Gentle Dolphin

Hey, everyone! September may be ending soon, but Poptropica’s 12th birthday celebration is still going strong! In addition to the free cake car costume, the Creators’ Blog is also celebrating with a special post highlighting some of the biggest moments from Poptropica’s early years.

Adventures...on a blimp!

This mini-retrospective post covers the first five years of Poptropica’s life (2007–2011). It’s interesting that they mention old islands that were recently taken away (though perhaps not permanently), and they even feature an ASG account! (Perhaps they’re okay with this aspect of glitching?)

We’ve shared their post below, but you can read the original on the Creators’ Blog. Without further ado, let the nostalgia begin:

Poptropica is officially TWELVE YEARS OLD! Can you believe it!? Here’s a look back at some of our favorite moments from the past twelve years!

2007: Poptropica was created by none other than Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series! Do you remember what the first island was?

Pop Blog 2008

2008: The Poptropica Blog started! That’s right, we’ve been blogging about all things Poptropica since 2008! Also, some seriously stellar islands came out, including Nabooti Island and Spy Island!

2009: Multiverse and Avatar Studio. Did you know the clubhouses in today’s Poptropica use a lot of the same technology as Multiverse?

And good ol’ Poptropica Avatar Studio. It doesn’t work quite the way it used to, but you can still check it out HERE.

Poptrpoica Map 2010

2010: Islands, islands, and more islands! Which of these islands was NOT released that year: Cryptids, 24 Carrot, Steamworks, Skullduggery, or Reality TV?

Poptropica Guidebook

2011: Poptropica: The Official Guidebook was released! We also announced our first line of toys, were named one of the top 50 websites of the year, AND released a few more islands!

Phew! That was a really amazing first five years of Poptropica! Stay tuned for our next installment of Poptropica favorites. In the meantime, get on over to Poptropica to get your FREE 12th birthday gift!

A part 2 covering the rest is likely coming soon, based on the post’s ending. For a more in-depth look into Poptropica’s history, check out our Poptropica Yearbook posts here on the PHB!

In a recent “Bug Fix Friday” post, Blue Tooth made note of some recent updates to smooth out the gameplay experience. The chase scene from Arabian Nights: Episode 3 is working properly, and the game screen now shrinks to fit on mobile devices. Nice.

skyChase

The end of this post tells readers to keep their eyes peeled for future updates. What kinds of updates do you think will be coming? Possibly the return of a beloved creepy island? Only time will tell…

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin🐬

Member Gifts, Membership

Go wild with flash-y gifts and SUI common rooms

September 7, 2019January 9, 2021 Gentle Dolphin

Hey, guys! This is Gentle Dolphin with not one, not two, but three bits of Poptropica news! Let’s get started with a wild set of items!

First, the September member gifts are here! Like last month’s gifts, these items are themed around the latest island, Reality TV: Wild Safari.

During the month of September, members will receive Reality TV Star Followers (featuring, from left to right: Mandy Screams, Torta Piccola, and Bopbop), a Cheetah Head Rider hat, and a baby hippo.

September_Member_BB

If you are an active member during the month of September, these items will be automatically added to your inventory upon logging into Poptropica. If you’re interested in receiving these gifts as well as having early access to Reality TV: Wild Safari, look into purchasing a membership.

Second, the common rooms have been given the SUI treatment! Not only do these rooms now have bigger screens and sound effects, but they also have the chat feature from the Blast-Off Arcade. Just click on the icons on the bottom-left corner of the screen to either speak with words or express yourself with emojis.

Another similarity to the Blast-Off Arcade is the inclusion of game stations. Each common room is supplied with a game station where players can battle each other in minigames. Have fun!

partytimetowerSUI

While checking out the common rooms, I came across a strange character in Timmy Failure Island‘s common room. Clicking on him causes three thought bubbles to appear over your Poptropican’s head, like whenever you talk to NPCs in the game.

commonroom_timmyfailure2

Slanted Fish says that the dialogue is used as a stand-in for testing things in the game, as seen in some behind-the-scenes images by some glitchers. We’re not sure why this character is in a common room, though. Anyway, feel free to stop by and strike up a conversation with him in between your adventures!

Finally, there’s a brand new screen for when players need to activate Flash before playing Poptropica. This particular screen stands out from the previous two because it includes a short video demonstrating how to allow Flash to run on the site. Pretty cool!

activate_flash_v5

What do you think of this month’s member gifts? Will you be visiting the updated common rooms sometime soon? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin🐬

Advertisements, Store

Follow your nose back to school

August 16, 2019August 16, 2019 Gentle Dolphin

Hey, everyone! This is Gentle Dolphin keeping you in the loop of the latest Poptropica news. Let’s get started and flash forward to our first update!

We all dread leaving summer vacation behind and returning to school or even college. Don’t worry because Poptropica has got you covered with brand new back-to-school items!

auguststorepic

This month, everyone can buy cool school fashion and supplementary supplies for their arrival back to school. There is one member-exclusive item, though: the Noodle Guy Follower. It’s a weird but funny addition to a back-to-school update, to be sure.

A recent post on the Creators’ Blog informed players of a new Froot Loops advertisement on Poptropica. Toucan Sam will stand outside a brick house and invite you to come inside. In the house, he will tell you to jump into his imagination, which is where the ad game takes place.

This ad game is similar to the Schroeder’s Piano minigame from Great Pumpkin Island. While the song is playing, click the different colored Froot Loops when they reach the bottom of their respective rows. Keep doing this in order to fill the gauge in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Don’t get too distracted by the weirdly animated Toucan Sam.

After keeping the rhythm, you will win a “Follow Your Nose” hat. Wearing it gives you the ability to leave a colorful trail of Froot Loops as you run.

I could finish this segment here, but I want to share something I discovered a few days ago. Before the Froot Loops ad appeared on Poptropica, I stumbled upon a cyclops kid standing in front of a mysterious green structure. Take a look:

mysterydoor

Weird, right? This structure acted as a place where players could watch videos to earn credits, similar to the movie theater and billboard on Home Island. However, it also showed up in ad spaces between scenes on other islands, possibly so players could earn more credits during their adventures.

I went to check on it later, but I found that it had been replaced by the Froot Loops ad. Maybe the structure was there to take up space because Poptropica didn’t have any new ads at the moment? But why did the structure have such a strange temple-like design? What was with the cyclops kid? We may never know…

Last but not least, there’s a new screen for when players need to activate Flash before playing Poptropica. Unlike the previous screen, it includes a helpful guide on how to allow Flash to run on your computer. Neat!

activate_flash_v2

What do you think of these new updates? Do you like the new store items? Do you have any theories about the mysterious green structure? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin🐬

New Islands

Compare and Contrast: Snagglemast vs Hub Island

August 8, 2019August 10, 2019 Gentle Dolphin

snagglemast hub

Snaggled by this new island? Check out our Snagglemast Island Guide.

Hey, everyone! Poptropica has been giving us new islands to play this summer. We already went over Reality TV: Wild Safari in extensive detail, and now it’s time to take a look at the newest tutorial island: Snagglemast Island!

The strangest thing about Snagglemast Island (aside from the fact that it replaced Monkey Wrench Island) is that it borrows a lot of elements from the first tutorial island, Hub Island. However, Snagglemast Island did make some interesting changes to differentiate itself from the original. Here are some of the most notable changes.

The first major difference can be found in the collectibles. In Hub Island, you had to collect eight medallion shards. In Snagglemast, however, you need to collect eight mega coins (which add up to 250 credits). A few mega coins can be found in the same places some shards were found, such as the diving board.

Shard in Hub Island

Mega Coin in Snagglemast Island

To keep track of how many mega coins you need to find, just look at your trusty coin counter in the top-left corner of your screen.

CoinBar_Full

Aside from shards, a wrench could also be collected on Hub Island. However, it has been replaced by a mega coin (pictured below) on Snagglemast Island.

Wrench (Hub Island)

A minor change I’d like to mention is the fact that there was a small tree branch that was removed from the second scene, leaving an empty hole in the side.

Tree branch containing shard

Burt Diamond was here

The second major difference between the two islands is their casts of characters. Hub Island had only two characters: Amelia and an unnamed male pilot. In Snagglemast Island, the male pilot was removed, so Amelia took his place at the beginning and end of the island.

Snagglemast Island

She isn’t the only character on the island, though. You’ll also get to meet various Poptropicans and animals along your mini adventure. Some characters stand in different places on the island while others occasionally run past you, presumably adventurers also in pursuit of coins. Here are some of the interesting folks you will meet on Snagglemast Island:

The biggest (and saddest) difference is the fact that Snagglemast Island has no medallion! Collecting the shards in Hub Island served the purpose of creating a whole medallion, but collecting the mega coins in Snagglemast Island just gives you credits. Getting more credits is nice, but earning a medallion at the end of an island is a Poptropica thing. Even Jim Probably on Reality TV: Wild Safari pointed this out!

Those were some of the more interesting things we spotted in this new tutorial. What did you think of these differences? In your opinion, is Snagglemast Island better or worse than Hub Island? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin🐬

Member Gifts, Membership, New Islands, Reality TV: Wild Safari Island, Sneak Peeks

New island and member gifts premiering this July

July 4, 2019January 9, 2021 Gentle Dolphin

Hey, Poptropicans! This is Gentle Dolphin here with the latest Poptropica news!

Last week, the Creators announced that a new island is on its way, and now they decided to share two more behind-the-scenes drawings on Instagram.

The first picture shows three primates holding various objects: a monkey with a microphone, a chimp with a camera, and an orangutan with a drum stick. The second photo shows two Poptropicans who seem to be part of a film crew, since they have a microphone and a camera (which look similar to the ones owned by the primates from the first picture).

Fans on Instagram are already speculating what this new island will be about; some notable theories include wildlife documentaries and animal transformations. A couple people have joked about this island possibly being a sequel to a previous island, proposing titles such as “Monkey Wrench 2: Electric Boogaloo” and “Back Lot Island 2: Monkey Business”. Funny thing is, they may not be far off with the sequel idea…

Poptropica glitcher idk dug into some files and found that the island is looking like it will be a second season of Reality TV Island.

RTV Hippie

It’d be pretty cool to see a follow-up to another classic island (Greek Sea Odyssey, anyone?), but we’d certainly appreciate the Creators putting old school islands (including Reality TV Island) back on the maps of newer players. (If you aren’t able to access older islands like RTV, try updating Flash and/or playing on a different web browser or computer.)

Blue Tooth also took to Instagram to answer a couple questions regarding the island’s release. In a post about the Poptropica app, she answered a fan’s question by stating that the island will be released on desktop and mobile at the same time. Also, in a post about membership, she mentioned that the island will be coming later this month!

Speaking of membership, July’s member gifts are making a splash with some beach-themed items: a unicorn floatie, a surfer outfit, and a shark hat. Active members will automatically receive these gifts any time they log in during the month of July, so act fast!

JulyMemberGifts_1

July is looking to be a great month for members. Not only do members get exclusive monthly member gifts, but they also get early access to brand new islands! If you’re interested in getting these cool perks and more, look into purchasing a membership.

That’s all for now! What do you think this upcoming island will be about? What do you think of these member gifts? Leave your thoughts in the comments below! Stay tuned to the Poptropica Help Blog for more Pop news, and be on the lookout for upcoming events here on the PHB. 😉

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin🐬