Hey Poptropicans, big Pop drop this weekend: a remastered version of Mythology Island is now on Haxe for all players (not just members)!
The new version has some differences compared with the classic—we’ll get into more details below—but for now, if you need a refresher, our old Mythology Island Guide can still help you through the puzzles!
If your account isn’t on Haxe, you can use idk’s Format Loader and select “HTML5 (Haxe JS)” to switch over, or you can simply make a new account on Poptropica to play on Haxe. If you’re confused about it, read here about the differences between Flash and Haxe.
The key differences with the new Mythology are that it’s been made easier, with various challenges from the old version removed, and some dialogue altered to nudge players on what to do. Since there have been some drastic changes, the PHB plans to release a separate guide for the new Mythology Island — so stay tuned for that!
For the curious, here are the major changes (spoilers ahead):
- The Museum of Olympus is optional (the room with the statues of Greek deities).
- Main Street and the base of the Tree of Immortality are combined into one scene.
- Hercules is away on a lunch break, and a queue has formed outside Herc’s Hero Hut, which is no longer a space we can enter at any point in the island.
- The reed pipe is given to you at the Grove of Temples (outside a facade of Apollo’s temple, which can’t be entered), and so is the pipe tune, without having to first master the tune.
- For cleaning Hades’ temple, the boy gives you the starfish (used for Poseidon’s temple offering) instead of the now-removed drachma.
- The beach is gone, and with it, Aphrodite’s hangman challenge of Greek deity names. Instead, she’ll be in front of the common room, Midas’ Gym, ready to give you her teleportation mirror.
- The entrance to the Minotaur’s maze is already open — no reed pipe puzzle here. The snake challenge comes first, not last. And there’s no magical thread for the maze.
- The mini-game to cross the River Styx in the underworld? Gone.
- Aeolus’ wind boost is free — no drachmas here!
Even with many elements removed from the original, and changes that aren’t quite additions, the new Mythology can still be considered a full island much more than Reality TV: Wild Safari was, and took me at least an hour to complete (though part of that can be attributed to some lag I encountered while playing).
However, initial feedback from the Poptropica community has not been positive. Players have been sharing on spaces like the PHC Discord that the changes to the classic island feel like a dumbing down that offers no challenge, which might be okay for younger players, except that fandom activity seems to indicate that there aren’t so many children playing the game anymore as there are teens and older.
Here’s one video from Isaac of the Dimension Bros voicing out such a perspective, lamenting that the remake feels spoon-fed and doesn’t take the opportunity to add new challenges (skip to 2:48 to get to Mythology commentary). He mentions full screen ads ruining the experience, although other players have reported not seeing ads.
And here’s another one with similar concerns from Jia (Magniventris), also an older player who has loved the game since childhood and has stuck around for the nostalgia:
Whatever you make of the new version, though, the Creators’ Blog assures that these changes were made with player feedback in mind. Here’s what they said:
We collected feedback from players and looked closely at the island data to see what players loved and didn’t love about the original Mythology Island that came out in 2010. The Pop Creators then revised some of the gameplay and scripts to make it more fun!
Have you played the remastered Mythology Island on Haxe yet? What did you think of the changes? Or if it’s your first time playing Mythology, what are your impressions? Let us know in the comments below and on our PHC Discord server! ⚡️💪
🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺 
I like the flash one better
Playing Monkey Wrench on a non-updated app! https://ibb.co/tJHnfv8
I remember as a kid, I couldn’t win mythology island….because i couldn’t cross river styx…….But after lot of years I did complete it ..I guess poptropica is concentrating on smaller kids..
I can see why they took out the River Styx challenge — it was incredibly difficult, and I remember the frustration of trying to beat it when it first came out ten years ago (!). Considering all the lag I faced playing this remade island, I don’t think I would’ve fared well if that part were still in it, since it requires a lot of good timing in your maneuvering!
But as for other criticisms mentioned in the post and videos, I do agree that there could’ve been more challenge, and if they were going to make changes at all, they could have taken the opportunity to add some new stuff to balance out the parts that were taken out.
I totally agree
They have got to be lying about taking players’ feedback. I very highly doubt any player asked them to remove all the challenges and mash the scenes together. I just tried it out for the first time—I definitely agree how much it feels like it’s being ‘spoon-fed’.
Also, I’d like to add a couple other changes that I don’t think were mentioned—the pomegranate tree has been moved from the Sphinx’s aqueducts to the Grove of Temples, and the alters for Poseidon’s and Hades’ temples have been moved outside the doors instead of inside. When you enter Poseidon’s temple, you’ll find yourself directly underwater; and when you enter Hades’ you’ll fall right down and land in front of Cerberus. (I didn’t get to finish the entire island due to my computer’s protests, but that’s about as far as I got).
There was one design feature I enjoyed more than in Flash’s version; Mount Olympus looks prettier and more intriguing when looking at it through the gate, in my opinion. But with all the other lazy design features and lack of challenge, that’s probably the only bright side. Hopefully they’ll listen to us this time and learn from their mistakes.
I don’t know that they would lie about taking players’ feedback. I also don’t think players would have asked specifically for certain parts to be removed or scenes to be blended together, but I can imagine players saying that certain parts were too difficult and that it could be tedious going back and forth between scenes (or that one might get lost) — and the Creators taking all that feedback and making the changes they did.
Yes, thanks for pointing out those changes as well. The post just focuses on the major differences, but there are some smaller changes, including with the dialogue.
True, I guess I could’ve phrased that differently—players probably did think some parts were too difficult, but I just think the Creators took it a bit far in making the island easier. I think it would have worked better if they kept the challenges (such as Aphrodite’s test and the crossing of the River Styx) but perhaps shortened them, or removed only the most difficult parts. Maybe they could have made it more known that you should stock up on Greek knowledge in the museum before taking the test; and maybe instructions for how to cross the River Styx would have helped, instead of erasing the challenges altogether.
What is wrong with them? All the updates are unbelievably negative . The joy in poptropica was the challenges not the easy to win trashy babyish updates they’ve made
Well, at least they considered bringing mythology island back to the map….That’s a good sign to be honest
It’s free to play on flash
Flash is going away very soon, so the fact that the original Mythology Island can be played there isn’t going to mean much by the end of this year. What does matter, as Spooky Pear points out, is that they at least ported the island over to Haxe (the newer technology) — even if the new version is not quite what we expected.
Depending on how the poptropica creators deal with the game in 2021 it’s either going to be dead because of negative changes or it’ll grow relevancy slowly if the state of poptropica is better than it is now
Aww they removed some of my favorite parts of the island. 😦
I cannot begin on how much I fear they will butcher the others…I know Astro-Knights was hard for a lot of people, but it would be AWFUL if they dumbed it down as much as they did this one. Also, what about Ghost Story/Cryptids/Vampire’s Curse? Are they going to have to get rid of all the “scarier” elements of those islands since they are apparently aiming for preschoolers now? Will we no longer get the Jersey Devil or the red-eyed wolves? Is Ghost Story going to be removed altogether for it’s heavier subject material (’cause heaven forbid kids know about the concept of death)?
In other words: “my disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.”
I don’t think preschoolers are quite ready for Poptropica, because the game does involve some literacy skills. Former Pop Creator Mitch Krpata called the “sweet spot” around ages 8–12 in his interview with the Oddball Show. And that age range should be able to handle some “scarier” elements, since there are plenty of other children’s media with ghosts, vampires, and even death (though it tends to be implied, as with Disney villains’ tendency to fall off-screen).
I started playing Poptropica when I was around 7 years old; I have a recollection of playing Monster Carnival around that age, and didn’t end up finishing it until I was older, mainly because of the jump scares it includes. So I can understand that kids on the younger end of the age range might not want to play through scarier islands, such as Monster Carnival or Zomberry (those were always the ones that creeped me out the most). When/if the Creators port the spooky islands, I think they should keep them as they are—but maybe split a separate section on the map dedicated to scary islands, with a warning that some of these islands include jump scares and minor creepy elements (just to let younger kids (and anybody who’s sensitive to that sort of thing in general) know that they may not want to play them).
I hope the Creators remember that! You don’t need to make something dumb just cause it’s for kids, of any age.
8-12??? I’ll likely stop playing if that’s the case, I was 8-12 back when poptropica was a good game, which was over half a decade ago .
I totally agree with you, Maryann. But, I think they’ve learned their lesson about dumbing down the islands.
If they want to make the island easier, fine. But they shouldn’t get rid of the harder version of it. Why don’t they allow you to choose what difficulty to play as? Like adding an easy mode and a hard mode?
I personally enjoy figuring out how to complete the island myself rather than being given prompts that feel ‘spoon-fed.’ That’s why Greek Sea Odyssey was not nearly as fun as the original Mythology because it felt really easy to complete. If players are stuck, they can look at walkthroughs.
Good idea, the added modes can be like Ice Scream
I really like this idea but considering how the poptropica developers’ responses have gotten more less caring for the game it seems like they just want to make easier versions of each island so it’s less coding for them, and so that they can forget about their old supporters and focus on a younger generation thats more likely to be vulnerable enough into paying money on the game. I think they have this false understanding that their old supporters stopped playing because we didn’t like the game when really the truth is we stopped playing because they didn’t invest enough, for us to be interested, I remember I hung out for a year after they stopped making new islands, waiting for anything new, and they just didn’t do or say anything new, so I just quit playing . I hope they reconsider focusing this game on their old audience instead of their new ones .
Completely agree
The classic Poptropica was sooo good because as a 10 year old (when I started, lol I’m 20 now), I loved being so challenged with the islands. And sometimes I couldn’t figure things out for awhile but I loved it because I actually used my brain while playing a computer game. Challenging storytelling games are the best and I really hope Poptropica returns to that because it’s truly unique and set apart from other games. If you want proof : I still love Poptropica 10 years later lol, just missing the good ‘ole version.
I really hope that Poptropica keeps the challenges in future islands that it converts. I have been playing since I was in elementary school and I love this game. It’s just sad to see all the newer islands become too easy for the game’s adult and teen audience. The difficulty and challenging aspects of it are part of what made Poptropica so fun and what made it satisfying to beat islands.
In my opinion, the challenges are a big part of what make poptropica special and set it apart from other games- that and its immersive environment, but I feel like both of those are going away
For removed mini-game like the river styx or hang-man mini-game, instead the creators should just make a skip option button on the game over screen.