Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and that got me to thinking about Poptropicans who don’t get much love. You know who I’m talking about: the Villains. Oh, sure, they get a lot of attention as we work to defeat them from realizing their nefarious and twisted plots to rule Poptropica. But the truth is, most of them are just lonely and sad. So this Valentine’s Day, let’s be nice to the Villains of Poptropica for a change. Let’s set them up on some romantic and rememberable Valentine’s Day dates!

Ready to play Cupid?

Here’s how it works: over the next two weeks, we’ll profile different Poptropica villains and ask you, the dedicated and caring members of the PoptropicaSecrets community, to vote on another character in Poptropica that we should pair him or her up with on a dream Valentine’s Day date. You’ll also be voting on some of the date details, including the time, place and details of the magic event. We’ll send in our top-secret patented remote PopCam(tm) hidden cameras to capture photos of the date and post them here on the blog so that everyone can see how it went.

To get things started, let’s profile our first Poptropica Villain in need of some romance and love this Valentine’s Day: Director D.

On the outside, Director D is suave and sophisticated, always dressed in a dashing white tuxedo. He looks ready for a classy night on the town with the right lady. But on the inside, he’s shy and insecure. You see, the truth is that he’s bald as a bowling ball. He wears a ridiculous toupee to cover it up, but he’s ashamed and convinced that no one will find him the least bit attractive if they find out his little scalp secret. So here’s the challenge, Poptropicans: we need to find a good date for Director D. Someone who will look past his follicle challenge forehead and embrace the inner D. As for a location, let’s just make sure we don’t pick a place that’s too windy.

Poll: What Should His Date Wear?

Director D’s attire is pretty much set: he’ll be going formal in his snazzy white tuxedo. But how should we dress his dashing date? There are too many options for a simple multiple choice poll, so let’s get some ideas going in the comments section below! Think you’re ready to offer up some romantic fashion tips? Let’s hear your ideas.

Tomorrow: Come back to help us find a Valentine’s Date for Gretchen Grimlock.

The 46th Superbowl is almost here and Poptropica players can start celebrating with the American Football Player costume, which is now featured prominently in the Poptropica Store. There’s nothing new about the costume but the Poptropica Creators are highlighting it on the main Poptropica blog. The costume comes in four different colors: blue, red, green and purple. Blue is definitely the choice for this weekend, regardless of whether you’re a fan of the New York Giants or the New England Patriots. The Poptropica Creators appear to be fans of the Patriots, since the company is located in Boston and they made a comment about preferring silver helmets (the color that the Patriots wear). How about you? Who are you rooting for in this year’s Superbowl game?

Personally, I’m just looking forward to watching the commercials.

One of the greatest mysteries in Poptropica History is the strange tale of Monster Carnival Island. This island was promoted briefly in the early days of Poptropica, but never launched. It was then forgotten completely until the Creators posted an old sketch of the island last year in the Sneak Peeks section of Daily Pop.

And now, if you’ve been paying close attention to the newest screenshots appearing in Sneak Peeks, you’ll find that a lot of them hint at an island filled with monsters. The carnival theme is gone, but there are plenty of monsters showing up in the concept art and screenshots for the new island. Specifically, there are a lot of vampire and werewolves. So will we be seeing a Monster Island after all? Perhaps a little Vampires vs. Werewolves action, a la Twilight? Let’s take a look at some of the clues that you’ll find from the latest sneak peeks.

A Tomb

It's a vine time to take a long nap.

One of the screenshots features a tomb with a statue and an engraving that reads, MEMINERUNT OMNIA AMANTES (the V is actually a U. Stone engravers often carved a U as a V because it’s easier to make straight lines). This phrase is in Latin and translates to, Lovers remember all. Could this be a tomb for a vampire?

Monster Chemicals

Mix and match. What could go wrong?

Another screenshot features a chemical mixing scene where you add drops of certain chemicals to what appears to be a slide under a microscope. The chemicals are Mandrake Root, Wilted Wolfsbane, and Garlic Extract. Wolfsbane supposedly repels werewolves and Garlic repels vampires. Mandrake is also a plant with several supposed magical properties. Perhaps part of this new island involves getting rid of pesky monsters.

Life’s a Stage

Some of the screenshots show a play or movie about Vampires. One has a theatre out in the boonies. The performance at the theatre is called, Young Vampires in Love and another screenshot shows characters from the new island. Some of them look a lot like vampires!

A few new Poptropicans for you to meet.

You don't get a first-run theater out here in the boonies.

A sweet dress for Monster High fans in Poptropica

There’s a new advertisement building for girl characters on Poptropica for the popular Monster High web site and game. There have been two Monster High ads on Poptropica before, including the original Monster High ad, where you were able to get a very cool outfit in the game. In this mini-mission, they’re throwing a 1600th birthday party for Draculaura and they need your help delivering the invitations. To play, enter the building, which will appear on Main Street on most islands, and then talk to the girl inside. She needs your help delivering invitations to the party. From there, you can start the mini-game in which you turn into a bat and fly through the school delivering invitations. You need to deliver the invitations to the party while avoiding the obstacles. The rewards include a bat follower and Draculaura’s Sweet 1600 Dress. The dress doesn’t disappoint, with lots of color and accessories, including a parasol to keep that nasty sunlight off! The follower is the same bat that you become while delivering invitations in the mini-game.

Take a look at the complete walkthrough here.

What do you think of this new Monster High advertisement mission? Post your comments below!

The big news of the day is that S.O.S. Island has arrived on Poptropica. It’s a shorter quest than some of the more recent islands, but it’s fun. Your quest is to save people that have become trapped on the Pequod, a luxury whale-watching cruise ship. It struck an iceberg and now is sinking. Check out the full Poptropica Cheats for SOS Island page to get all the cheats, tips, walkthroughs and secrets. But I know you really just want to see the walkthrough, so here are parts 1 and 2 of the main quest. Part 3, which covers the bonus quest for members only, is coming soon!

S.O.S. Island will launch on Thursday, January 26. According to the countdown timer that’s visible on the Poptropica home page, it will launch at 11 am EST (8 am PST) here in the United States. According to the island info page, members will be able to play a bonus quest after completing the main island adventure. Although details haven’t been announced, it’s likely that only members will get to play the full island on Thursday and non-members will play a demo. But we won’t know for certain until Thursday.

In another change, there is no sneak peek mini-game for S.O.S Island. For the past several island adventures, Poptropica has had a sneak peek mini-game available where you were introduced to some of the scenes and characters for the main island. Not so this time!

Are you excited for S.O.S. Island? Keep your eyes peeled here at PoptropicaSecrets.com for the walkthrough and help once the island comes out on Thursday morning!

The official trailer for S.O.S. Island has been released. You can watch it below. Besides the really cool intro (creepy whale eye!) we don’t learn too much about the new island, except that you’ll be part of the rescue mission to save people who were on the whale-watching cruise in the Arctic. You’ll also spend a lot of time underwater. What do you think about the new island? Check out the new trailer and post your comments below!

I don’t usually post about non-Poptropica news, but have you heard about the cruise ship that ran aground in Italy last night? The ship, the Costa Concordia was carrying 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members when it ran aground near the coast of the island of Giglio. It’s a sad story because at least three people were killed and many more are still missing. The good news is that authorities think the missing might simply be unaccounted for and being treated at hospitals and shelters. There are as many as 70 people still missing from the ship.

It’s of course very rare for large cruise ships to sink and the timing is really strange for Poptropica fans because of the upcoming S.O.S. Island, in which you are on board a cruise ship that sinks in the North Atlantic. The creators originally planned this new island to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and I wonder if this tragedy in Italy will cause them to delay the launch of the new island.

Ghost Story Island is now available for everyone to play. The island was previously only available to members (although non-members could play the first part as a preview). If you’re not a member or haven’t played it yet, head on over to the Poptropica Map and give it a whirl! In this island, you’ll explore through the town of Hemlock Harbor. It is a haunted town, with many ghosts who appear at night. As you progress through the quest to find the ghosts, you’ll reveal a story about what happened in the town. It’s a story of love, betrayal and more. Plus, it’s pretty spooky! As you go on the adventure, you’ll meet many residents of the town (both living and dead) and get to play with some pretty cool ghost-hunting equipment.

What did you think of Ghost Story Island? Post your comments below. If you’re stuck, don’t forget to check out the complete walkthrough!

Poptropica Cheats for Ghost Story Island

Can it really be that 2011 is now over? It was a pretty amazing year in Poptropica, with lots of new islands to explore, mini-games to play and special events and news. Here’s a look at all the major events in Poptropica over the past year.

January 2011

The New Year got off to a quick start with some new items in the Poptropica Store, including Dragon Followers. The big news of the month was the full public release of Cryptids Island (paid members had received early access in December). That was followed up at the end of the month with the announcement of Wild West Island, which was scheduled for a Valentine’s Day release in early access. Wild West’s sneak preview also arrived at the end of the month: it was a fun mini-game called Round ‘Em Up which featured an overhead view of the game where you had to corral cattle out on a ranch.

The Poptropica Island Smackdown Final Four

February 2011

Anticipation for Wild West Island continued as players of the Round ‘Em Up mini-game were able to win special costumes each day. They included the Loaner, the Hombre, the Kid, and many more. And then as announced, Wild West Island was released to paid members on February 14. It featured a storyline where you arrived in an old Wild West town and had to track down and capture the Grande Gang, led by the notorious outlaw, El Mustachio Grande.

Our Island Smackdown Championship began on February 4. A few days later, following some intense voting by everyone here, Mythology Island was crowned as the winner. Would Mythology still hold up as the best island a year later? We may have to find out!

March 2011

Wimpy Wonderland featured characters from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.

The creators also started announcing plans to retire several costumes, starting with the Rock Star. Although some costumes were retired from the Store, a lot of old ones started coming back later in the year as well.

Here on PoptropicaSecrets.com, we launched the Forum! This has become a popular place over the past year and there’s always some great discussions going on. Check out the Poptropica Fashion section for advice on putting together great costumes, the Island Help section for assistance with any of the island quests, or just drop into the General Discussion to talk about anything in Poptropica.

April 2011

Another new island was announced in Poptropica. Red Dragon Island, which featured characters from the Magic Tree House series of books, takes place in ancient Japan. However, the island was scheduled to be released to members until the first week of May. So after a busy March, April was relatively quiet on Poptropica when it came to new islands to explore.

However, the sneak peek for Red Dragon Island featured a fun Sumo Wrestling competition, and members got a sneak peek outfit: the Red Ninja Costume. The Creators also kept us busy with rumors of player houses coming to the game, and then at the end of the month, the official Poptropica blog announced a favorite villain tournament, using a bracket voting system that we used here for the Island Smackdown.

May 2011

Getting ready to compete in the Sumo Wrestling competition on Red Dragon Island.

Voting for the favorite Poptropica Villain was completed at the end of the month, with the Binary Bard being crowned as the favorite villain in all of Poptropica. It was a tough battle. The final four also included Zeus, Captain Crawfish, and El Mustachio Grande. Here at PoptropicaSecrets.com, we were a little surprised that Dr. Hare got knocked out in Round 2.

Speaking of Dr. Hare, he showed up on the official blog at the end of the month in a screenshot from 24 Carrot Island. He was standing next to the mayor, holding a plush doll. This turned out to be a sneak peek of the Poptropica Toys that were announced later on, but also kicked off the return of the evil rabbit, who at the end of 24 Carrot Island was blasted off into space. During the summer, Dr. Hare began an epic quest around the globe!

June 2011

The month kicked off with Red Dragon Island released to the public to play. The next day, the Creators announced another new adventure, Shrink Ray Island, which became available to paid members in early access at the end of the month.

The Poptropica Toys were also officially announced in June. They included 6-inch and 3-inch action figures and 7-inch plush toys. The 30-inch inflatable Poptropica blimp was also announced for later in the year. Yeah, I bought them all. How about you?

The official Poptropica blog also showcased the 20 rarest items in the game. These are items that only a small portion of Poptropica players had in their inventory. They included obscure but relatively easy items to get, like the Brain Hat (#20) or the Viking Suit (#19), as well as extremely rare and no-longer-possible to obtain items like the Poptropica 3rd Birthday hat (#1).

A fun mini-game was released as part of the sneak peek for Shrink Ray Island. Known as Shrink Shot, it took place in a small bedroom and your goal was to launch yourself across the room and attempt to hit several green bubbles to get the highest score possible.

July 2011

Summer arrived in Poptropica with a new feature: island restart. Now you could replay islands that you had previously completed by clicking the restart button on the island map. Although few people would likely choose to replay some of the more epic quests like Astro-Knights or Mythology, it’s a great tool for having a little fun with some of the original islands like Early Poptropica or Shark Tooth.

I got a little recognition in mid-July when the Creators highlighted me as one of the Poptropica Superstars. It was an incredible honor and I think 5 months later I’m still blushing over it. Other Poptropica Superstars included Grumpy Icicle, Grey Icicle, Quiet Boot, and Sporty Boa.

Dr. Hare began his incredible tour of the world. In a series of posts on the official blog, he traveled to all the major continents on the globe. Was this just a promotion for the Poptropica Toys, or is Dr. Hare planning a triumphant return to Poptropica? Only time will tell.

At the end of the month, Shrink Ray Island became available for everyone, and the Creators also announced the next new island: Mystery Train.

August 2011

August is usually a slow month in Poptropica, since it’s the height of summer vacation. This year was no exception. Most of the news focused on Mystery Train Island, which didn’t actually launch until September. But during August, players were treated to the sneak peek mini-game for the island, D.C. Diner.

Dr. Hare also continued his travels around the globe, showing up in London and on the coast of Maine. And the creators announced a special in-game video guide to Astro-Knights island, one of the most difficult islands in the game to complete. It’s also one of the most popular island walkthroughs here on PoptropicaSecrets.com!

The end of the month went out with some big excitement as Poptropica began its 4th birthday celebration a little early. It featured a similar theme as the previous year, where balloons filled all the multi-player rooms in the game. If you got lucky, you’d find a special blue #4 balloon, which would give you the exclusive 4th birthday cake costume.

September 2011

All aboard on Mystery Train Island

Also, Poptropica began re-releasing rare and discontinued items into the Poptropica Store for a limited time. These included classics like the Light Ninja, Robin Hood, Paper Boy and the Skullduggery Pirate.

The next new island was announced: Game Show Island, which featured a future setting where robots had taken over the planet by winning money on game shows. Robots became a big theme in the Fall of 2011. They appeared again later on when Legendary Swords was released. Someone at Poptropica really loves robots!

At the end of the month, the sneak peek mini-game for Game Show Island was released. It was called Money Ladder and it was a game show done in the style of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, where you answer increasingly difficult multiple-choice questions. In addition to getting the top prize, players got a Robot Costume, Robot Dance special move and a Binary Rain effect.

October 2011

At the beginning of the month, Mystery Train Island became available for everyone to play, while anticipation for both Game Show Island and Legendary Swords continued to build. The Official Poptropica Guide book was released to bookstores on October 13, and the Poptropica Blimp floated into toy stores on October 23.

At the end of the month, Game Show Island was released to members.

November 2011

The secret plan is revealed in Legendary Swords.

The Creators also announced Ghost Story Island, the final island to be released in 2011. In Ghost Story, you explore a small New England town called Hemlock Harbor, which is haunted by several ghosts. At the end of the month, Poptropicans were treated to a fun sneak peek for the island called Spook Central. In this mini-game, you traveled all over Poptropica to track down and capture five famous ghosts, including the Headless Horseman, Sweet William, the Bell With, Deogen, and the Brown Lady. The end of the mini-game had a surprise twist and when you completed everything, you won a very cool Ghost Hunter suit. However, only paid members were able to capture all five ghosts and complete the sneak peek.

December 2011

Ghost Story Island launched on December 15 for paid members. As with the last few islands, non-members were able to play in a demo mode and complete the first part of the island. This new island featured a detailed storyline that was revealed as you progressed through the adventure. It has its share of spooky moments, including the really creepy part when you’re looking through the telescope in the old house (shiver!)

Right before the Creators left for the holidays, they announced another new island: S.O.S. Island. This new quest, which will take place on a doomed ship in the North Atlantic, borrows heavily from the story of the Titanic and will be the first new island of 2012!

Well, that wraps it up for 2011 on Poptropica. It was a pretty eventful year! Thank you for making PoptropicaSecrets.com your home for all the Poptropica cheats, news and help. We’re looking forward to seeing you more in 2012.

Happy New Year!