Steamworks Island is the 14th island in Poptropica. It was scheduled to open to general use on September 9, 2010. Paid monthly Poptropica members were granted Early Access on August 12, 2010. This solution contains spoilers.
Entering the Island :
- There are four main sections to the island. 1) Main Street has the Clockwork Cantina, the trash bin, the Center and Museum and the Gear Shop. 2) To the left are scenes for Sully's Paraphernalia and the Living Quarters building. 3) To the right are scenes for the Hub of the Universe and the drawbridge to 4) the Botanical Research Laboratory (Production Zone).
- Play the game at the Cantina to get the Multi-tool(place the larger gears on the hubs at top and bottom, with the smaller three in between, running down the right middle).
- Get the Steam Battery from the trash bin.
- Climb the Cantina and pull the lever to extend the crossing arm. Walk across, then use the wind-blowers to reach the upper right on the Center's roof. Enter by using the multi-tool to remove the bolts.
In Mayor Crumb's office :
- There is a large portrait of Mayor Crumb and Captain Ziggs. The only important item is the message in the typewriter ("remember the number 516").
In the Museum (lower entrance) :
- Go to the right. Throw the lever to raise the machine's arm, then climb up the vines at the left, then to the right (avoid the weak steps) and get the Dirty Beaker. Leave and head left to the other scene : Sully's Paraphernalia and the Living Quarters.
The Living Quarters and Sully's shop :
- Jump on the lever arm to raise the left side, so that you can reach the doorway. (You won't have the key until later.) Jump on top of the Robot Crab, who will flip over revealing Sully's Key. Pick up both.
- Return right to Sully's and open the right side door using the Steam Battery : to set the proper pressure, the connectors have to equal negative 5 (-5) between the starting pressure (10) and the output (5). The connectors change positions after each try.
- In Sully's, find the robot Sprocket at the far right and ring the bell to wake him up. He will now follow you. In the junk pile to the left, collect the Rubber Mallet.
- Enter the garage to the left, and you will see the incomplete Mech walker being built by Sprocket's owner, Zack.
- Go to the final building on the left, and ride the wind-blower to the roof, where you will pick up a short length of Vine. Head back to the Hub of the Universe scene to the right of Main Street.
The Hub of the Universe (Quarters of Captain Ziggs) :
- Use Sprocket to pick up the robot crab and drop it on the hot hatch cover. The water inside will cool the hatch so you can go down inside.
- Something is moving through the pipes, and it turns out to be a monster plant. Use the Vine to pull down a steam pipe onto it.
- At the bottom, there are a series of three "tilt mazes" to solve, which restore power to the Hub elevator. Leave the underground steam room.
- Climb up and throw the lever on the right side of the Hub to start it turning, so that you can reach the elevator to the Captain's Quarters. Go up.
- Sprocket is attacked by giant plant tendrils! Save him by slamming the hatch covers shut on them. He will speak to you now, and has some information on the people of the island.
- Enter the Captain's quarters and ride the mini-vators to the bedroom level. There is a rotary dial below the portrait (identical to the one in the Mayor's office). When each concentric wheel is pressed, it rotates, changing the numbers at the right. Stop and start them until the numbers read "0516" from top to bottom (outer to inner circles)
- Enter the secret passage. You will find the skeleton of Captain Ziggs, long dead, on the floor. To the left is the Bridge Key, and the Mech Weed Whacker is on the ceiling above it. Exit the Hub and go right to the Drawbridge.
Crossing the Drawbridge :
- Use the Steam Battery again. You must raise the pressure by +6, from the input of 10 to the output of 16 (look for a path that includes four +2's).
- Cross to the Botanical Research Laboratory.
In the Research Facility :
- Bounce up the spring to reach the Wrecking Ball control. Push all three levers down and press the green button. It will smash a hole in the weakened conduit below. Go down inside.
- Head to the right and enter the engine room. There are three red pressure pads on each side that will power the two "toaster switches". Click on all three on each side. Have Sprocket "stand" on one switch while you stand on the other. This will power the circling step plates above.
- Climb up to the right. As the step plate comes around, you can jump up on it. Jump off to the right and cross the upper platform to the left. (You can cross by jumping to the two sides of each plate, but this is more difficult.) Jump down on the left plate as it goes down to the left, then over to the non-moving ones.
- Pressing the lever will start the final plate moving upward, to the next level.
The Mixing Room, Giant Plants, and Maintenance Area :
- Cross to far right and climb the vine to the conveyor belt. You will have to cross under the falling blobs.
- Use the vines to reach the left side belt and get the Mech Steam Motor. Go up the vine.
- Cross to the lab room on the left side (a chemical storage room). Use the empty Dirty Beaker to mix a Herbicide. Use the markings on the beaker to add the right amounts : 4 parts red, 2 green, 3 blue. (Fill it to the 4th line with red, then to the 6th line with green, and finally the 9th line with blue.) These are indicated on the wall chart. You should be as precise as possible, or you may need to mix again.
- The carnivorous plant is on the level above. Go up the vine, stand close to it, and use the herbicide. The plant is destroyed and you can enter the Maintenance Closet behind it.
- Take the Steam Key (for the Living Quarters), and leave after the robot guard starts the alarm.
- Climb to the upper left and use the Rubber Mallet to break the dome glass to escape. Leave the research area and return to the far left scene (Living Quarters door)
Back at the Living Quarters
- Use the Steam Battery (you need to make a -3 path).
- Use the lever-activated elevator and timed-action ladder to reach Zack's room, avoiding the cracked platforms.
- At the upper left is the Steam Vent Game : steam is entering from the upper left and has to be connected to the lower right by a path of pipes. Uncover each of the hidden pipe shapes by clicking on them. Then click on a pipe to move it to any other pipe location (except the Dead End squares). You can keep ahead of the moving steam by adding sections as you uncover and build the pathway. If you complete the path before the steam, press the finish lever to move to the next pipe set. There are 4x4, 6x6, and 8x8 pipe sets, and you only need to complete each one once. It will automatically reset for the current level if you fail.
- Go up the ladder, to the left, out the exit, and down the tightrope vine to get the Mech Crank at the far left. Drop down and go to Zack's Mech machine at Sully's.
Finishing the Mech Walker and Whacking Weeds :
- At the garage, install the two parts in the Mech (Motor and Crank). You can now enter the machine and use it to walk around. The teleporter on the seat will bring you back to the Mech if you get lost. Get in and attach the Weed Whacker from your items.
- Exit riding the Mech and walk to the far left, the annex entrance.
- Use the spacebar to activate the Weed Whacker and whack away the blocking weeds (you should need at least two whacks, down and across). Enter the door.
The Plant Monsters of the Annex :
- Jump down to the left with the Mech. You will squash a small attacker by aiming at him and using the Weed Whacker. Jump up on giant squishy plant to toss you and the Mech up a level. Falling in the Mech causes no damage to it or you.
- Exit the Mech briefly to turn the small power wheel that runs the elevators. Stepping onto an elevator with the Mech will cause it to automatically rise.
- Take the elevator and head right, splattering three more little enemies with the Whacker.
- Take the next elevator and you will face the Whirlygig Plant. It is throwing off red fruit bombs that can knock you backward. DUCK them, or use the Whacker to splat a missile as you move to the left. Crunch the Whirlygig when you get close enough.
- Go up a level, and cross right on the slow-crawling tractor platform. Go up again.
- Heading left, you face the Smiley-Tongue Monster, not a formidable foe. It is easy to knock out its tongue then its body. Exit the annex through the door.
The Fan Blades and the Hibernation Room :
- Walk left to the fan blades, and smash your way through with the Whacker. But the fan blades will begin to turn, preventing you from entering the locked doorway.
- Exit the Mech, and climb on the moving blades, which will carry you to the Fan Gear control. Use the multi-tool to lock the gear and stop the blades. Re-enter the Mech and go through the doorway that Sprocket has unlocked.
- You are in the Hibernation Chamber, where all of the residents of Steamworks Island are in suspended animation. Walk left to the revival machine and use the Multi-tool to spin it up.
- The Steamworks people awake from their long slumber. Talk to Zack and Mayor Crumb, and they will explain how a mutation experiment created monstrous plant creatures. (They have been sleeping for 200 years in the stasis pods.)
- Unfortunately, the monsters have not gone away. You will have to go into the depths to battle their "brain plants" with the Toxic Blaster Attachment.
- Hop out of the Mech and climb up to the weapons locker at upper right, and then attach the Toxic Blaster when you reboard the Mech. Go down the elevator to face the monsters.
The Monsters (Underground Level 1) :
- These few monsters can only slightly delay you by attacking. Shoot them with the rapid-fire blaster (spacebar). You can work your way past them to reach the final battle room below.
- The exit door is on the second lowest floor. If you fall down the elevator, there is a screw-thread riser in the shaft. Like the ones you saw previously on the Hub, you can stand on it and walk to the left, and it will raise you to the next floor.
- Take the slow-crawling pad across, and exit though the door on the right.
The Final Battle :
- You battle three nearly identical monsters. There is a pool of acid rising from the depths, which limits your time.
- The monsters resemble the Hydra, and attack the same way, with their heads. You must get close enough to provoke an attack, then DUCK or jump away to avoid getting hit. For a few seconds afterward, the monster can be shot (splat). Hit the first one three times, then climb to the next level. (Jumping and turning is more difficult in the Mech Walker, and takes some practice. Be sure to stay ducked until it completes its lunge.)
- The second monster also shoots discus-like bombs at you, which you have to shoot out of the air before they strike you. If they do, they can knock you backward. Avoid falling into the elevator shaft, as this wastes a lot of time. Get close to the monster, shooting each projectile as it fires, then duck and shoot the creature as before, three times.
- Cross left on the slow tractor platform. (With the acid rising, this is a final delay.)
- The third monster has caterpillar-like bombs dropping from the ceiling onto you, as well as the missiles and the head-butting attack. Hit the third one three times and you have won.
- You will automatically return to the Hibernation Chamber, where Mayor Crumb gives you the Island Medallion.
You can leave the Mech suit where it ends up (in the Hibernation Chamber), or walk it back through the Annex. Sprocket stays there with Zack. If you leave it there, you can return to see them again using the teleporter.
If you are impatient to leave the island, you can skip the tedious path back out to main Street by using the Haunted House game from the Poptropica Store (previously free but now 350 credits). Entering the Haunted House game, and then leaving it, brings you to the Island Map.
Notes :
1) The game puts a premium on acquiring items (vine, beaker) long before you know you will need them, with no hints to tell you what or where they are. Some players may find themselves searching the game for each next step.
2) The importance of not overlooking certain items such as the dirty beaker in the Center (or the Multi-tool as below) is that the game gives you no clues if you miss them. If you don't have the mallet, or don't know how to use it, you must return the Living Quarters key to the closet if you ever want to leave! (You can can also return the key at the end of the game and turn off the alarm.)
3) Why is there a teleporter? If someone were to guess or otherwise get the code "516", they would not need the Multi-tool until they reached the giant fan in the annex. It is a long walk back to the Cantina, but even longer there and back.
4) The biggest difference in Steamworks Island is the lack of Poptropica citizens. Part of the story is a mystery that you'll have to figure out, about where everyone has gone. Instead of seeing people walking around, you'll find only machines and robots.
Glitches :
1) If you fail on your first try at the third set of steampipes in Zach's room, you may not be able to complete the set. The steam pipes can go dead. Exit the room and re-enter to play all three levels again.
2) People are getting lost when leaving, because you drop all the way to the bottom of the storage annex, and the exit is on the second level, where you came in. When you reach the "elevator plant", the exit is due right, not down and right.