Hey Poptropicans! You’re familiar with Home Island, the perennial launchpad of your Poptropica adventures (and home to a brand new store interior!), but are you aware of its storied past?
This week on the Poptropica Creators’ Blog, guest writer Invisible Ring lays out a history of Home Island and how it connects to the disappearance of Monkey Wrench Island, released in 2016 as a tutorial for first-time players. Her main theory is that, as Home Island kept changing with seasonal makeovers, the connection to Monkey Wrench must have gotten cut off. “How could Amelia land her airplane on Home Island if Home Island won’t stay still?”
Ring also gives a shout-out to “Monkey Wrench posts on the PHB” which inspired her to contact the Pop Creators about bringing the island back. (One such post: Purple Paw’s Pop Petition: Bring Monkey Wrench back.) In response, the Creators have confirmed a return for Monkey Wrench, although no dates are set yet.
As for Home Island’s history, in addition to Ring’s guest post, the PHB has captured its evolving stories over the years as well. Before 2015, there was no Home Island — when you logged in, you’d find yourself wherever you last left off on whatever island you were on. Since its release (back when it was briefly known as Hub Island), it’s gone through a lot of cosmetic and functional changes in the past five years.
Did you know that in the first Home Island, you had to find a wrench for Amelia Earhart and medallion shards for an explorer, which was later disbanded into the separate islands of Snagglemast and Monkey Wrench? Anyway, we went through our archives and pieced together some pics from over the years! Do you remember these scenes?
Enjoyed the throwback? There’s much more in the PHB archives!
Anyway, how do you feel about Home Island? What changes do you want to see on it, or have you had enough of its constant facelifts? Do you miss Monkey Wrench, or is Snagglemast superior? Share your thoughts in the comments, and pop on, Poptropicans! ✌️
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Great! I never saw the old ones!
I really miss the random outfits of new u but I have the colourizer card so I have no worries about that.
Wow! I really miss the old Home Island!
I really hope Poptropica brings back Monkey Wrench soon! It’s a really great tutorial island because it actually teaches you island-winning strategies, and it even feels like a real island, unlike Snagglemast. All you do is collect coins there.
Yeah in any of the island there isn’t really any coin collection!
I really think that Monkey Wrench Island should be returned, especially for the ones that didn’t get a chance to play it. And like White Fox said, it actually is like an island, and in Snagglemast, all you do is collect coins! Also, in Snagglemast, there’s really no history, however, in Monkey Wrench Island, you learn about the Blimp. I mean, Snagglemast it SO easy, even though it’s for new players. Really, I think Snagglemast was a drop down from the bar for Poptropica.
Really, I think Snagglemast was a drop down for Poptropica. I mean, Monkey Wrench Island gave a backstory, while you just collect coins in Snagglemast- all for what? As White Fox said, Monkey Wrench feels like a real island. There’s a hero (you), a villain, and you are trying to accomplish something. Also, Snagglemast is SO easy, even as a 10 year old. Monkey Wrench should come back!
I’m glad that Monkey Wrench is coming back.
Get photo booth back? I never got the chance to experience it.
I guarantee that it was fun…is that right?
Photo Booth was great! However, it doesn’t seem to be coming back anytime soon — although hard to believe, the Creators mentioned in their last Q&A with the PHB that not many players engaged with this feature, so that’s why they took it out. But they did also add that they “want to reintegrate features like that, but in a way that makes sense for today’s players.”