The top stop for all things Pop
Are you wondering why the Poptropica map doesn’t have more islands than it does? If you’re an older player, you may recall a time when Poptropica had wayyy more islands on the map—more than 40, even! Where did they all go, and how can you play them again?
Continue reading “Pop Protip: Play the old islands with Flashpoint 🏝🔦 (Windows and Mac)”
Howdy Poptopicanos! 🤟 This is LJ, and today I’ll be ranking the islands from 2015, a decade after they were released. There were only 4 islands that came out this year that I’ll be including in this ranking: Galactic Hot Dogs, Mystery of the Map, Timmy Failure, and Escape from Pelican Rock. Let’s see how they place!
(Please note, the final episodes of PoptropiCon & Arabian Nights were released in 2015 as well, but those islands were included in the 2014 ranking. Also, these are not full reviews of the islands; therefore, each analysis will be brief.)
(released: January 30 for members & February 19 for all)
I’ll be honest, Galactic Hot Dogs Island never interested me at the time of its release and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten the urge to ever replay it. I do like the character designs and the colors are visually appealing to me—the overall art style might even be better than the next island on this list. Still, that’s just not enough for me to rank this one any higher. Sorry Galactic Hot Dogs!
(released: September 17 for members & October 6 for all)
Just like Galactic Hot Dogs Island, this one also didn’t grab my interest. I struggle to recall much about this island, aside from Timmy Failure’s pet polar bear, Total, who totally stole the show for being a whole mood. Total seems more likable than any of the characters from Galactic Hot Dogs, so because of that alone, Timmy Failure Island sits in third place. (Oh, and the mini-game where you have to dodge the trash from the garbage truck is one other thing I remember. That was pretty fun.)
(released: May 21 for members & June 11 for all)
I’ll be upfront and say that I have a positive bias towards this island. Why? I’m not entirely sure, maybe it’s just the good vibes it gives off. The soundtrack definitely hits home for me as I remember playing this island over 10 times when I was younger.
Now, if you’ve read the first book in the Poptropica graphic novel series that this island is based on, you’ll see just how dull this island feels in comparison. It really doesn’t have much in terms of character or story development (which is a common theme for this year in general). Still, it’s not the worst island we’ve seen in Poptropica and it’s definitely an improvement over the last two islands on this list. I’ll admit again that I’m biased, though. I really like the characters Oliver, Mya, and Jorge for who they are beyond just this island.
(released: December 10 for members & December 30 for all)
Escape from Pelican Rock, in my opinion, was the last truly great island that Poptropica came out with. To me, it’s even better than some of the islands that were released in what we all think of as Poptropica’s prime time. EFPR has a colorful array of characters and an engaging storyline centered around a jailbreak and clearing your name.
Although spending each day in the prison could feel a bit monotonous, I appreciate that there was always something slightly different happening every day. The island was challenging, but not to the extent that it caused a complete meltdown from stress—just good fun. And let’s not forget that the PHB got a shoutout in the form of an easter egg! How awesome is that?
Unfortunately, 2015 was sort of the beginning of the end of Poptropica, so this wasn’t really a difficult ranking to make. Escape from Pelican Rock Island is the standout that’s really carrying this year, MotM is just kinda there, and the other two aren’t really for me.
Have you played any of these islands? Which one did you like the most and which one did you like the least? I’m especially curious to see the comparisons between Galactic Hot Dogs and Timmy Failure. Which one is better/worse for you, and why? Share your opinions in the comments down below. 👇 Also, check out my other rankings of the Poptropica Islands if you’re interested: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, & 2014 Thanks for reading, everybody…pop on and have a Happy New Year!🍀
This guest post from HPuterpop/Andrew Wiles offers an alternative way to experience Poptropica. Introducing: Poptropica Legacy!
Hey fellow Poptropicans! In response to the slow fade of Poptropica, I’m super excited to announce the next step in Poptropica’s history: Poptropica Legacy, a fan-made desktop version of our favorite game.
⚠️ Note: Poptropica Legacy is in active beta development, and there are still many bugs. If you find any, you can report them in-game via the menu. 🪲 Not all islands are finishable yet, with progress noted on the website.
Like the Flashpoint curation of Poptropica, Legacy is a download where you can enjoy the old islands of the game, including both AS2 (earlier) and AS3 (later) islands, plus the sandbox game Realms — but with some major changes and improvements. This includes:
…and there are plenty of exciting extras, including a fully preserved Creators’ Blog archive, functioning Avatar Studio, Daily Pop (with games, comics, sneak peeks, and celebrity clips), an interactive explorer of Dr. Hare’s Travels, and a costumizable Look Book. ✨
More extra content is planned for the future, including archives of the Island Tours, Mews Foundation website, and Funbrain (Mom & Kids Playground & the Funbrain Arcade). Staying tuned is easy — Legacy will auto-update to the latest version on startup (you can opt out in settings, but it means missing future updates!).
Ready to play? 🥳 Download the game now at PoptropicaLegacy.com — available for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers! (For Mac users: If blocked, go to System Settings > Privacy & Security, and click Open Anyway.)
P.S. Pop Legends is still in development, but it’s on hold for now so we can get Legacy up and running. Excited to share more with you all soon!
Hope you enjoyed this guest post by HPuterpop/Andrew Wiles. If you did, you might also enjoy the Poptropica curation on Flashpoint, an alternative Poptropica preservation with features closer to the original game.
The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? We’d love to hear from you!
This is a guest post from Lucky Fish sharing their My Place in Poptropica story, which is all about one’s Poptropica journey. Enjoy!
Hey Poptropicans! My name is Lucky Fish. I’ve been a Poptropica fan for about as long as I can remember. I started playing around 2014-2015 during my years of preschool and a little before. Why did I start playing when I was literally 4? Well, my dad had downloaded it to his phone so I could play it when I was bored. He figured it was just another app about getting kids to learn. I soon realized it was more than that.
I have absolutely no idea what that account was, but I do remember my favorite part of playing is making characters (I had a lot). Around 2016, I began actually learning to play the islands! Of course, I could not do it without the help of Thinknoodles’ walkthroughs.
Speaking of Thinknoodles’ walkthroughs, knowing how to watch them meant I was able to learn that there were more islands than just the mobile ones. I realized it was also a computer game, so I asked my parents if they could lend me their computer to let me use Poptropica there. I was then able to discover loads more islands that were just waiting to be clicked on.
Around 2019, on a family vacation, I was feeling very sick. I was about 7 or 8 at the time. It is here that I made my first actual Poptropica account that I could stick with. Introducing: White Cheetah. I used to think that this account gave me good luck, and it’s the account I first beat multiple islands on (like Mythology for example).
In 2020, the pandemic hit, and I wasn’t playing Poptropica as much. But when I came back to it, I noticed that lots of the islands were missing. I went searching and found out about the whole end of Flash situation. That day involved tears… a lot of them. Soon, I stumbled upon the Old Island Directory, and it was useful until it stopped working.
In the summer of 2024, I started playing Poptropica lots more. It was just so fun again! When I found out about Flashpoint, a way to access old islands, I asked my parents if I could get it on their computers. They said no because one was for work, and one had no storage left. So after school, I began going to the library, and downloading Flashpoint every single day just to play the islands (everyday because the computers were wiped of all history each morning). I would stay there for hours, until one day they started blocking sites at the library, so I couldn’t play there.
I had been asking for a computer for a while, and finally on my birthday, I got one. The first thing I did was download Flashpoint and play Poptropica. I played there for about a month when I wanted to let my sister try it out. But when I hit “new player”, that account was wiped. So I started with a new character, Lucky Bean, where I completed lots of islands.
In the summer of 2025, on Flashpoint Poptropica, I wanted to try out the AS2 version to see if it was different. In doing this, my main AS3 data was wiped, and I had to start over. After shuffling names for a good while, trying to get Lucky Bean again, I came across Lucky Fish. I chose this one because it still had Lucky in the name, but “Fish” made it sound more water related. So, I stuck with it, and Lucky Fish is now my main Poptropica account. This summer, I also started my own site, The Poptropica Fan Blog.
Poptropica has been a huge part of my life, and taught me many things (including my rights!). I hope you enjoyed reading about my life on a digital web game. Thank you for reading!
– Lucky Fish
Hope you enjoyed this “My Place in Poptropica” story! If you did, you’ll probably enjoy our other MPIP stories here on the PHB.
If you haven’t already shared your story, we invite you to send in your own. Interested in writing for the PHB under a different Pop-topic? Take a look at our Write for the PHB page for ideas, guidelines, and more!
(Table of contents) (See previous)
INT. MUSTACHIO GANG HIDEOUT – AFTERNOON
EL MUSTACHIO GRANDE and the four other members of his gang are lazing around, trying to avoid the height of the daytime desert heat and plotting their next move.
SCARRED BANDIT
That bank is wide open for us. Traders are coming soon too, we can grab it and pawn it off with no one noticing!
BANDIT GIRL
I don’t want to go back out until we know that storm isn’t going to happen again!
REDHEAD BANDIT
Still worried about you lil’ neckerchief?
BANDIT GIRL
It’s not just that! Y’know I can handle losing a piece of fabric!
(con’t)
Something was wrong there. It felt dangerous.
REDHEAD BANDIT
…Still worried about your dangerous lil’ neckerchief?
BANDIT GIRL
I’m gonna get you right between the eyes–!
MUSTACHIO
Come on, enough of that!
(con’t)
Yes, a scrap of fabric is no problem, but what happened the other day was not something we should scoff at.
Continue reading ““The Villain Saga” – Season 2, Episode 3, Part 1 + A message from the producer”Hello Poptropicans! We’ve got a few fun Pop fan artists to spotlight, featuring goodies you can hold in your hands, plus more incredible artwork from the fandom community.
Earlier this year, we covered DizzyLeopardShop, a small business whose products include adorable Poptropica-themed stickers and keychains you can snag on Etsy. Check out our Q&A with the artist here!
Lately, a couple more shops have joined in to add Poptropica fan-made merch to the market! One is a set of waterproof stickers of the “Big 4” classic villains by PollyCatArt, who currently sells other nerdy goodies but hopes to add more Pop-themed items soon. They’re currently on sale for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
…And all of this is totally not said out of bias, because I’m PollyCatArt!
A few of these stickers have already been purchased, including by my fellow PHB writer Gentle Dolphin! Thanks for your support! 💕🐬
Shameless self-promotion aside, another Pop-inspired artwork is also up for sale: the “Computer Game Wall Art” mini print by LenaDrawsArt, showing the old Poptropica map screen with a few classic islands! This would look great above a desk or workspace (especially if framed!) so you can always be reminded of the glory days.
Besides fan-made merch, we’d also like to spotlight some recent digital art pieces from the community!
First up is this gorgeous animation by MelonBobber-Pop on YouTube. This has a very smooth loop and does a great job at mimicking Survival Island’s background and environment designs!
Next is this beautifully stylized set of illustrations of Princess Elyana and other Astro-Knights characters by snoopypilots! Also featuring some doodles of the Binary Bard who is… wait, Hatsune Miku??
Interested in more Poptropica fan art? Come join our Poptropica Help Chat (PHC) Discord community, where community members create, discuss, and share all things Poptropica! 🌟
Castori honorem ~ Maryann/Smart Bubbles
🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺 