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, this is a guest post by Mud Bub, who’ll be taking a look at Poptropica islands from her perspectiveas a college art student.
She shared with the PHB, “Poptropica allowed me to get more in-tune with my passion for art. Similar to other Flash or After Effects products like Wow Wow Wubbzy or this video, I get the most thrill out of flat yet bold and colorful designs, and this has greatly affected my art style.
As a college art student, having an influence such as Poptropica is very much needed for me, both with art and being a general stress reliever… I may be older… but time has given me a better understanding, excitement, and idea-fueled drive for the game. This [guest post] is more than just a Pop 5 list to me, but finally articulating the artistic passion that I’ve had for over a decade. Without the openness of the PHB accepting blog post submissions, I would not have finally gotten to express that.”
Thank you, Mud Bub! And with that wonderful intro, let’s get into the post…
Greetings! I’m Muddy “Mud Bub” Bubbles, an art student at Ephraim University and collector of black-framed glasses. Professor Max McPatrick assigned me to analyze only the finest of Poptropica’s island artistry, and I can only hope that he won’t deduct points for not including his native island, Mocktropica.
Poptropica islands are known for their vast adventures, but their visuals are also notable. I’ve discovered that they are all worthy of praise, but there are a mighty few that stand out in their attention to detail and interactions with art.
This wouldn’t be an article on Poptropican art without mentioning Counterfeit Island! This island arguably offers the most extensive art collection of them all, although the genres are a bit narrow, and seeing less represented forms of art would have been nice. It does beat Early Poptropica’s Pop Art Museum by a mile, though. There may be French stereotypes, but Counterfeit Island’s store logos and calming interior design of the abandoned house make for an authentic island experience. Most of all, it allows for literal hands-on experiences with fine art and learning its value, which makes for a great introduction to art history.
It’s no myth that this island has lovely Greek and Roman art. Although the meandering may be overdone, they make the island more unique and memorable. The fonts and architecture also stay true to ancient form. Hades, Zeus and Poseidon have their own icons that are presented consistently, from the island logo to the Mythology Surfer costume. These are examples of brand design, a modern form of art, that other characters use as well, such as Dr. Hare and his rabbit gimmick. The pictures above show how two forms of art (wall art and iconography + sculpture and iconography) can merge into one to truly showcase the personalities of the gods.
This island is more inventive than just its gadgets! Steamworks Island takes on a truly vintage and trinket-y form that makes it hard not to love. The color palettes perfectly show the dullness of the tools in a somehow bright way. There are banners with gears and stripes on them, as well as buildings covered with beautiful vines. So many bits and bobs to be found that make it easy to understand the intricate stylings of steampunk. Exploring this town can get kind of isolating though.
This island truly deserves recognition for the interactions with art it allows us. From literal bridge-building to bonsai trimming and calligraphy, Red Dragon Island is an authentic celebration of Eastern art. Despite the wild ninja adventures, one can feel relaxed, too, while wearing a beautiful kimono as cherry blossoms fly in the breeze. Seriously, this island could be Black Widow’s next strike. The land of Edo leaves Jack and Annie’s neck of the woods in Frog Creek with a little more to be desired, but that stark contrast may make ancient Japan look all the more unique.
This island is a real gem, and I’m not just talking about its logo! Nabooti Island allows you to explore many environments and rare items of Africa. It’s also a rarity to see how an entire continent can fit in one island, and note how the starting point isn’t even a separate piece of land. Still, there are artful features such as masks, sculptures and animal photography that allow us to see the beauty of the island’s culture. This is also shown in its fashioned natives, shimmering minerals and detailed hieroglyphics. Nabooti Island gives its players a diverse and unforgettable artistic appreciation of Africa.
Honorable mentions
Arabian Nights Island: This island proves that there is beauty to be found everywhere—even in a desert hijacked by forty thieves! The mansion in particular shows bold application of Middle Eastern architecture and design.
PoptropiCon Island: Yes, PoptropiCon, and this is not just because of my love of puns! This place is riddled with costume-makers, comic book writers, and other artists that connect over their craft. PoptropiCon is a testament to the ever-changing mediums of art and its content. That said, they could have shown more of the communities that conventions have to offer.
Big Nate Island: This unique island allows us to jump in a graphic novel. What it lacks in detail it makes up in its dynamic character design and a bright, consistent style. If nothing else, this one wins for the most colorful and characteristic island logo.
This list was so difficult to narrow down. Will you fight for the royal aesthetic of Astro-Knights? Maybe I wimped out on the Wimpy Kid islands and owe Greg Heffley an apology. Or will you be bold and claim the best art comes from your own Home Island? Share your favorite art from Poptropica in the comments!
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.
📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨
Hey Poptropicans, big Pop drop: the official Poptropica merch store, teased about a month ago, is here!
And there’s plenty to choose from: clothes, stickers, notebooks, phone cases… 54 items now and more to come, say the Pop Creators. (You can also send your ideas!) Take a look at these beauties, for starters:
The official Pop merch store is hosted on Zazzle, which means “they make and ship all the products for [Poptropica].” Right now, there’s a discount of 20% off if you use the code BESTZAZGIFTS at checkout. That’ll probably come in handy, as the items can cost quite a bit, ranging from US$4.95 for the lowest-priced sticker to $91.90 for Dr. Beev pattern high tops (our beloved Beev has quite a bit of merch here!).
Items are sorted as Apparel and Accessories (hoodies, T-shirts, party glasses, socks, tank tops, hats), Stickers (blimp, Herc’s Hero Hut logo, Zomberry clown, Poptropica logo), and Vintage Distressed Pattern (with a jigsaw puzzle, face mask, and more — also, you might recognize this as the background the PHB uses!). Browse the Pop shop now!
By the way, this isn’t Poptropica’s first time on Zazzle! For a few years starting in 2009, they used to sell different T-shirts, wall stickers, and posters there, but they haven’t been available for a while. To see what else Poptropica sells IRL (or used to sell), check out our page on Poptropica Merchandise: A Guide to Poptropica Shopping. 🛍
Whether or not you’re getting the real-life gear, you can still treat yourself to a shopping spree on Poptropica: The Actual Game!
The in-game store has gotten a few updates since last week, with new costumes like the Pumpkin Pleasure and Aqua Rebel, and a couple new powers: the Levitation Spell Book (which has you shout out “Volantem Levitatio!”) and Spark Shower Wand (check out our gif below):
While you’re in Poptropica, you may notice a new ad for The Croods: A New Age, a Dreamworks animated movie which will be in theaters in time for Thanksgiving. Check out the Pop Creators’ video of the mini-game, where you ride a creature named Chunky to collect bones and avoid baddies, in the end winning your very own Chunky Follower!
The Pop Creators also recently released a video for another ad, which you may recognize as it’s been around for about two months now: it’s for American Girl: Courtney’s Island, and contains plenty of prizes!
Also on Pop, you may notice something a little different from the bottom left corner: instead of the usual video ads, this space is now playing a slideshow of some recent Poptropica fan art!
Part of the fan art slideshow includes this piece featuring Gentle Dolphin with the Jersey Devil, by the PHB staffer herself!
You may have seen some of them spotlighted on the Creators’ Instagram stories, which we’ve also shared on the PHB. Pretty cool to see it within the game browser, too — and an improvement compared to ads. 🙂
In other news, Poptropica has disabled the Avatar Studio, the much-loved tool that allowed us to view player characters by entering their username. It’s not too surprising, given that Poptropica hasn’t linked to it on their site for a while now. However, the ASG still works.
Fortunately, you can still access the AS via this link on idk’s website, which simply loads the Shockwave Flash (SWF) from Poptropica’s files. But with Flash’s end coming up, it’s not guaranteed to last.
That’s it for this post! So, will you be getting any Poptropica merch? Or just sticking to the virtual store? What items do you want most? Share with us in the comments!
Hey Poptropicans—contest alert! 🚨 From now until December 18 at 11:59 p.m. PST, you can submit your own original Poptropica island idea for a chance to have it made into game reality!
The next Poptropica island could be from your imagination.
Fans have been hoping for another chance at the contest ever since the massive success of the first one. More recently, the question was put forth in the PHB’s Q&A with Poptropica’s CEO, who answered, “How about after this interview gets posted we start the contest?” And true to their word, here it comes now!
📝 The Pop Creators have put together a brand new submission form (poptropica.com/submissions) which allows anyone to share their island ideas — as well as fan art and letters outside of the contest’s purposes! The form is simple: you enter your username, write a message, add an optional attachment (which can be a jpg, png, gif, or pdf file), click a checkbox captcha, and with the press of the submit button, your submission is sent to Poptropica.
Share your island idea on Poptropica’s new submission form.
Fortunately, there are no geographical or age restrictions like the previous Dream Island contest, but children under 13 do need a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Your island idea should only be entered once.
As the Creators shared on the official blog, they’re looking for the following in a successful island idea: an original and exciting story, key characters, and setting (don’t copy from other brands or people!). Not only will the winning idea become a real Poptropica island, its inventor will also win a one-year Poptropica membership!
What ideas do you have for a Poptropica island? Start dreaming, maybe bounce some ideas with our PHC Discord community, and remember to submit your idea before the December 18 deadline!
And stay tuned — the winner will be announced December 28. Whatever it is, we’re excited to see, and eventually play, another fan-invented island! 😄🏝
Hey Poptropicans! Something new is coming to town…
On Instagram, the Pop Creators recently shared two sneak peeks of a Fall Festival, which is going to be a limited time event… and it’s dropping by starting tomorrow! 🎟🎡🍭
The first pic shows a “snack shack” with cotton candy, with elements of the art reminiscent of the carnival fun of Monster Carnival Island. What’s also intriguing is the caption, hinting about getting to “join your friends”… could this mean more features coming to the Friends Beta currently on Haxe?
The other sneak peek is a gif of a Poptropican holding up and squeezing a big, pink, fluffy toy bear, perhaps a prize for winning a carnival game.
Based on the surrounding grass, this extravaganza looks like it could be taking place on Home Island (which has been known to get makeovers from time to time). Or perhaps it’ll get its own little limited time island? Whatever the case, we’ll be here to join in the autumnal festivities! 🍂
Though the Fall Festival hasn’t arrived yet, perhaps a hint of it has already poked through in-game: if you head over to the Poptropica map, you’ll see an envelope sticking out of the Poptropica logo.
Clicking on it doesn’t do anything, at least not yet. But maybe it’s a sign of an oncoming mail feature, like what we saw with Paradise Island?
Have we got mail?
Also, oddly enough, the Zomberry Hero event is still on the map and playable even though it’s the second week of November! Perhaps it’ll soon be replaced by the next limited time carnival event, though…
In less exciting news, the ad attacks continue. Logging into the game the other day, PHB staffer Gentle Dolphin discovered a pop-up video ad in the bottom corner. It goes away if you either scroll down to the video player below the game screen, or zoom out to where both the game screen and video player are both viewable.
That’s not all, though: even the billboard has been infected! Take a look at this Grammarly ad embedded in Home Island:
Poptropica recently shared that they’re experimenting more with ads because of greater demand from advertisers in the current pandemic. Rather disruptive for players, tbh, but the hope is they’re temporary!
For more insights from Pop HQ, check out the recent Q&A they did with the PHB, where they shared about what 2021 holds for Poptropica, whether certain beloved old features will return, and more. Definitely worth a read! 📰 Catch you all at the carnival coming up! 🎡
We may have tweaked a few of the fan questions for clarity, but Mr. Arya’s words below are verbatim. For a few of the answers, the PHB asked for clarification, and Ms. Natalie Shahmiri, the general manager of Poptropica, stepped in to answer on his behalf, so you’ll see her responses too. Without further ado, let’s pop all of the questions!
Introduction
Emma I: How does it feel to head up such a great game that has made so many childhoods?
Abhi: It feels great. Whenever I am in a room with Poptropica fans, I hear great kudos. Having association with a recognised game that continues to excite the gaming generation is a proud feeling. But I am not alone – I have a great team supporting me in this journey – in fact our game designers, developers and product team are much more passionate about Poptropica and they push me to do better for our players.
Theo (of Dimension Bros): How are Poptropicans so strong?
Abhi: Rumor has it that they descended from dinosaurs. Some people have said birds, which kind of are dinosaurs? Or maybe it’s just sheer willpower and determination. That’s probably it.
Dino DNA: Won’t find any cloning materials here.
The Future of the Game
Magniventris: What does 2021 hold for Poptropica? Will there be brand new islands, or will the focus be entirely on porting old islands to Haxe? If it’s on porting, how many islands do you project will be converted by the end of next year?
Abhi: We’re working on a mix of both, plus some remasters of the old islands. We’re also looking at ways to allow players to access the old islands once Flash isn’t widely supported anymore.
Natalie: Our current audience plays a big part in how we approach converting islands too. For example, the remastered Mythology island is a departure from the island you grew up with. It’s linear and definitely simpler (but still not too easy for a younger kid!). We have a lot to weigh when creating new content, from special events to remastered islands, so we don’t really know yet how many islands will be converted by next year. That’s also why we’re looking at options to ensure our older fans can still play the original Poptropica islands. We know how much the Poptropica you grew up with means to you and want to make sure you can always play that version.
Emma I: Will non-members be able to access old islands anytime soon, and when can we expect that to happen?
Abhi: The original islands use some old technologies that make it harder for us to support in a live environment. Limiting it to members-only keeps our systems from being overwhelmed and allows us to focus on the long-term decisions of how to keep them available. We’ll share more by the start of 2021.
Abhi: It’s something we’ve definitely been considering. We’re working on optimizing a lot of the player features right now, like the ability to add friends by username. We’re also working on some new ideas for player dashboards, which may incorporate customizable names or use usernames instead.
Small Beginnings: This was our very first attempt at designing your friends profile page.
Bee: Will there ever be a multiplayer option for playing through Poptropica islands with friends?
Abhi: Adding multiplayer to the older islands would be a little tricky since they were designed for a single-player experience, but we’re actively testing how to do this in new ways.
Purple Paw: Will the Photo Booth, Costumizer, and old Friends profiles be brought back? Why were these features taken out in the first place?
Abhi: The photo booth and old friends’ profiles weren’t very popular and were pretty dated. That’s the tough thing when you have a popular game for over 10 years, some things just start to feel out of place, especially for a new generation of players. Whenever we make these decisions we look at the data: what are users engaging with? If something no longer resonates with players we look at how we can update it or sometimes make the tough decision to remove it from the game.
Natalie: Engagement with things like the photo booth and old friend profile was less than 10% of the players. They were definitely fun features but as gaming has evolved, we need to evolve with it. We want to reintegrate features like that, but in a way that makes sense for today’s players.
The Photo Booth allowed you to create your own pictures from Poptropica art assets.
The old friends profile prior to the 2019 update had features like island albums, battle ranking, and more.
Invisible Ring: What’s the plan for Poptropica Worlds? Will there be more islands there, or will it eventually fuse with Poptropica Original?
Abhi: We had to pause development on Poptropica Worlds so we could focus on the conversion of Poptropica from Flash to Haxe. We’re still working on a plan for Poptropica Worlds, but for now, our focus is still on Poptropica.
The Pop Creators are focusing on Poptropica Original, not Poptropica Worlds.
Maxx: Will the old islands be adapted for the Poptropica app (iOS and Google Play)? (I really enjoyed playing Cryptids and Big Nate for the nostalgia factor, and would really like to replay them on the iPad.)
Abhi: Some of the older islands won’t be available on mobile in their original form. They were built using a version of ActionScript from prior to mobile games even existing! Since they can’t be converted there aren’t a lot of options outside of working on a way for players to still access and play them after Flash is no longer actively supported.
Mess of a Being: When recreating old Flash islands for Haxe, will you consider making changes to the stories, like with the new-ish 24 Carrot Island on Poptropica Worlds?
Abhi: Yes, this is definitely in the plans. We’re also tweaking some of the islands since we know there are spots that were too hard or confusing for players. Mythology Island that comes out in November will be the first island we’ve converted that will have changes to it.
Aphrodite now gives up her precious vanity mirror without a challenge.
Fandom Fun
wow: What do you think about the Poptropica fandom community?
Abhi: We wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for our fans. We’re actually bringing back our VIP program to help elevate our super fans. Stay tuned to the Poptropica Blog for more details coming out soon.
Theo (of Dimension Bros): Do you keep up with certain Poptropica fans’ postings (blogs, Instagram artists, YouTube channels, etc)? If so, which ones?
Abhi: We definitely do and Dimension Bros is one of them! We see almost everything tagged with Poptropica and regularly share our favorites among the Pop Creators. We’re also working to share them more on our blog and social media.
by @dimension_bros (drawn by @hfevra)
by @happyclonetrooper
Incredible Fire: Can we have another Create Your Dream Island contest? This monumental contest that gave us Arabian Nights Island happened 7 years ago, and many fans today would love the chance to participate.
Abhi: Definitely! How about after this interview gets posted we start the contest?
IsaacEntertains (of Dimension Bros): Since a few fans have sharedtheirlists, we’d like to know: who does the Poptropica team declare are the top 10 hottest Poptropica characters?
Abhi: That’s like asking a parent which kid is their favorite.
Creative Process
Emma I: What does the process of making an island look like?
Abhi: We actually just did a blog post about this for the Zomberry Special Event. To start off we talk about different story ideas and iterate on that until we have a story the whole team likes. From there we start storyboards so everyone knows the sequence of events and has an idea of what each scene will look like. The developers use the storyboards to start their initial coding while the artists start to make all the art and animations. There are a lot of meetings during those steps with feedback, changes, more feedback, and even more changes. It takes months for an island to be built because of how many scenes, mini-games, NPCs, and prizes need to be made. There’s also music that needs to be composed and of course, a lot of testing.
Artists use software to create in-game animations for Poptropica.
GEAR: How long does it take to make one character, from their initial design to putting them in the game?
Abhi: Anywhere from 1-2 weeks. Characters with a lot of animations take the longest.
GEAR: Are you hiring? How do people get involved in working with Poptropica, and what kind of skills/talents do you look for?
Abhi: If someone is new to game design and development it’s best if they keep a lookout for when we post internship opportunities. We look for all types of skillsets, from artists to animators to developers. Outside of game development, we have marketing, which includes making videos and social media posts, and analysts who help go through game data to see how things in the game are performing. There are a lot of ways to get involved with Poptropica, it just depends on what part of the game industry you want to get involved with.
The Poptropica team in 2016 celebrating the game’s 9th birthday with cake at the office.
PHB: What does the Poptropica team currently look like now? How many people are on the team and doing what kinds of work?
Abhi: The Poptropica team is made up of team members all around the world. We have artists, game developers, web developers, graphic designers, testers, and more. Maintaining and growing a game like Poptropica requires a lot of people!
PHB:Fans have noticed that Poptropica’s newer (and fewer) islands lack the depth of storytelling found in many of its older islands. Why has Poptropica strayed from this original vision, and will you return to this key element which made the game unique?
Abhi: Storytelling is still core to what Poptropica is and always will be. Creating a full island story and experience can take anywhere from 3-6 months and requires the full team. Since we’re still working on converting the old islands we’ve been creating some smaller and shorter experiences so you have something to do in-between the islands being converted.
The Zomberry Hero special event was a smaller and shorter experience released in October 2020 while island conversion was in progress.
Dangerous Icicle: Why are there so many ads in the Poptropica browser? (The whole screen is littered with ads, even ads for Poptropica, and the new video ads in between scenes were not well received.)
Abhi: We added more ad units to the game browser and in-between scenes due to demand. A lot of the new units, like in-between scenes, are being tested and may not stay permanently.
Natalie: The demand for more ads came from advertisers. COVID-19 has made most businesses change how they approach advertising and that impacted how our partners work with us. While we know players aren’t crazy about the ads, advertising is part of what funds the development of Poptropica. We’re always working to find the right balance.
With the recent inclusion of video ads, it is possible to encounter a full screen of ads while playing Poptropica. Sometimes the ads are for Poptropica itself!
Tyler N: What is Jeff Kinney’s involvement with Poptropica these days?
Abhi: He isn’t actively involved at the current moment since most of our efforts have been focused on converting the game from Flash to Haxe instead of new islands. Plus, he’s pretty busy with his book series!
Tyler N: What, if any, do plans for a Poptropica movie, TV show, or animated series look like right now? (It was hinted at in the Q&A with the previous Poptropica CEO.)
Abhi: This is something that we’re always considering. It takes time to make partnerships like this happen and isn’t something we’ve ruled out.
MaryannTheConqueror: Are there any plans for more Poptropica merch, and is there a way fans (especially the nostalgic ones) could be involved in creating/suggesting ideas for that? Many have some very cool ideas!
Abhi: We have a new shop launching in November and yes, we definitely want suggestions! We’ll let you all know more on the Poptropica Blog.
MaryannTheConqueror: Are the Poptropica Creators OK with small-scale sales of fan-made merch (such as through Etsy or at conventions, or print-on-demand sites like RedBubble)?
Abhi: I love fan art and creations that are inspired by Poptropica. Using our art and logo files for merch isn’t okay though.
Abhi: It’s an interesting idea and we often talk about how we can extend the stories outside of the main game. The core of our audience is still on the younger side, similar to when you probably started playing. It’s who the game is made for, so we have to stay true to that as our core focus.
Natalie: The majority of the Poptropica players are still under 13. We have over a million kids playing every month and while the PHB fandom is big, it doesn’t encompass all of our players. Similar to when a lot of you started playing, a lot of our players today are introduced to and play Poptropica in school. They also discover us through advertisements on kid-specific websites.
Oh Baby: Young at heart is usually good enough.
Mess of a Being and Tiny Bean: What do you have to say to criticism about the ending of Monster Carnival Island, which some fans have found problematic? (This fan video highlights the issues, explaining that Ringmaster Raven’s portrayal plays into ugly stereotypes and that he is given disproportionately unfair treatment by the townsfolk.)
Abhi: I totally get it. This is definitely one of those instances where you know the intent doesn’t align with the issue and you have to ask, “How was this affected by implicit bias?” We’re actually auditing all the islands for this reason and have already revised Monster Carnival for its conversion to Haxe. I appreciate that players bring this to our attention. It’s the only way we can all collectively move forward in the right direction.
Ringmaster Raven deserved better.
PHB: What is the current vision of Poptropica in terms of how it hopes to impact the next generation?
Abhi: I want Poptropica to continue to inspire young fans around the world. Gaming has changed a lot since Poptropica was first introduced and I’m proud of the fact that kids still love our characters and stories. Seeing videos of people coming to play Poptropica after 10 years and their enthusiasm for the game is amazing. All of the fan art (and fanfiction) is inspiring and shows that Poptropica holds a place in players’ hearts.
Abhi: Poptropica always has been and always will be inclusive. It’s part of why we want players to be able to customize their characters however they want and why we removed the gender selector when setting up an account. I don’t think we have any characters where their gender identity or sexual orientation plays a role in the story, but it’s something I think we should consider for future islands. Representation matters and we’ll always work to create a place where everyone feels like they belong.
Abhi: Dr. Beev is an enigma. He does periodically show up for parties though.
Nice gnawing you too, Dr. Beev.
You made it to the end! Thanks so much to Abhi and Natalie for joining us on this Q&A and taking the time to address some fan questions and concerns. It’s assuring to hear there are big plans for Poptropica even beyond the end of Flash gaming!
What did you all think of their responses? What further questions do you have for the Poptropica team? Share your thoughts in the comments below and on the PHC Discord!
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