Hello! I'm Slanted Fish, the editor-in-chief and creator of the Poptropica Help Blog (PHB). I'm a writer, Hong Kong native, and Christ follower. My Poptropica username is slantedfish 🐠 Don't forget to be awesome!
Hey Poptropicans! Poptropica.love, the Poptropica revival project launched just last month, announced on October 3 that it was officially out of beta and mostly functional. And now, it’s got another big update: live multiplayer on Realms, Poptropica’s world-building sandbox! ⚡️
This means you can now play Realms with others in real time. To access Realms on Poptropica.love, click on the menu (crate icon in the top-right corner) and click on the blue hammer icon.
This huge update includes a player list with viewer and editor permissions, ban and unban controls for realm owners, shared progress preserved across sessions, and more you can read about in the developer’s Reddit post. Realms can function both online and offline.
Exploring your realmPlayer list in your realmBanned players listSharing your realmPublic realms you can visitPlayer list in another player’s realm
It’s super exciting to see this revival for Realms. Now let’s go forth and make some cool stuff! And if you’re looking for a buddy (or several) to build with, try our PHC Discord server. 💪🥳
This is a guest post from Hyper Berry sharing her My Place in Poptropica story, which is all about one’s Poptropica journey. Enjoy!
Thanks to the PHB staff for the warm welcome! Anyway, to set the stage, here’s a quick lightning round of My Place in Poptropica!
Hiya, fellow Poptropicans! The name’s Hyper Berry, and I’ve been a Poptropica fan for as long as I can remember (and long before I could speak full sentences!). Throughout my childhood, Pop was one of the few online games I frequently came back to, despite not knowing how to fully complete an island quest (I was a naïve kid when it came to understanding Poptropica). Fast forward to early 2025, when I replayed it on Flashpoint, just to relive nostalgia from years past.
Hyper Berry rocking out on 24 Carrot Island
Little did I know, that playing for nostalgic reasons would make me hyperfixated on Poptropica, and throughout 2025 and this year, I’ve bought many Pop merch items, such as various books, one of the Jazwares plushies (Cool Boy to be exact!), and custom plushes of Oliver Hartman (from the graphic novels and comics), Ned Noodlehead, and Director D (these are just a few of the Pop merch I own, I have lots more!)
I commissioned these guys through the custom plush site iDooodle (not an ad). They look a bit wonky (Director D especially since his face has an “whatever, I’m too slick to be a marketable plushie” expression), but that adds up to the charm of these plushes.
Some Poptropica-related facts about me are that my favorite islands are Night Watch Island and Back Lot Island, and my favorite Poptropican is Oliver Hartman (I relate to both his comic and graphic novel counterparts), and if we’re talking about in-game Poptropicans, it’s Ned Noodlehead (I know Ned is hated, but I still like him anyways).
Let’s get the elephant (or Poptropican) out of the room, and move on to the meat of this post!
Here’s an early version of the first strip of the Poptropica comic strip by Paul Gilligan and Kory Merritt, where Oliver and Jorge get teleported into an island inhabited by monkey people. It looks just like the final strip, but there’s one visual difference.
Jorge has his orange hair here! As shown here, and in the concept art of the scrapped animated series. I’m not sure why they changed his hair color to black, but I assume it’s to avoid clashing with Oliver’s hair color (which is somewhat similar enough from Jorge’s original hair color).
And to answer the question y’all have been thinking while reading this, how did I come across this early version of the first strip?
Well, the answer is quite straightforward. A few months ago, I was looking for obscure info/images of Oliver Hartman (and the graphic novels in general) online, and came across former Poptropica web developer Paul Chapman’s now-deleted website directory for the promotional site for Mystery of the Map, some miscellaneous ads for Pop in the mid-2010s, and a handful of the comic strips. As I dug deeper into the comics section, I found this piece of Poptropica lost media, and as a lost media enthusiast myself, I genuinely felt enthralled finding a piece of media that probably hasn’t been seen since 2014.
GPS: You’ll never get lost, unless you already are.
Poptropica as a whole means a lot to me. On top of that, I was at Hot Topic a month ago (to buy spiked cuffs) and when I went to checkout, the cashier noticed the plush keychain (basically a tiny shaped pillow) of Ned Noodlehead that I had hanging on my bag, and the cashier immediately said “IS THAT A POPTROPICA KEYCHAIN?!” out of excitement, and soon after, we started chatting about what our favorite islands were (her favorite was Poptropolis Games). She quickly called over one of her coworkers to look at my Ned keychain, and we all said “POPTROPICA IN 2026?!”. During those moments, I lit up like a bunch of holiday lights, and it also adds to why Pop means a lot to me.
Anyways, this concludes the post. Until my next guest post (if that happens sometime in the future), toodles, folks!
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!
Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post from Outbound Train. Enjoy!
This is my very first guest post… woo hooo! Hello everyone, I am Outbound Train. I am a master’s student in game studies focusing on Poptropica, or as I like to refer to myself, a Poptropica scholar!
Poptropica has a long and interesting history both technically and culturally with its numerous changes, spinoffs like Poptropica Worlds (remember that reboot attempt?), and communities like the PHB.
Today, almost 20 years since Poptropica came out, the game can still be played on various formats because of how much we love Poptropica. Some express that love with fan art, some with community preservation projects, and as for me… well, I am writing my master’s research paper on Poptropica’s history and how I grew up with the game in parallel.
Several months ago, I presented my research at an academic symposium. There I talked about my history with Poptropica, my sibling rivalry with my sister on who could complete the most islands, the engine changes, the preservation projects, and finally, where Poptropica is today. It was a blast talking about Poptropica in front of a room of academics and definitely a terrifying yet rewarding experience.
Here are some pictures from the event:
Leave a comment if you want to learn more about game studies or my research. I plan on writing more guest posts in the future about Poptropica academia (Poptrodemia?).
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!
Hey Poptropicans! After years of radio silence on the Poptropica map, we’re picking up a new sound—a new island is here, but it’s not an official one. Instead, it’s the game’s first-ever modded island, now playable on Poptropica.love, the recent browser-based Pop revival. 💙
Dead Air Island is a pretty cool first attempt at a Poptropica mod with a simple yet cohesive storyline about a mysterious radio signal, and even has a few mini-games, with most visual assets remixed from the original game. Experience it for yourself at www.poptropica.love, and if you like (or get stuck), follow along in our guide below! 👇
Synopsis
A shuttered mountain station is broadcasting a dead man’s warning. Follow the signal and find out who is really on the air.
Dead Air Island Guide
Written by Slanted Fish
Welcome to Dead Air Island! You’ll find yourself on a dark and snowy mountain trail, where you’ll meet Ranger Bell in front of a notice stating that the radio station is closed until the restoration crew arrives, with no salvage authorized. She’ll also tell you that lightning closed it off twelve years ago, and that radio announcer Hal never made it home, but curiously his voice is now on the radio telling people to stay away.
Hey Poptropicans! In this update, we’ve got a fun lore video, update on a Poptropica revival, and even something to get your creative juices flowing. 🥤 Let’s pop right into it! 💥
YouTuber Tahliaisnotcool from New Zealand recently dropped an hour-long video exploring Poptropica’s rise and fall, complete with a murder board with screenshots from the game and articles from her research. And it already has 122K+ views within its first week up! Watch below:
Mild language warning for some parts. On the whole, though, very entertaining!
Tahlia cites quite a bit from the PHB as well, and we’re happy to have played our part in it! 💙 Just to clarify a few of the items she brings up: Slanted Fish (that’s me) did go by Scary Tomato in the early days of the PHB, and our Discord server does have a name—the PHC! Also, she doesn’t mention Poptropica.love, another Poptropica revitalization project, probably because it literally launched a day after her video.
Which brings us to… the latest from browser-based Poptropica.love! Its developer No-Departure242 has shared another update on Reddit to announce that multiplayer is now in beta—including common rooms, friends, and Realms. Plus, the project is no longer relying on Flashpoint’s code, and photos have been added into the game as well. Let’s go! ⚡️
Last but not least, we’ve stumbled across a Poptropica Comic Studio where you can create your own Poptropica-based comic strips using various stickers, templates, and text of your choosing. Though the options for visuals are a bit limited, your creativity doesn’t have to be! ✨
Note: The Poptropica Comic Studio is not affiliated with the PHB, and we are not responsible for its contents, including user-generated comics.
