Disney’s Club Penguin Island is here, and it’s a takeoff on the entertainment giant’s MMO Club Penguin, which had recently shut down. But Disney’s back with a new version of this experience for iOS and Android gamers, and it’s your chance to enter a destination “full of secrets and myths, legendary treasures, and piñata smashing penguins.” You will need to sign up for an account and choose your penguin name, joining a thriving community with friendly locals and newcomers such as yourself, diving for gems, riding geysers, sharing stinky cheese, customizing your character’s look, and doing a variety of other things not mentioned in the game’s description. There are also tons of quests and rewards, and lots of coins for you to earn as you Club Penguin experience continues in mobile.
Before we get on to the meat of the matter, we should warn you beforehand – downloading the game wouldn’t cost you a thing, and this game is technically free to play. But the only way for you to do all of the things Disney promised in the description (and then some) is to sign up to a monthly membership. If you play for free, you’ll only get a “lite” version where you’re only limited to collecting stuff. There may be new features launched with future updates, but for the meantime, this Club Penguin Island strategy guide is designed to help you make the most out of the free and premium versions, while starting out by discussing the advantages of premium membership.
1. Why Should You Go Premium
On most occasions, we wouldn’t advise you to take the premium route and pay to enjoy certain features in a mobile game. But since the “lite” and free version is extremely light on features, that’s one reason in itself for you to pay the monthly fee for membership. In addition, leveling up while on Premium Membership allows you to get more rewards than free players. So if you’ve got some money to burn, go ahead and sign up for the Premium Membership, and do so while still in the early goings, as leveling up will be very easy and fast at first.
If you decide to keep on playing for free, you won’t get even half the content and the freebies. That’s entirely up to you, but if you sign up for Premium and eventually tire of the game, then you can cancel your subscription and sign up again at a later time, should you become interested again in playing.
2. Collect Seashells, Flowers, And Other Items
When playing Club Penguin Island, one of the first things you should remember is to collect anything and everything there is to collect. We’re talking about the seashells, flowers, seaweed, pearls, coconuts, and other items you may find laying around, or at a point where you have to exert some effort to collect them. (Coconuts and flowers would be an example of the latter.) Keep on collecting as many items as you could each day, as you can convert them into Shiny, which is the game’s primary form of currency.
As an addendum to what we had told you above, you should take note that some items are literally shiny, and others aren’t. We believe that there will be more shiny stuff added in subsequent updates, but the rule of thumb when collecting items is this – if the item is shiny, then it can be converted to Shiny. Go to the machine behind Aunt Arctic to recycle your items and make yourself some in-game currency.
3. Play The Fishing Mini-Game
Club Penguin Island comes with a fishing mini-game that, like most other mini-games, is optional to play but nonetheless a great way for you to earn more coins. In order to play this game, approach the fishing rods. Once you do that, you’re off to the races, as you can use your rods to catch more fish and other items. You can then convert your fish and other items into in-game currency by selling them – here’s hoping you catch a lot the next time you play this mini-game!
As a bonus tip, the game does set some limits on the number of fish you can sell per day. We’re not sure if this limit will change with future updates, but as of the moment, the game will only allow you to catch and sell a maximum of ten fish per day.
4. Complete Daily Challenges For More Money
The game comes with its share of daily challenges, and these can help you earn more money, which you can then spend to level up your penguin and customize him/her to your liking. Complete these challenges, and complete any available Adventures you may have on tap at any given time. That’s going to help you to level up and unlock more features and items – at least as many features and items as the free version will allow, that is. These challenges usually aren’t much of a bother – they can also be quite fun to complete, and once again, you could earn a ton of coins if you complete a lot of challenges and Adventures in Club Penguin Island.
5. Don’t Be Afraid To Customize Your Character
If you come to think of it, Club Penguin Island is not your traditional mobile game, and is not a traditional game in the truest sense. It can be best described as an MMO virtual world where the social element takes precedence over any and all game mechanics. So with that in mind, you shouldn’t be afraid to customize your penguin, especially if you’re a Premium member. Use whatever money you earn to buy and create clothes and other items, and start parties, among other interactions you may have with the real players playing this game. Once again, you won’t have much to do if you’re a free member, but if you’re Premium, don’t let that money go to waste. Spiff up the look of your penguin, interact with your fellow Club Penguin Island residents, and party if you feel like it!
6. Level Up Your Penguin
Aside from having fun in the in-game world with other real players, you shouldn’t neglect to level up or rank up your penguin. In fact, we’d say this is extremely important, as you would be able to access more customization options for your penguin character. You may also be able to take part in certain activities or collect certain items by ranking up in this game. As we mentioned above, you’ve got your daily challenges, as well as your Adventure missions – complete them so you could level up quickly and make your name faster in Club Penguin Island.
7. Don’t Neglect The Story Missions
While the daily missions are a great way to earn currency in CPI, you shouldn’t neglect the game’s story missions either. Not only are these a lot of fun, they could earn you various other items on top of the free currency.
In a game where interaction with your fellow human players is at a premium, Story Mode may seem superfluous and maybe even optional. But if you’re trying to earn more currency fast, you should definitely give those story missions a try.