Author: Purple Claw

former Poptropica blogger icon by Slanted Fish
Pop 5

Pop 5: Most Educational Islands

Purple Claw

This post originally appeared on Clawtropica and is being shared on the PHB courtesy of the author, Purple Claw. If you’re interested, you too can write for the PHB!

Educational_Islands.png

Hey Poptropicans, it’s Purple Claw, and today I’ve got a Pop 5 list for Poptropica’s most educational islands! Previously, I made a post asking which Poptropica (Original or Worlds) was more educational, and [spoiler alert] Original won that round.

So now, I’ve made a list of top 5 educational islands, all from Pop Original! Keep in mind that this list is just my opinion, and it may contain spoilers. That said, let’s get into it!

#5: COUNTERFEIT ISLAND

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Counterfeit Island is really well-made, with lots and lots of art, a really exciting mystery, and a super cool villain (#BlackWidowFTW). Also the Balloon Boy long-running gag started on this very island, so you can blame Counterfeit Island for the whole “dearest Balloon Boy” thing in new Poptropica Worlds trailer.

The most educational thing about this island were, of course, the art pieces at the art museum. That’ll probably help you a bit in class, in case a teacher that lame asks you about a painting and who made it, and if you know it because you saw it on Poptropica, you’re in luck! If you didn’t get that info from Pop, well… kudos to you. If you didn’t know the answer at all… then… you’re on your own.

I’m getting off track here… so let’s continue on, shall we?

#4: VIRUS HUNTER ISLAND

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Hear me out on this one. I’m aware that this island is hated by, like, most of the community because of its glitches and its overall grossness, but it can still be educational.

Basically, on this island you travel through a person’s body to kill a deadly virus. In your adventures, you travel through different parts of a human’s body, such as the heart and brain, plus you learn how dangerous deadly viruses can be. It could be more informative, but it’s a decent start.

Still, I must say, this island isn’t really that well made. The bright colors sometimes hurt my eyes, plus the difficulty is extremely hard and a bit annoying at times. But overall, it’s not half bad.

#3: RED DRAGON ISLAND

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Red Dragon Island is one of Poptropica’s most popular islands, and for good reason. It’s visually great, the story is really interesting (though it’s inspired by a non-Poptropica book), the platforming is fun and not too frustrating, and it’s also pretty educational.

It’s a really beautiful island which introduces us to good ol’ ancient Japan and its culture. From sumo wrestling, to helping random strangers, writing Japanese characters, catching mythical river demons, snipping meticulously at bonsai trees (that’s sorta educational, right?), to fighting Japanese dragons – this island is full of interesting tidbits!

#2: TIME TANGLED ISLAND

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While I think Time Tangled is a bit, well, overrated, there’s no denying it’s one of Poptropica’s most educational islands. I mean, when you go back in time to various periods of history, there’s just so much to see.

You go to Mount Everest, to Ancient Greece, to all sorts of places to repair the future, but while you’re doing that, you actually learn something. The new SUI version doesn’t have those Fact Monster bubbles I mentioned in a previous post (thankfully), but even still, you might pick up a new fact or two as you explore these historical environments.

However, there’s a glitch to play the non-SUI version of Time Tangled, with all the Fact Monster bubbles. To activate it, make sure you have the time device given to you by your older self, then go into the Party Time Tower common room, use the device to go to any time period, and voila! The whole island will be a non-SUI! (Special thanks to Tall Melon for reminding me about it!)

#1: MYTHOLOGY ISLAND

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Ah, Mythology Island! This island intrigued me, not just because of the wonderful storyline and the visually great graphics, but because I learned a whole lot about Greek mythology too!

As some of you might know, I was born in Greece. I learned a little about Greek mythology in third grade, but not much, so it was really cool to explore it more in Poptropica.

Everything about this island is educational, and really fun at the same time. There’s the museum of Olympus (which has info about various Greek gods and goddesses), Aphrodite’s minigame where you’re supposed to guess the deities’ names, and all the mythical creatures you get to meet. The whole island is really well thought-out!

I congratulate Poptropica for making islands that are both educational and really fun at the same time. They really can appeal to everyone!

If you enjoyed reading this post, check out the original post on Clawtropica, and browse the blog for even more cool content.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

🐾 Purple Claw 🐾
:mrgreen:🌊

Poptropica Worlds, Uncategorized

Poptropica & Education: Original vs Worlds

Purple Claw

This post originally appeared on Clawtropica and is being shared on the PHB courtesy of the author, Purple Claw. If interested, you too can write for the PHB!

pop education

Hey there, Poptropicans! It’s me, Purple Claw, here to talk about a question I’ve been asking myself for a while now: Is Poptropica Worlds a more educational game than Poptropica Original? Let’s take a look.

To answer the question, we have to do a little research involving a pop down memory lane…

WHAT’S EDUCATIONAL ABOUT POPTROPICA ORIGINAL?

Although Poptropica is more on the entertainment side than educational, it does have some learning benefits. Or, at least it started out like that — Poptropica’s first three islands were pretty educational. Here’s why:

Early Poptropica and Shark Tooth Island had two very similar buildings: they both had museums. One being an art museum, and another full of shark facts; you get the idea.

The Pop Art museum is pretty much like any art museum, but what stood out the most was were the questions you could ask each artist — questions about their drawings, their personal life (such stalkers we are), etc. It’s pretty fun. The Shark Museum, on the other hand, simply had facts about sharks, but even that was literally my absolute favorite part of the island.

Time Tangled Island is one of Poptropica’s most educational islands, and unlike the first two islands mentioned, it’s got a different method for integrating education. Before it became a sound-updated island (SUI), you could find some circles around the island leading to articles from Fact Monster, a Poptropica sponsor and educational website where you can get help with homework and stuff. (It’s actually pretty fun.)

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This was a new thing for Poptropica, but it didn’t last long with the release of 24 Carrot Island, and I’m glad, since those Fact Monster monstrosities can really get in the way of your gameplay. Glad I never got to experience them.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for some other players) the following islands stopped being educational in an obvious way (examples: 24 Carrot, Super Power, Big Nate). Nabooti did have a small artifact museum, but besides that, maybe they wanted to focus more on entertainment.

This all changed with the release of Counterfeit Island, which fell in the ”museum-kind-of-educational-island” category. The following islands of Poptropica weren’t all educational: but there were still plenty that drew inspiration from real-life environments, such as Red Dragon, Mythology, Arabian Nights, etc.

So, we can all probably see how Poptropica Original can be educational, but what about Poptropica Worlds?

WHAT’S EDUCATIONAL ABOUT POPTROPICA WORLDS?

Well, since Poptropica Worlds has a grand total of two islands, there isn’t too much to say about it yet (I’m excluding Home Island here, since it’s not really a quest like the others). But I’ll give it a shot.

Well, just like Poptropica’s first two islands, Poptropica Worlds has decided to have museums, and I’ve got to say, it does much better job than Early Pop and Shark Tooth.

Crisis Caverns’ museum is the Visitor’s Center, which has displays with facts about the supervolcano and other geological things. The building itself is an important part of the island, since it plays a part in moving the plot forward by [mild spoiler] giving the park ranger the elk antlers.

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On the other hand, Early Poptropica’s Pop Art Museum had nothing in common with the island (well, it had one thing in common if you count the fact that it’s the pop art museum), but besides that, it didn’t add anything to the plot, so things were less interesting there.

Back to Worlds, the remastered 24 Carrot is simply gorgeous — it’s literally what made me like Worlds in the first place! The plot was improved and the visuals were really pretty. But, since Poptropica Words still isn’t much of a social game yet, what was once the common room on the old 24 Carrot had become a Carrot Museum. Which isn’t really all that bad, because just like on Crisis Caverns, this museum also moved the plot forward.

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By the way, you can view all the displays for various Poptropica museums without logging into the game by checking out the PHB Island Guide pages with Museum sections.

WHICH GAME IS MORE EDUCATIONAL?

Well, as of now, I’d have to say… drumroll please… Poptropica Original.

Why? Well, for one major thing, it has more islands, which means more variety. But considering the trend on Worlds of the museums being integrated into the islands, I believe Poptropica Worlds will also be considered a pretty educational game. After all, the island museums are pretty fun to look through, and you’re bound to go into them at some point during the quests.

Poptropica Original has had its doses of learning about the world in various forms – from the obvious museums to the less conspicuous designs that might spark your interest in subjects like spies, mythical creatures, or certain historical figures. And from what we’ve seen so far, the Creators have been doing an even better job on that with Poptropica Worlds. I hope it continues.

Thanks for reading this analysis! If you enjoyed reading it, check out the original post on Clawtropica, and browse the blog for even more cool content!

Plus, if you have experiences of learning about something through Poptropica – whether you realized it or not – we’d love to hear about it, so share your perspective in the comments below!

That was PC, signing out! Luv ya guys!

🐾 Purple Claw 🐾

:mrgreen: 🌊

Pop 5

Pop 5: Most Detestable Updates

Purple Claw

This post originally appeared on Clawtropica as Pop 7: Poptropica’s Most Hated Updates. The PHB version has been made into a Pop 5, and we encourage you to see the original post for the last two items. This list represents only the opinions of the author, Purple Claw.

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Poptropica is a really interesting game, to say at least. Although it’s got an awesome community of fans, we’re sometimes left hoping for better. So let’s take a look at some of the most hated updates in Poptropica’s history!

Keep in mind that I don’t necessarily hate all these updates myself (hate is a really strong word, after all), but they are disliked by a majority of Poptropica fans.

#5: THE HOME ISLAND MOVIE THEATER

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When the Movie Theater first showed up, everyone was super pumped about what would be inside… but when it got released, everyone absolutely hated it.

The design of the building and the rich man outside the building talking about it made it look like it was going to be AMAZING, but it was… um… how do I put this up nicely… a pile of crap (I failed at being nice, oops).

Sorry, Poptropica, but if you want to appeal to the younger kids, you’ll have to try better than putting nursery rhymes and other cringe-y videos for kids under the age of 4. And think of all the older kids who were completely turned off by the juvenile videos!

Most disappointingly, these videos weren’t even made by Poptropica. Considering Poptropica’s animation and artistic quality, I’m sure they could’ve made a series of videos much better than what we got in the theater.

#4: THE REMOVAL OF IN-ISLAND MAPS

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Remember the in-island maps? No no, not the Islands Map that brings you to different islands; that still exists. I’m talking about the maps that could be found in each classic island. If you’re not aware, they were removed in 2015! Like, why would you wanna remove a really useful tool anyway? That doesn’t make any sense.

I mean, I get that some islands and pretty easy and you can complete them without a map (like Shark Tooth or 24 Carrot), but there are also some pretty difficult islands where you can easily get lost (such as Vampire’s Curse or Cryptids). Maybe they didn’t want to continue making them for newer islands (they stopped when SUIs came out) but they still could’ve kept the old ones.

By the way, if you really need a map, you can visit the PHB’s map page. There’s a map for every Poptropica original island, and we even made a few of our own for SUIs which didn’t come with their own maps.

#3: MEMBERSHIP

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Membership, which is paid subscription for extra benefits, is a way to keep Poptropica alive with financial support. Like it or not, it’s not going anywhere. It was first released in 2010, but a large population of players still prefer to play for free.

While membership does not affect actually playing through an island (that is, if you’re not playing a members-only island), a lot of other things require membership.

Membership has its own pros and cons. First of all, without the financial support that membership brings in, we wouldn’t have Poptropica or Pop Worlds. Poptropica needs to make money to pay its talented creators to keep making cool things.

While membership doesn’t interfere too much on Poptropica Original, it unfortunately took a turn for the worse with some recent updates on Poptropica Worlds. You can read more about it in this PHB analysis or this Clawtropica rant.

#2: SOUND-UPDATED ISLANDS (SUIs)

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Sound Updated Island aren’t considered that bad anymore. I mean, who doesn’t love Jeff Heim’s music? But when SUIs first came out, they were SUPER glitchy. Even now, they sometimes still are.

SUIs started with the announcement for Beta Carotene, where members got to beta test the SUI version of 24 Carrot Island. Since it was a beta test, it was almost guaranteed there would be some bugs.

However, when SUIs OFFICIALLY came out, they were still super glitchy. Some people hated SUIs but kept playing Poptropica. Others, however, were so disappointed that they quit the game altogether.

Fortunately, Sound Updated Islands have since improved and are now less glitchy, but most people still prefer classics over SUIs, including me. Even though I myself was never really affected by the SUIs’ initial glitchiness, since I started playing Poptropica in 2014 (a year after SUIs were introduced), I still prefer classic islands anyway.

#1: MAKING SEVEN SPONSORED ISLANDS MEMBERS ONLY

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I don’t know what got into the Creators, but this idea was a major blow. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. The idea of making 7 Islands members-only was hated so much, that it was voted “Worst Poptropica Update” in the Poppies Awards… twice!

I was really mad when that happened, since I hadn’t had the chance to beat one of those islands (Red Dragon Island) before it was locked to non-members.

Fortunately, the Creators made some amends by releasing one of the islands back to everyone during their March Madness contest, and I was able to play Red Dragon since that was the winning island.

You can also get the island medallions through the glitching tool iPop, but it’s not quite the same as actually playing the island. Besides, not everyone knows about glitching.

Making non-members play a new island a month later was one thing, but making seven islands members-only was a bit TOO mean, don’t you think?

Some of these updates may have ruined the whole game experience for some Poptropica players, but nothing’s perfect. At least Poptropica hasn’t flopped as badly as Club Penguin, which notoriously shut down to create a worser, mobile-only version of the game. (And Disney, if you ever buy Poptropica, I’m going to murder your CEO in your sleep.) Though Poptropica had its bad moments, it’s also been pretty awesome overall (and isn’t that why we’re still here?).

Anyway, thanks for reading this list! It took me a while to make, and if you enjoyed it, please show your support by checking out the original post and commenting below!

That’s PC, signing out ‘til my next post!

🐾 Purple Claw 🐾
:mrgreen: 🌊

Clubhouse, Cryptids Island, Social Media

Escape Cryptids with the #FreeThe15 Challenge

Purple Claw

Hey there, good players of Poptropica!

It’s me, Purple Claw, with some interesting news — the unknown Creators are hosting another challenge that you should all know about! (There was also the visitors’ center challenge that we didn’t post about, but you can check it out here.)

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

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So basically, the Creators are releasing 15 new house decor items, and we have to be the ones that have make that happen, through the power of social media!

Random PHB reader: Um, Purple Claw, what do you mean by that? We’re just plain fans! And why don’t you post more often?!

I’m glad you asked! Well, the Creators are giving us an opportunity to release some new sweet house decor items, but what we have to do is… uh… post pictures of the Ice Cream Machine inside our houses for some reason, and with the hashtag #FreeThe15. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Poptropicans must post a picture of the Ice Cream Machine from the Home Decor Store placed into their Pop Worlds Home.

Step 2: Don’t forget to use the hashtag #FreeThe15 in your entries so we can find it.

Step 3: Tag your friends and get them to post! We only release the 15 items if we get enough people to share their Ice Cream Machine in their Home and tag with #FreeThe15. The more people who enter, the greater the chances of unlocking these items!

Remember, this is a race against the clock- we need enough people to post with the hashtag by Monday to unlock all 15 items. The more Ice Cream Machines you have & pictures you post, the better! These items would be available for ALL PLAYERS, and we need EVERYONE to participate! Good luck, Poptropicans!

There’s a positive and a negative side to this. First of all, it’s free items, baby! Everyone loves ’em! But on the other hand, this kinda popped out of nowhere, and there seems to be no real rhyme or reason to it…

Don’t get me wrong; I love Poptropica challenges. But this one just felt so… random. In my opinion, I think that they should’ve just added the 15 new items without making this contest, but maybe this was their way of trying to increase the activity on social media. Still, the way they’re going about it feels half-hearted, with not much of a story to it.

If you want the new items to be added, please post the picture of your ice cream machine along with the #FreeThe15 hashtag on your social media pages. If you don’t have any social media, I can share yours on my twitter page – just DM me on Discord.

In other news, yesterday, another post was published on the Creators’ Blog, promoting one of Poptropica’s most popular islands: Cryptids Island. Cryptids Island is well-known for its mythical creatures and its extraordinary adventure.

The post was pretty interesting, but the thing that stood out the most was this glorious drawing of the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie:

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It’s really nice! I really like the detail on the ocean, and I wish I would draw like that. However, it doesn’t quite look like the ordinary Poptropica style. When asked about it, the Creators wrote back that a Poptropica artist wanted to do things a bit differently to capture the mystery.

Anyway, Cryptids is one of my favorite islands, and I really want it to be remastered for Poptropica Worlds, so I kinda hope (even though the chances are really low) that it might be. So I guess #CryptidsForWorlds..? I don’t know. XD

Anyway, thanks for reading this post! I’ll try to post more and stop being too lazy – but until then, I’m out!

🐾 Purple Claw 🐾
:mrgreen:🌊

Reviews

PHB Review: The New New 24 Carrot Island (Worlds)

Purple Claw

24 carrot review

Haven’t ousted the Hare yet? Check out our 24 Carrot Island Guide (for Worlds).

Hey there, Poptropicans!

As you may have heard, a remastered version of the classic 24 Carrot Island was released on Poptropica Worlds not too long ago, making it the second island adventure on Worlds. And we’ve got to say, it’s a whole lot better than Crisis Caverns.

Here’s a short animation the Creators recently put out to highlight the new 24 Carrot:

24 Carrot Island was originally released in 2008 as the fourth island, then re-released as a SUI (sound-updated island) in 2013. Now, in 2017, it’s back for the third time, making it the New New 24 Carrot! It’s undergone some modifications, which we’ll be covering in this review. Warning: Spoilers ahead. (We suggest playing the island before reading on!)

With that out of the way, let’s get into the review of the New New!

Storyline & Characters

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Since this is a remastered island, the plot of the adventure mostly keeps to the original story, with a few twists added into the mix.

The premise is this: You land on the island, and the mayor tells you that all the carrots have disappeared, causing financial disaster to the whole town. And guess what? You have to be the one who finds them! Yaay! 😀

So, as long as the thirsty carrot lovers cry over their precious vegetable gone missing, your investigation begins! If you’ve already played 24 Carrot on Poptropica Original, you know how it goes – but the Worlds versions comes with new surprises. Namely:

  • While the Movie Theater used to be a common room, it’s now been turned into a new space called the Carrot Museum, which displays various carrot trivia. (You can find it all on our 24 Carrot Guide.) It seems that such museums are going to be a staple feature of Worlds islands, as Crisis Caverns had its Visitor’s Center for similar displays as well.
  • The Carrot Museum is host to a new character named Rhonda, a carrot-crazy lady dressed in a big carrot suit. Possibly more nightmarish than the infamous Jersey Devil of Cryptids Island.
  • Various characters have new lines. The additional dialogue makes for a richer experience overall!
  • Some graphics have been improved. We’ll talk more about this in the Visuals section down below.
  • Remember how the lady in the diner gives you free milk in the original? Well, screw that, because she now wants tips! 😛
  • The diner doesn’t have a hair colorizer. Much sad. We want the Colorizer back!
  • Whiskers the cat is now trapped inside of a newly-added barn space, caged there as bait for catching Dr. Hare (why Dr. Hare would fall for cats, we have no idea).
  • A new character, a man named Maynard, is behind Whiskers’s disappearance. He’s an ex-minion of Dr. Hare’s who escaped from the factory.
  • To get the factory blueprints, you have to give Maynard a metal part that can be found just outside the factory.
  • There’s no Carrot Transporter in this reboot.
  • The Smelter Room is gone. Instead, when you fall, you end up at a part of the vents where you can pick up a pair of Drone Ears.
  • The final destruction of Dr. Hare’s rabbot looks quite different. We’ll get to that in the Gameplay section of this review.

We really like this mix of old and new. It feels familiar, yet it’s not the exact same package as before. It feels like just the right touch of nostalgia, yet also with various improvements made to contribute to a richer story with relatable, comical characters. The additions of Rhonda and Maynard make the experience more interesting, and it’s also great to see the original cast of characters turned into Worlds avatars.

Gameplay

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This island is full of platforming and obstacle-dodging. From the flapping trapdoors of the pipe entrance to the boxes spitting out of factory machines, all the classic maneuvering mechanics are there. Again, those who’ve played the original version might find it familiar – and as a plus, there weren’t too many glitches to speak of.

The biggest difference is probably the new mini-game at the end of the island, the final showdown with Dr. Hare. In the original version, you moved the rabbot to hit four meteors, which would destroy the machine. In Poptropica Worlds, the rabbot sends mind-control droids down to earth, and you have to shoot at all twenty of them using a carrot cannon conveniently perched over the factory.

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Gameplay-wise, this change provides a bit of an extra challenge from the original. And story-wise, this change is significant. In the original, there isn’t quite enough to tell us what exactly motivates Dr. Hare to steal all the carrots and then run off to space, but in the Worlds version, we’re told that Dr. Hare wants to mind-control the entire planet from space. Now there’s a big motive!

Visuals (Art Direction)

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Once again, the Poptropica artists prove their skill in crafting a stunning visual environment. It’s simply one of the best parts of Poptropica, and in this island remake, they’ve upped the ante and made things better than ever. Now, trees sway ominously in the background, the signpost weakly flashes “Rot Land,” and even the gas guy has a spiffy new cap. Little details here and there all help to immerse you into the story.

The lighting and shading is all well placed, and the color scheme really creates a dreary, but not completely hopeless mood. Just take a look at this sampling of snapshots below:

Check out those yellow and brown hues! Of course, the mood shifts drastically at the end of the island when all is made right again, and the bright blues really make you feel like you’ve turned the whole place around with your hard work. It’s all quite beautiful.

Keep up the good work, Poptropica artists and animators!

Verdict

From the re-interpreted story that mixes a perfect dose of nostalgia and novelty, to the combination of familiar and new gameplay elements, and of course, the well-placed artistic details to supplement the story, it’s clear that this remastered version of 24 Carrot is a wonderful and welcome addition to Poptropica Worlds.

Compared to the first Worlds island, Crisis Caverns, this island is definitely an improvement. Minor drawbacks are a few glitches and quite a bit of back-and-forth movement, but it’s still a step in the right direction. Our verdict: 4/5 carrot boxes.

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Thanks for reading our review! We’re excited for what’s next in Poptropica Worlds, but we’re sure the kids from the factory – Shy Sky, Sleepy Bird, Magic Socks, and Crazy Comet – are just happy to be away from the crazy old Hare.

24 Carrot Diner: The Gang’s All Back! by SlantedFish on DeviantArt

Which version of 24 Carrot Island do you like best, the one on Poptropica Original or Worlds? Share your thoughts in the comments!

– the PHB team –

P.S. For the perspective of just one player, who lent his insights to this review, check out Purple Claw’s review originally posted on Clawtropica.