Author: Slanted Fish

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!
Store, Zomberry Island

With fear at zero, be a Zomberry Hero! 🧟‍♂️🍍

Slanted Fish

Hey Zombtropicans—the Zomberry Island 2 special event teased last week is here! Head over to the new “Zomberry Hero Special Event” on the map to get started saving the latest victims of the of bad blueberries.

This special event is only on the Haxe version of the game, so if you’re not seeing it, you might be on Flash. To use your Flash account on Haxe, try idk’s Format Loader tool and select “HTML5 (Haxe JS).” Or consider starting a new account on Haxe. Also, if you’re having trouble loading Haxe, try disabling your ad blocker.

Troubleshooting aside, let’s get to the Zomberries! This special event continues the tale of Zomberry Island, one of the classic islands from back in 2013. Now, in 2020, a blueberry smoothie stand run by a couple of young girls has reintroduced a new wave of Zomberries…

After the comic, click “Start” to begin the game. You’ll be greeted by a girl on a hoverboard named Anita, who equips you with a gun that shoots pineapple-flavored slime balls, an antidote to the zombie infection. Your task is to go around shooting at the zombies to turn them back into regular form (whether human or animal), using your mouse to aim and spacebar to shoot. Check the map in the lower corner too!

But keep an eye on your fear meter: it goes up when you’re near a zombie, and if you let it stay for even a moment too long, you’ll faint and the level restarts. Having audio on is helpful for hearing the heart palpitations to warn you when you’re too close.

According to the Creators’ Blog, there are three levels in the game, each getting progressively harder. And with widespread reports of game lag from early players on our PHC Discord server, it’s certainly not as easy as it sounds, so approach the zombies carefully! To add to the struggles, there are also video ads between scenes to deal with…

Still, there is a little incentive for making it through: the Creators are offering a free one-month membership to the first 30 non-members to complete the whole event without fainting! They’ll be announcing the winners Thursday, so stay tuned for that.

UPDATE: The Creators also shared a YouTube video guide for the Zomberry special event (with no lag)! Not sure who the person behind the camera is, and her character’s pink hair is more saturated than Blue Tooth’s, but it’s cool to hear some narration. Check out the 3:25 timestamp for a reference to Dr. Beev, 5:05 for a mention of Shark Boy (original name), and 7:25 for a promise of more sneak peeks to come!

At the end of it all, Anita hints that there’s more to come in the sewers, and you’ll get a “to be continued” screen with zombie alligators. Wonder what that’s all about!

Beating the game is also supposed to award you with 1000 credits as the prize, although some players have reported not seeing the credits added to their accounts. But if you do get it, it’s the perfect time for a seasonal store surprise…

Whether or not you succeed in ridding the Zomberry plague, you can still join in on the fun with the Zomberry bundle in the store!

The whole set includes a Zomberry mask, T-shirt, hoverboard, Zombify squirt gun, and even a zombie puppy follower, all for the hefty price of 1000 credits. It’s also limited edition—only available during the Zomberry Hero event, which presumably lasts until the end of Halloween season, so shop and play while you can! 🧟‍♂️

For more spooky season shenanigans, don’t forget to enter our Halloween costume contest and make some art for Community Creations and Poptober! 🎃 Oh, and drop your questions for Poptropica’s CEO for an upcoming Q&A here on the PHB!

What did you think of the Zomberry special event? Were you able to beat all three levels and become a true Zomberry Hero? Share with us in the comments and with other players on our Discord server!

🧟‍♀️🔦🧟‍♂️

Creators

Bring in your questions for Poptropica’s CEO!

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, we’ve got something special lined up for you!

We’ve been in touch with Poptropica’s current CEO, Abhi Arya, who is also the chief of Coolmath Games and Sandbox & Co., Poptropica’s parent company. We asked Mr. Arya if he’d be interested in doing a Q&A with readers of the Poptropica Help Blog, and he said yes!

Do you wonder about what goes on behind the scenes of making Poptropica, what the future holds for the game, and more? Send in your questions in the comments of this post, and we’ll gather some of your questions for the Poptropica CEO and team to answer.

While we wait to hear their insights, you can revisit this 2015 interview we did with the then-CEO of Poptropica, Jess Brallier! Poptropica has changed a lot in the past five years, especially with the external factor of having to adapt to a post-Flash future, and this is a great opportunity for both fans and the Creators to reconnect about what’s been going on.

We’ll be taking questions from now until next Tuesday, October 20, so fire away in the comments! And we’ll keep you posted on their answers here on the PHB, so stay tuned… 😄

— the Poptropica Help Blog —

Guest Posts, Red Dragon Island, Reviews

Ramble Review: Red Dragon Island 🐉

Slanted Fish

Welcome to another Ramble Review! This guest post comes from Purple Paw, who will be rambling about Red Dragon Island.

Let’s talk about Red Dragon Island. I choose it mainly because it is one of the few very good sponsored islands. At first, I was skeptical about choosing a sponsored island, because usually, sponsored islands are very poor at showing Poptropica’s authenticity. Mostly, they tend to be unexciting remakes, nothing you would think of as being truly Poptropica. But Red Dragon? This island couldn’t be more different.

As you may know, the story is based off of the Magic Treehouse book Dragon of the Red Dawn, with some of the gameplay tactics borrowed from Night of the Ninjas, an earlier Magic Treehouse book that also takes place in ancient Japan. But the plot of the Red Dragon Island takes such a unique twist from this classic book series, it doesn’t feel like a sponsored island at all; miraculously, it feels like a true Poptropica island.

And it wasn’t just the storytelling aspect of this island that made me choose Red Dragon; the gameplay, too, adds greatly to the overall enjoyment of the island. Though not exceedingly difficult, learning ninja skills does take some concentration and practice, and you’ve got to focus and think hard to master catching the kappa, trimming the bonsai, and other tasks you’re asked to complete, creating the perfect balance between challenge and fun.

Last but not least, the scenery adds the icing to the cake, and ties this whole amazing adventure together. Floating cherry blossoms, lily-pad dotted ponds, and splendid architecture make for one of the most beautiful and poetic islands yet.

There’s simply nothing you can’t enjoy about this island, and I think Red Dragon surely deserves a spot in the best of all time.

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Purple Paw. If you did, be sure to check out previous Ramble Reviews on islands like Twisted Thicket and Ghost Story, and stay tuned for more! Plus, join in on the fun on the PHC Discord.

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! ✨

Contests

The PHB’s 12th Halloween Costume Contest: 🦸‍♀️ Heroes & Villains 🦹‍♂️

Slanted Fish

This contest is now closed. See our Hallo-winners here!

The Poptropica Help Blog presents

Halloween Costume Contest Twelve:
🦸‍♀️ Heroes & Villains 🦹‍♂️

Now in our 12th year of this tradition, we’re once again thrilled to announce our annual Poptropica Halloween costume contest. This year’s theme: Heroes & Villains. Which side will you choose?

Whether you’re inventing your own characters or emulating icons from pop culture, we invite you to get your creativity flowing by assembling a Poptropica costume (or two, or several) based on either (or both!) of these themes. And one more specialty for this year…

👯‍♀️ Group costumes are encouraged! Get some friends together (or make some new ones on the PHC or in the comments section of this post) and plan your costumes as a group. All it takes is two or more.

As an example, the PHB team decided to band together this year to form the Colors of the Rainbow! 🌈 In keeping with the theme, we’ve split into the Warm Warriors (heroes) and Cool Criminals (villains)—but that’s optional for group costumes. They just have to be related.

  • "Vermilion Virago" by Spotted Dragon
    “Vermilion Virago” by Spotted Dragon
  • "Volcanic Vindicator" by Slanted Fish
    “Volcanic Vindicator” by Slanted Fish
  • "Golden Guerrilla" by Lucky Joker
    “Golden Guerrilla” by Lucky Joker
  • "Busch 'Borrower'" by Sporty Boa
    “Busch ‘Borrower'” by Sporty Boa
  • "Navy Ninja" by Fierce Flyer
    “Navy Ninja” by Fierce Flyer
  • "Violet Vamp" by Gentle Dolphin
    “Violet Vamp” by Gentle Dolphin

📝 Here’s what you need to know about entering:

  1. 🦸‍♂️ Assemble your costume for either (or both) categories on Poptropica, including for group costumes. You may enter each category (heroes, villains, group) as many times as you like. You may concurrently submit an entry for both the hero/villain categories and a group costume (which may be considered its own category of sorts). However, each individual person is eligible to win just once per category.
  2. 📸 Take a screenshot of your costume entry in the Costumizer window.* Here’s how to take a screenshot — the instructions will vary depending on your device. For Windows, you’ll also need to paste it somewhere to save it as an image file on your computer. Also, use the in-game Costumizer window (pictured below) as that will display your character at a high resolution. Ideally, crop the image to show just your character.
  3. 🔗 Upload the image to the web and share the link in the comments of this post. You can use a site like imgur or Discord to upload your picture and obtain a web link for it that can then be shared so others can see it. Once you’ve got a link, comment on this PHB post you’re reading right now with the link. Include details such as what category you’re entering, what you’re naming your costume, and anything else you’d like to share about it.

*Note: Though we’ve used Avatar Studio (AS) links in the past, many of the newer items in Poptropica are not visible through AS. If your entire costume is still viewable by AS, you’re welcome to provide a username (not link, as those don’t work with AS anymore) in lieu of a picture. However, since AS is no longer a complete guarantee for displaying costumes, we recommend taking a screenshot.

Share a screenshot of your costume in the Costumizer window, like so. You can access this screen from the green shirt button in the menu if you’re in Flash, or from costumizing one of your clothing items in Haxe.

📝 Things to Note ✨

  • 💻 If you send us a username for us to look up on the Avatar Studio, you’ll have to keep your costume intact until Halloween so we can see it throughout the month. That’s something you won’t have to concern yourself with if you send a screenshot instead, and it’ll be easier for you to capture multiple costume entries!
  • 👯‍♀️ Group costume rules: Group costumes are encouraged to match the heroes & villains theme, but this is not required. An individual entry within a group costume entry may also qualify for the singular-costume hero/villain categories, but we will take care to honor group efforts by prioritizing awards for this category before others, as each individual person may only win once per category.
  • 💡 Tips for seeking out costume parts: We know Poptropica has changed a lot in the past couple years, making lots of old methods obsolete, but there are still places you can go for cool costume parts. The Flash version of Pop has more options, but Haxe has plenty of store costumes too. Dig through old store items, buy new store costumes, crank the switch in the New You shop on Home Island, snag something off an NPC from PoptropiCon, sneak your way into old islands with idk’s directory, and use MAP (for individual parts) or the ASG Machine (for full costumes) along with usernames from our ASG collection.

👑 Prizes ✨

  • 🗓 The contest closes on Friday, October 30. We’ll announce the winners the next day.
  • 🎃 On Halloween (October 31), we’ll post our favorite costumes from each category on the front page of the PHB for all to enjoy.
  • 🌟 A grand prize winner will be selected for each category, plus one group. Each grand prize winner will receive a 1-month Poptropica membership. Up to 6 memberships for the winning group will be awarded, with one month per participant.
  • 🕺 Winning costumes will be immortalized on our Costumes page, but we’ll also have honorable mentions for just the post, not page.

🦹‍♀️🦸‍♂️👻 There are no heroes without villains…
…and no villains without heroes 🦹‍♂️🦸‍♀️🎃

Fan Art Features, Social Media, Web Development

Mocktropica strikes back: #DrBeev features and video ad in-betweeners

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! We’ve got a couple of Mocktropica-adjacent updates to share this weekend. Let’s start with the fun one…

With the end of September comes the conclusion of Poptropica’s #DrBeev mini art contest to draw the beloved furry doctor of Mocktropica Island in one’s own style. Check out the beev-tiful creations they featured on their Instagram story on Thursday:

  • by Gentle Dolphin (@phs_animations)
  • by @birdie_bea
  • “Dr. Nyah” (a parody of Dr. Beev) by @kidwhom
  • by @happyclonetrooper
  • by @MaryannTheConqueror

Although they mentioned a prize of 10,000 credits in their original post about the drawing challenge, we haven’t heard any word yet about anyone receiving the prize. We’ll let you know if we get an update!

Dr. Beev isn’t the only thing Poptropicans are drawing! Have you seen the Poptober drawing challenge yet? It’ll give you plenty of ideas for Poptropica inspired creations throughout the month of October!

Check out this artwork from the PHB’s own Lucky Joker for the first Poptober prompt, “Island.” In this case, he went with Ghost Story Island and the love triangle of the tale. Learn more about Poptober here!

“Triade D’amour (Poptober Day 1: Island)” by Lucky Joker

And for more Poptropica fan art, check out Community Creations! This month’s theme is “Monsters.” 🐲

In other not-so-fun news, an unwelcome surprise may now greet you as you travel from scene to scene in Poptropica: full game screen video ads.

With sidebar ads, footer ads including a video ad already, and now the full game screen video ad, the Poptropica browser is literally all ads.

The ads so far have been for kids’ products like Nerf guns, Minecraft Dungeons, and LEGO Mario. (Thanks to Dangerous Icicle and Gentle Dolphin for their reporting.)

The ads are about 15 seconds long and are not skippable. So far, these ads only appear in the Haxe version of the game. They don’t show up every time, but they do appear every now and then, and a regular loading screen will come up after the ad itself ends.

And yes, they’re rather annoying.

This isn’t the first time Poptropica has tried to do this, either. Back in 2014, video ads also appeared in between scenes to advertise for Galactic Hot Dogs, a book series owned by Poptropica’s parent company StoryArc Media which also has its own Poptropica island. After receiving much backlash from players, the video ads disappeared within a month.

Plus, doesn’t this bear some resemblance to yet another aspect of Mocktropica Island? Mocktropica has turned out to be something of a prophecy for Poptropica’s current state for quite some time now…

A scene from Mocktropica Island where the player is charged for simply trying to leave a scene in the game.

With this stunt, Poptropica seems more desperate than ever to make money from and for the game. We don’t know what their financial situation looks like, but can only make guesses from moves like this one that it seems, more than ever, that things aren’t going well.

Video ads you’re forced to view are an easy way for Poptropica to make a buck, and definitely much quicker than creating a whole island for advertising, but it comes at a great cost in a different way: the players’ user experience. Who wants to play a game where the screen is all ads? And ultimately, there is no Poptropica without the players.

So for Poptropica to be willing to sacrifice that, despite their long track record of creating actual non-intrusive engaging ads in the past, is a big sign that either they care more about lining their pockets than their players’ experiences, or they’ve hit a low enough point they’ll do whatever it takes to make enough to keep Poptropica afloat.

We may love Dr. Beev but we certainly don’t love the other elements Poptropica is borrowing from Mocktropica Island! Do you agree? What do you think? Share with us in the comments and on the PHC!

“Poptober Day 2: Carnival” by Magniventris

On a lighter note, we hope you’ll join us for Poptober and Community Creations this month! And there’s at least one more big event to look out for this spooky season: the PHB’s Halloween costume contest! Details dropping very soon, so stay tuned… 🎃

~🐠