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------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pogo Island Challenge and Island FAQ
Version 1.02
Date: 10/25/07
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version History
1.0 -- All done except the shouting
1.01 -- Seems my width was to wide, had to manually enter line breaks
1.02 - Stupid formatting gremlins force me to manual over haul the
document
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I noticed GameFaqs didn't have a FAQ for this game, and its such a great
game, I felt there should be at least one. Basically I wanted to see
what the other challenges were, and there wasn't a listing, so I created
one. I also decided to beef it up a little with some information on the
island. I found myself wishing they let you see the map before you
spin.
Anyways, any questions or comments can be directed to intrepid_soul AT
yahoo.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Main Menu - A Brief Overview
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first thing you have to do is create a profile, the game generously
allows 3. If for some reason you want to get rid of one profile there
is a delete option.
Once you select the profile you get the following options:
* Quick Play
This is for the casual gamers out there that just want to play one of
the games available, and not have to deal with the whole quest deal.
This is the place where you can see how many Pogo tokens you have
earned. The games available are:
* Poppit!
* Tri-Peaks Solitaire
* Word Whomp
* Squelchies
* Phlinx
* Island Adventure
This is for the folks that like to have goals, and achievements. The
Pogo mascots are shipwrecked on a island. You take the role of the
captain. You have to go around the island and collect your crew and
parts to your ship. This is the only place where you find challenges,
so if you want to "complete" the game you have to play through multiple
times.
* Multiplayer
This is the most basic multiplayer functionality ever. You can share
your DS with up to four of your friends, as you compete to get the
highest score. You can also let your friends download a Word Whomp
Demo. I have never been a fan of the demos, as they only stay on your
system until the power shuts off.
* Token Transfer
If you don't know what Pogo is, its a gaming site where you earn tokens
that can be used for raffles or to turn in for prizes if you have a full
account. This option allows you to transfer your hard earned tokens to
your Pogo account.
It should be noted that there is an annoying bug, even though you log
into your profile it does not keep your screen name or password for Pogo
stored. So you have to type it in each time. You can also set up your
Wi-Fi connection if you haven't already.
* Help, Hints & Tips
This is where you can get some generic hints for each game. It also
explains the rating system, which I believe is broken. It says there
are 10 ranks with a gold, silver and bronze star for each. I didn't
really notice the stars until I was an Island Guru. There really is no
rhyme or reason to ranking up, after going through the Island Adventure
a couple of times you should be Guru Level no real work there.
* Extras
I used to work in QA and this section seems like a bug fix. In this
area you can end yet another demo, this time of Poppit! This is also
where they hid the ability to switch profiles. This is also where you
can view the Captain's Log, which is a log of the badges you earned.
Badges are achievements for each of the games. Each game has 8 badges,
they are all the same, but the name of the game is different. So the
list for each game is as follows, I will use the generic *game* to keep
it simple. Basically if you look at the Word Whomp section it will say
Word Whomp in place of the *game* label, get it?
Good, here's the list:
O Win 5 games of *game*
O Win 10 games of *game*
O Win 50 games of *game*
O Win 100 games of *game*
O Win 200 games of *game*
O Earn 2 *game* Challenges
O Earn all *game* Challenges
O Earn all *game* Badges & Challenges
First, there's a little grammatical problem with this list. The
Challenge says "Earn" when it means "Complete". The next thing that
annoys me is the cheap badge of "Earn all Badges and Challenges." If
that is a goal for that badge it is impossible to achieve as you can't
earn that badge without having that badge. Its faulty logic and it just
annoys me, as what is means is collect all the other badges on this
page, and you will get this one.
Next annoyance, the game does not tell you how many times you have won a
game. So the "Win" badges seem like random pop-ups. The good news is
you can work on these games in Quick Play, and as far as I have seen you
can even complete the game on easy and it counts. What I do is look at
the last "Win" badge, let's say the last one I completed was "Win 10
games of *game*," well the next threshold is 50 so I know I just have to
power through and win at least 40 games.
Finally there is a spot to view the credits; I recommend you sit through
them at least once. I, myself have been in several game credits, and I
always pay attention to them. Once in awhile I see people I used to
work with, its like Myspace except without the annoying spam.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Hints, Tips and Information for Each Game
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Poppit!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really like this game, the object is to pop all or as many balloons as
you can. You can only pop balloons that are sitting next to the same
color, either up and down or left and right. As you pop balloons Spike
(the cactus at the top) releases presents at the top of the screen
sometimes instead of presents you get power ups. The two power ups are
an anvil, and a push pin.
The anvil will drag one column of balloons down one spot. So lets says
if column A has a Red Balloon and a Yellow Balloon, and Column B has a
Yellow Balloon, you can put the anvil on Column B and make it so the two
Yellow Balloons are next to each other.
The push pin pops a single balloon.
Use these in concert with each other to clear the board. Of course, you
get a bonus for not using the power up items, so its up to you. The
great thing about this game though is there is an undo button that you
can use at any time, even at the end of the game if you haven't won it
will allow you to take back the last move. This ensure you will never
fail, however if you are competing in a challenge the game will not
allow you to go back from your last move.
In Quick Play there are 3 different difficulties, in the island
adventure the difficulty ramps up as you go through the board. The
difficulty determines the complexity of the balloon patterns.
Tri-Peaks Solitaire
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was a fan of this game on the Pogo site, and to be able to play this
on the go was heaven for me. Anyways, the game is split into two
screens. The top shows an adventurer trying to pull in a big pot of
gold; the bottom is the playing field with cards. The cards are
arranged in three pyramids, and the cards function similar to Mahjongg
tiles. You cannot access a card unless it is uncovered. How it works
is you have a stock pile of cards you deal the first one face up. You
then try to follow in sequence using the cards from the pyramids. For
example if you deal a 6, you can place a 5 or a 4 on that card.
You can chain together cards for combo bonuses, in the previous example
if you placed a 5 on the six, then you could place a 4 or a 6 on that 5
and keep the run going. Once there are no more moves you can take
another card from you stock.
The goal of the game depends on the difficultly you select. In the case
of the Island Adventure, it gradually ramps up as you go further into
the board:
Easy -- Clear one pyramid
Medium -- Clear two pyramid
Hard -- Clear one pyramid
In Quick Play, you have the option to start a new hand, as opposed to
trying to complete the cards you were dealt. As you complete combos the
adventurer pulls the pot of gold closer, as it passes the indents in the
lava you earn multipliers. Slowing down, or not making combos will
cause the adventurer to lose his grip making the pot move towards the
right.
You can also unlock Power Up; these are available the next time you
play.
The ones I've seen are:
A Bonus multiplier -- It increases the rate at which the bonus is
earned
A wild card -- This is the best card, not only can you play
it at anytime, but if you are in the middle
of a combo the wild card doesn't count as a
new card. This allows you to rack up monster
combos.
Flip over all the cards -- This allows you to see all the cards on the
table, and allows you to plan ahead
New Deal -- This gives you another set of cards for an
extra edge in trying to clear the table
Word Whomp
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is another classic from Pogo. This is a word game where it gives
you letters, and you have to find the all the words from them. There is
a twist in this version, you have to remember as it's a video game the
ESRB rated it so there are a couple words that are not in its
dictionary, like ASS or the like.
There are a couple cool buttons that can help out a bit:
Hint -- This will give you the first letter of a word you
don't have as well as show you how many letters it
has, as a punishment several seconds are shaved off
the timer each time you use this button.
Mix Up -- When all else fails, click this, what it does is
rearrange the letters. Sometimes seeing the
letters in a different pattern helps.
Enter -- After you tap in a word, you have to tap this for the
game to check it
Clear -- If you misspell something and you catch it in time,
you can either click on the letters in the word you
created, or click this button to clear the whole
word out
Options -- Turn down the music, or start a new game, or quit
In Quick Play, you can choose the difficulty; this determines where the
game winning first fruit is. As you spell out words the gopher on the
bottom will work its way to the right of the screen. There are two
fruits. The first one is the one you need to get to in order to
register a win, and the last fruit you collect if you get all the words.
It might seem like cheating, but there are several sites out there that
will give you all word combinations from a group of letters. One such
site is:
http://www.anagramssolved.com/
Squelchies
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't really care for this game, but it's kind of like the balloon
game. You have to drag these creatures around so that matching colors
connect, either up and down or left and right. Once connect them they
clear off the board. You can set up multiple chains to maximize your
points. As you clear Squelchies off the board, the crab at the bottom
of the screen moves to the right. The goal of the game is to get the
crab all the way to the right.
In Quick Play, the difficulty settings change how quickly the crab
moves.
Also on Easy you only need 3 Squelchies for a set.
As with the other games there are bonus items to help you out:
Eggs -- These will hatch into the same color
Squelchies that are around it, for example if
you move a set of yellow Squelchies over and
Egg, the Egg will hatch into another Yellow
Squelchies.
Multi-Colored Star -- This is a two part item; there will be the
star and a frame. You have to move the star
to the frame. When you do one color will
change into another, for example all blue
Squelchies will turn red. This causes some
pretty cool combo bonuses.
Multi-Colored Blowfish -- Same as the star, match the frame and it will
spawn blowfish who will such up a complete
row
Tornado -- Same as the star, match it to the frame, and
it will mix all Squelchies on the screen up.
I have seen these make multi-combos.
Anchors -- These can't be moved, but they can be part of
a set, so a yellow anchor needs to touch the
require number of yellow Squelchies and it
will disappear
Phlinx
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would rather jump off a cliff then play this game, and this game makes
you have to win 200 times? Pure torture! Okay so this game has two
parts, but they both are the same deal. There are stones up at the top
of the screen.
You control the cannon at the bottom, there are three slots to place the
cannon, and it shows you which stones are going to be fired next.
Connecting 3 or more stones of the same color will destroy them. The
goal of the game is to dislodge as many stones as you can.
So you want to work around large piles and whittle down their connecting
stones so that you can get multiple stones to drop.
As stone drops, a pirate flag raises on the left hand side of the
screen.
Once the flag is fully raised, the game switches to the second stage.
This is slightly different as you have to dislodge a golden idol in the
middle of the screen. The positive side is the there are only 3 colored
stones in this section so its pretty easy to do if you get this far.
The difficulty level changes how many colors are available in the
starting round.
As with the others there are items to help you out:
Sun Stone -- This stone will take out multiple stones in a
row, it can be bounced off the wall to
triangulate into massive stone drops
Stone of Destruction -- This stone causes a massive explosion taking
out multiple stones in a splash damage sort
of way
Time Stone -- This causes the stone field to move up one
level
Rain Stone -- The most annoying power up, is sends a rain
of stones up to playing field, anything they
touch disappears. This ruins many combos
you have set up, it cannot be bounced off a
wall, but that actually works out as you can
send it off to the left or right and you
don't need to send it up.
There is a captain's wheel in the bottom right of the screen that allows
you to swap out the next stone after the current stone with another
color.
Sail Repair
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I debated whether or not to add these mini-games, but they are in the
Island Adventure, so I should comment on them. The Sail Repair is
pretty easy as the sail never changes, so just remember what goes where
and where the stitches are. You can zip through this quickly.
Hammer and Nail
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another easy one, when a nail comes up taps it with your stylus. If you
tap an area without a nail that is up time comes off the clock. After
about 20 nails, one of the nails does a double take, and things speed
up. I kind of wish there was an unlimited time mode.
Nuts and Bolts
------------------------------------------------------------------------
You want to separate nuts and bolts, but only the silver ones. You can
drag the rusted items to the bottom of the screen to clear the clutter.
All Aboard
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Its a sling shot game you have to get all the toys into one of the three
crates, it doesn't penalize you for missing, so to me this game is kind
of lame. To get to the top left hand side crate, drag the sling shot
quickly to the bottom right and release. The key is speed to get
height.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Challenges
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alright here's the reason I started typing this FAQ, I will also add
some commentary on how I went about achieving the goal. I will give you
a huge tip upfront though. The game saves before you enter the
challenge, and the game also tells you if you accomplished the challenge
before the level end. This means if you are at the end of a game, and
you haven't conquered the challenge, simply turn off the system. When
you start back up, your character will be on the same challenge,
allowing you to try it again.
Word Whomp Challenges
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Find 3 letter words
2. Find 4 letter words
3. Get to the half-way fruit within 2 minutes
4. Find all 3 letter words
5. Find all 4 Letter words
6. Find all 5 and 6 letters word
7. Complete the word board in under 2 minutes
8. Complete the word board without using hints
The best advice I can give you is try to get as many words on your own
at first. Don't be afraid to use a hint to get a first or second
letter. Usually you can figure out the rest of the letters after seeing
the first two.
If you have an S, don't forget plurals! Same goes for ED or ER. When
in doubt use one of those web pages that solve anagrams, but remember
90% of the words it will find will not be in this game.
Poppit! Challenges
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Pop 35 or more balloons
2. Pop 8 or more balloons with one pop
3. Pop 15 balloons of the same color
4. Pop 50 or more Balloons
5. Pop 20 Balloons of the same color
6. Pop 15 or more balloons with one pop
7. Finish the game with less than 5 balloons left
8. Pop all the Balloons
This takes planning, for the ones where you need X amount of the same
color, remember this is not at the same time, so as long as you
methodically go through you can get these easy. For the ones where you
need one pop, my suggestion is pick on color and pop all the other
colors first. Usually this bunches the remaining color together for
your super pop. Also don't forget to use the anvil and push pin
effectively. When in doubt undo everything and pick a new color.
Phlinx Challenges
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Destroy 5 stones of the same color with one shot
2. Release 5 stones with one shot
3. Destroy 7 or more stones of the same color with one shot
4. Release 10 or more stones with one shot
5. Destroy 20 stones of the same color
6. Release 20 or more stones with one shot
7. Destroy 40 stones of the same color
8. Release 40 or more stones with one shot
Alright the key here is to pay attention to the first word. Release,
means dropping them down so the flag raises. Destroy means to line up
three of them so they disappear. For the 5 stones in one shot, either
use a preexisting pile of one color, or you can line up two stacks of
two and fire the fifth in between them.
For the 40 stone release, once you have your stones down to one area
before they drop, you can add move to this pile and make sure they don't
match.
Tri-Peaks Solitaire Challenges
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Get a 5 card streak
2. Get a 2x multiplier
3. Get an 8 card streak
4. Get a 2.5x multiplier
5. Finish game with 5 cards left in the deck
6. Get a 3x Multiplier
7. Get a 10 card streak
8. Finish game with more than 7 cards left in the deck
Here's a fun fact, when you land on one of those choose any game
squares, choose Tri-Peaks. If you get a bonus item, don't play it again
until the challenge makes you. Some of those bonus items help out, such
as the bonus multiplier. Plus if you use the power off method you can
see multiple card layouts as they change each time you load the game.
For the 10 card streak, remember the wild card continues the streak, so
let's say you have an 8 card streak going and you have nothing else you
can do. Throw the wild card on your pile and ad anything from one of
the piles and you'll have 10 just like that.
For the last challenge, I recommend getting the extra deck bonus, and
using it at the start of the hand. Usually you will have more than
enough at the end. If not, shut down and restart. :)
Squelchies Challenges
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Create a 2x combo
2. Release 5 Squelchies with one move
3. Release 15 Squelchies
4. Release 15 Squelchies of the same color
5. Create a 3x color combo
6. Release 6 or more Squelchies with one move
7. Create a 4x color combo
8. Release 30 Squelchies of the same color
This usually requires a lot of luck. Let the screen fill up and unleash
a tornado that usually causes multiple combos. Use the same technique
with the Star and if you are lucky you'll clear that 30 of the same
color with no hassle.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Island Adventure
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just sit right back and I'll tell you a tale.....err wait wrong story.
The first thing you learn about this portion of the game is that the
spinner is not your friend unless you know the map. You can spin the
spinner at different speeds and over time you can learn how to get it to
pretty much stop on what ever you need it to stop on. The spinner board
itself is determined by how well, or not so well you did in the previous
game. The spaces on the spinner include:
Numbers -- Pretty explanatory, your character moves this many
spaces
Star -- In my opinion, the most annoying space, landing on
this allows you to "practice" the mini-games
required to complete the island: Hammer and Nails,
Nuts and Bolts, Sail Repair, and All Aboard
Jackpot -- Free Pogo tokens, but it then moves your character
an in determined number of spaces
Choose a Space -- Best space, it allows you to choose which space
you want to move to very handy when filling out
challenges
I have only seen 5 spinner configurations, I put them in order from best
(complete the mini-game the best way i.e. cleared all the
balloons/cards) to worst (didn't satisfy the basic win requirement i.e.
didn't eat the first fruit or didn't clear a single pyramid):
Star 3 Jackpot 5 Choose a Space 3
Star 3 Jackpot 3 Choose a Space 3
Star 2 3 Jackpot 2 3
Star 1 2 3 2 1
1 1 2 1 1 2
As you can see there is a strategy you can go with, intentionally tank
the game that will give you a spinner with just 1's and 2's. It's
pretty easy to aim for either as there are two 1's in a row, you can
inch along the board to get to the challenges you need.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Map Legend:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yellow Star Word Whomp
Red Star Poppit!
Purple Star Phlinx
Green Star Tri Peaks Solitaire
Blue Star Squelchies
Gopher Find mascot Gopher
Spike Find Mascot Spike
Pirate Monkey Find Mascot Pirate Monkey
Tex Find Mascot Tex
Squelchies Find Mascot Squelchies
Anchor Play mini-game for ship part
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Map
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The map is 4 wide and 3 high, and the path you take is predetermined
like any board game. The map and paths look like this; the directions
indicate which direction you will leave that screen:
_________________________________________________________________
|6 |7 |10 |11 |
| | | | |
| Right | Down | Right | Down |
| | | | |
|_______________|_______________|_______________|_______________|
|5 |8 |9 |12 The End |
| | | | |
| Up | Right | Up | |
| | | | |
|_______________|_______________|_______________|_______________|
|4 |3 |2 |1 Start |
| | | | |
| Up | Left | Left | Left |
| | | | |
|_______________|_______________|_______________|_______________|
--------------------
Board Spaces
--------------------
Using the map from above the each box represents one screen. Use the
number in the box as a guide to which screen is which:
-----------------------------
*Screen 1*
-----------------------------
Any Game
Poppit! Challenge
Word Whomp Challenge
Phlinx Challenge
Reunite with Gopher -- Play Word Whomp
Score required 125
Prize: 400 Tokens
Squelchies Challenge
-----------------------------
*Screen 2*
-----------------------------
Any Game
Any Game
Tri-Peaks Solitaire Challenge
Any Game
Repair Item -- Play Nuts and Bolts for a
ship part
Score required: 10 nuts/bolts
Prize: 250 tokens
Word Whomp Challenge
-----------------------------
*Screen 3*
-----------------------------
Poppit! Challenge
Any Game
Phlinx Challenge
Any Game
Word Whomp Challenge
Reunite with Spike -- Play Poppit!
Score Required: 300 points
Reward: 200 Tokens
Any Game
-----------------------------
*Screen 4*
-----------------------------
Tri-Peaks Solitaire Challenge
Any Game
Any Game
Word Whomp Challenge
Any Game
Word Whomp Challenge
Repair Item -- Play Hammer a Nail
Score Required: 40 Nails
Reward: 250
Tri Peaks Solitaire Challenge
-----------------------------
*Screen 5*
-----------------------------
Poppit! Challenge
Any Game
Tri-Peaks Solitaire
Any Game
Phlinx Challenge
Any Game
Reunite with Pirate Monkey -- Play Phlinx
Score Required: 300
Reward: 500 Tokens
-----------------------------
*Screen 6*
-----------------------------
Any Game
Word Whomp Challenge
Poppit! Challenge
Phlinx Challenge
Tri Solitaire Challenge
-----------------------------
*Screen 7*
-----------------------------
Any Game
Squelchies Challenge
Repair Item -- Play Sail Repair
Scored Required: 9
Reward: 800
Any Game
Poppit Challenge
Any Game
-----------------------------
*Screen 8*
-----------------------------
Phlinx Challenge
Squelchies Challenge
Any Game
Tri-Solitaire Challenge
Any Game
Reunite with Tex -- Play Tri-Peaks Solitaire
Score Required: 300
Reward: 500
Any Game
-----------------------------
*Screen 9*
-----------------------------
Poppit! Challenge
Squelchies Challenge
Word Whomp Challenge
Any Game
Phlinx Challenge
Squelchies Challenge
-----------------------------
*Screen 10*
-----------------------------
Any Game
Any Game
Poppit! Challenge
Repair Item -- Play All Aboard
Score required: 21 Objects
Reward: 1000 tokens
Word Whomp Challenge
Tri Peaks Solitaire Challenge
Squelchies Challenge
-----------------------------
*Screen 11*
-----------------------------
Any Game
Phlinx Challenge
Any Game
Any Game
Poppit! Challenge
Squelchies Challenge
-----------------------------
*Screen 12*
-----------------------------
Any Game
Phlinx Challenge
Squelchies Challenge
Tri Peaks Solitaire Challenge
Word Whomp Challenge
Reunite with Squelchies -- Play Squelchies
Score Required: 300
Reward: 600 Tokens
End of Game Challenges --
