s Island of the Month hints. If you guys like this, I may do one for March’s Islands as well!

-Gentle Fang

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Gentle Fang!

The PHB welcomes guest posting from anyone in our community if you have something to share, whether it be sneak peeks, My Place in Poptropica stories, or any other ideas you might have. We also encourage sharing on the PHC (Poptropica Help Chat).

If you have an idea for a guest post, send it in to [email protected]:)

 

Islands of the Month, Reality TV Island

Behind-the-Scenes: Making Reality TV Island a Reality

Hello, everyone!

Lucky Joker here and today I’ll be sharing, from the Creator’s Blog, some fantastic sketches from one of February’s Islands of The Month, Reality TV Island. Some of these concepts never made it into the game, so it’s pretty cool to see what the Creators had originally planned out for us!

In the rough sketches below, which you can click to enlarge the view, we see ideas for different challenges which seem to be more complex and difficult than the ones from the island. This includes game ideas called Rope Vine Races, Grab the Crab, Cage the Croc, Coconut Tree Shake, as well as a race through some islands that preceded RTV, like Early Pop and Shark Tooth.

There’s also a more refined schematic that explains to us what I’m assuming to be the directions and tips for completing the island, though they never appeared in-game. More game ideas are presented: Sharpening Stone, Build Your Own Fort, Forage for Food, and Dangerous Rock Climb.

In this lovely collage of sketches, there are many different character designs, some of which we see on the reality TV show and some that didn’t make it. A handful of these characters still have the same gimmick but were redesigned, while others were replaced with already existing villains and characters from previous islands. It also looks as if these characters didn’t have names at this stage in development.

Alright, let’s evaluate these characters more thoroughly, shall we?

In the first group (left), we have the Athlete (who became Slim Slam in the game), the Music Lover (Rickie Rock), the Fast Food Help (Freddy Fry), the Grandma (Grandma Gracey), the Biker Gang Dude (Richie Rebel), the Farmer (who might’ve been replaced with the cowgirl, Lassie Lasso), the Artist, the Cheerleader, and the Old Man (Grandpa Grum).

In the second group (middle), there’s the Hip Hop Guy (Hip Hop), the Hiker (Helen Hiker), the Golfer, the Store Clerk, the Magician (Magic Mervin), the Cat Lady, and Popsicle Boy.

Finally, in the third group (right), we have the New Age Hippie (Hippie Harry), the Lawyer Type (Busy Bob), the Librarian (Possibly Cathy Codex), the Rich Guy, the Snooty Girl with Small Dog (Sarah Snooty), the Angry Chef (Chef Jeff, except he’s less angry in the final version), the Cool Tech Nerd, the Goth Girl (Sickly Skull), and the Aerobics Instructor (perhaps what became Sally Score).

The Creators also had some more refined images of various natural settings that didn’t make it into the final game, which you can check out below:

The Beach Cliffs show several large rocks on a beach shore with birds and their nests perched on top of them, giving us the full scale of a smaller sneak peek from back in 2009.

The Obstacle Course is a bamboo contraption that contains various sections to get past: tilting platforms, jungle bounce trampoline, collapsible doors, swinging hammers of wood, fruit fumble (probably slippery to walk on), rope climb, and finally, a parachute drop. Many of these mechanisms have appeared in other forms on other islands.

Finally, there is the Base Camp and its Caverns, not to be confused with the rumored Crisis Caverns Island. The objective here is uncertain – perhaps some kind of maze game or a place for a hidden item? Interesting nonetheless!

Which ones do you wish they had made a reality? Share your thoughts on these behind-the-scenes peeks in the comments below!

Thanks for reading, I’ll talk to you soon. Pop on!

-Lucky Joker :luckyjoker~1: