Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Icy Crown (Emu), who explores the idea of alternate endings to Poptropica islands with the example of Mystery Train. Can you come up with your own?

Heyo! Icy Crown coming atcha with a guest post for the PHB. 💕

One thing I’ve always wondered as a Poptropican after finishing an island is, “What if (so and so) didn’t do that?” or “What if ___ never happened?” So I thought, “Hey, someone should do that.” Today I put forth the challenge!

This post is all about ~~how much I love Ned Noodlehead~~ alternate endings for my favorite islands.

Of course I had to pick one of the greatest islands (haters gonna hate): Mystery Train! Spoiler alert: the ending of this game is given away. But don’t worry, If you have played it but scarcely remember, you can always check out the PHB’s Mystery Train Island Guide. Here’s the synopsis:

How do you solve a mystery when everyone is a suspect? It’s 1893, and some of the world’s brightest minds are traveling by train to the World’s Fair in Chicago. But after a dastardly crime puts the fate of the Fair in peril, only you can piece together the clues and collar the criminal. All aboard for a whodunit that will keep you guessing until the last twist of the tracks!

All Is Fair: Let’s skip all the exposition, shall we?

In the original ending, we find out the culprit is Mademoiselle Moreau (or as the PHB guide affectionately calls her, “Frenchy”), and we have to chase her to take back Tesla’s transformer. In the heat of things, she’ll fall into a water tank, trapped! From there, the fair is saved.

Now here’s my alternative version of events:

As you approach Frenchy on the ferris wheel, she throws the transformer into the air, but somehow it manages to land safely on a platform a few levels below. At this point, it’s a race between you and Frenchy to retrieve the transformer, and you’re well ahead of her. Just as your fingers brush the side of it, someone pushes you onto your stomach and yanks you off the ledge as you plummet down and plop into a… water tank? Turns out Erik Weisz was in on it the whole time. You think it’s over, done, the fair is ruined. There’s no way you could get it back, let alone get out of the tank!
But then, out of the blue, a green-faced Mark Twain jumps down and snatches away the transformer from Erik’s own two hands. The fair is saved! Mark unlocks the tank and you are able to catch your breath. Victory is yours!

There you have it! What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

But before I send you loose, I have a challenge for you! Following my example, create your own alternate ending in the comments below. Remember to be creative and original!

It’s time for me to sign out, but keep on poppin’ readers!

~ Icy Crown

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Icy Crown (Emu). If you did, you might also enjoy a guest post by Comical Carrot that brings a twist to the topic with Unsatisfying Island Endings.

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our page on how to Write for the PHB, and share blog posts on the PHC, our Discord server.

📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨

Guest Posts, My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Dangerous Dragon

January 24, 2021January 23, 2021 Slanted Fish

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Dangerous Dragon, who found Poptropica during the pandemic. See below about sharing your MPIP story!

Ok, this is Dangerous Dragon and welcome! Poptropica Creators and Poptropicans, this is my story of how I discovered Poptropica. Get ready… get set… Go!

Bored for a game…

Yeah so, I’m from India and I’m 9 (well, almost, since my birthday is in February) sometimes it’s exciting, sometimes it’s boring. When India was on lockdown in 2020 it was obviously boring. Our classes were going online, and a few months later there was a problem…

Exploring the web

In the area where I lived, the internet network connection got very bad. So we got wifi! Now you will know: how did I discover Poptropica?

Some advice: when you’re a kid and you get wifi… the first thing you do is EXPLORE AND HAVE FUN! That’s what I did! I opened one thing I wanted to do: YouTube! Now a few days passed, and I got some games. I kept looking for a game where you could explore and do your own thing, but couldn’t find any. I got tired and opened YouTube again. There was something recommended from my favourite channel: it was from Thinknoodles a.k.a. Speedy Catfish… and the video was about Poptropica. And I was like, “Wha?”

Counterfeit Island docks (Thinknoodles on YouTube)

Poptropica!

I decided to download Poptropica on my tablet, and when I did… I could not believe it. It was a game where you could explore! At first I thought that we just had to do everything on Home Island — just customize and buy stuff.

A few days later, I got bored just customising, and then I wondered how Thinknoodles was playing on that island. With a bit more exploring, I discovered the Poptropica blimp. I hopped on, and then it showed me that precious screen: the Map.

Getting good at the game

From there, my journey truly began. My first island was Time Tangled, and I got through 4/5 of it before getting stuck. I searched on YouTube for the walkthrough and there was Thinknoodles playing Poptropica! After watching his video, I really started to understand how the game worked.

By now, my knowledge of Poptropica has grown even more. I’m even writing this post about it by myself! I also have a lot of things in my clubhouse and lots of credits.

Here is a quick picture of me in my clubhouse.

I’ve started to play many more islands, including Reality TV and Monster Carnival and Survival. While playing PoptropiCon, I got stuck and looked up a guide. That’s how I found the PHB!

Well, that wraps up my journey on how I discovered Poptropica. Ciao, Poptropicans!

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. Please include your username and at least 400 words, typed with good spelling and grammar, and divided into labeled sections. If you send in your story, we will continue to post new community MPIPs!

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!

~the Poptropica Help Blog

Fan Art Features, Glitches, Social Media, Video of the Week

Video from Alana and villainous fan art 🐍

January 23, 2021June 6, 2021 Slanted Fish

Happy weekend, Poptropicans! Pop in for a fun video, fan art highlights, and more from the community!

In this Video of the Week from the Pop Creators’ Blog, Alana returns to Poptropica after 8 years and plays through Arabian Nights, Ep. 1: How Bazaar. Watch as she rediscovers her old account, calls out an old man for being completely oblivious to theft happening before his eyes, and gets spooked by a handful of the forty thieves:

It’s kind of funny how the Creators’ Blog post starts with “Did you know there are people who have been playing Poptropica for YEARS!?” — more evidence that they’re expecting, and catering to, new players over longtime ones. Speaking of the official blog, did you know there was no Video of the Week last week? 🤔

What does appear to be a regular occurrence, though, are fan art spotlights on the Poptropica Creators’ Instagram story! Check out the latest features from this week:

In other Poptropica news, the formidable Avatar Studio Glitch (ASG) is still going strong, even after the death of Flash. The PHB continues to update its ASG collection, so if you like strange and hard-to-find costumes, keep checking back there for new ones! Here are just a few we’ve added recently, thanks to Silver Horse and Dangerous Icicle:

That’s all for this post. Be sure to catch up on the other fun things happening in the posts below, from guest writers on the official Pop blog to what Astro-Knights Island may look like IRL!

Keep on popping, Poptropicans. ✌️

~slantedfish 🐠

Fan Art Features, Social Media

Guest writers to start popping up on the Poptropica Creators’ Blog ✏️

January 21, 2021June 6, 2021 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans — you may recall that just last week, the Poptropica Creators’ Blog put out an open call for guest writers. Today, we’re seeing our very first guest post on the official blog from one Fearless Walker!

Interestingly, Fearless Walker’s writing doesn’t show up on the blog’s homepage, but only appears when you click into the post. From there, she shares that she’s gained her expertise from having played for 8 years now, as well as 5 random facts and tips for Poptropica, punctuated with exclamation marks aplenty. Read Fearless Walker’s full post »

Though it’s our first time meeting Fearless Walker (hello if you’re reading this!), you may be more familiar with some of the other guest writers who will be making an appearance on the Pop blog.

Over the past day, a few of us from the PHC received an email from the Poptropica Creators inviting us to be Poptropica guest bloggers: Invisible Ring, whom you might recognize for her recent fan videos and compilation of the Poptropica comics; Purple Paw, a PHB staff writer, and yours truly, Slanted Fish, also a PHB staffer. What an opportunity!

The email sent by the Pop Creators inviting me to guest blog. The signer may be Natalie Shahmiri, Poptropica’s general manager, who was part of our Q&A with the Pop CEO.

I’m personally grateful for the chance to share on the Creators’ Blog and am already thinking about what I might write about! In particular, I’d love to take the chance to ask and share about Poptropica behind the scenes, as well as highlight creative work from the fandom (a little intro to the PHB, perhaps? 😉 ). We’ll see how it goes!

As the PHB noted earlier, the Creators are only offering guest writing opportunities to those who are 13 or older. They didn’t say why, but our speculation is possible concerns about child labor laws, though we don’t know the specifics. Still, the policy has spawned some discontent among younger kids in the Poptropica community, expressed in the official blog’s comments. Might there be an explanation?

If you feel similarly, or didn’t get an invitation for the Creators’ Blog, let me offer you the next best thing: you can guest write for the PHB! We might not be as big as the Creators’ Blog (though we don’t know their stats), but we’ve shared plenty of great guest posts here, and have no age requirements. All the details are on our Write for the PHB page!

While we’re on the subject of blogging about Poptropica, the PHB recently published a new page all about Our Philosophy. 📖 You can find it under the “About” tab on the site menu. The article is a reflection on why the PHB exists and endures, including why we think it’s worth investing in this corner of children’s media and how that shapes those whose lives it touches. Enjoy the read »

See you next time—and perhaps on the Poptropica Creators’ Blog! ✌️

~slantedfish 🐠

Pets, Store

Winter boys, girls, pets? Bully (bot) for you!

January 21, 2021 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans — new updates are in store! 🛍

Costumes have rotated, though other items remain the same as before. Several winter boy/girl costumes are in season, though you won’t find the full series together. Anyway, here they are, with new poses and all:

The Creators’ Blog also highlighted the Bully Bot Costume for its complementing of the Legendary Swords: Match 3 minigame, though veteran players may recognize that the Bully Bot was awarded as a prize in the original Legendary Swords adventure.

Have you played the new Legendary Swords: Match 3 minigame?

Don’t be fooled (like I was) by the ambiguously phrased Creators’ Blog post title, “New Pet and Store Items” — though there are no new pets, the pet barn has new accessories available for your little friend: a Pom Pom Hat, Pink Bow, and Puffy Coat are each 75 credits.

There’s been more happening with the Creators’ Blog, but we’ll save that for another post! Keep on popping on, Poptropicans. 💫

~🐠

Author: Slanted Fish

All aboard for alternate endings to Poptropica islands 🚂