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 another Paradise Island update, so if you haven’t caught up to this point yet, start from the first post to know what’s up.
As promised from where we left off on Paradise Island, the next day brings us a talent show with a mini-game! (It’s not exactly a new one, though.) Head over to the makeshift stage on your island to begin playing.
It’s a simple rhythm game where the goal is to tap the musical notes (represented by jewels) as they hit the bottom, with three jewels of notes to manage. You might recognize this game format (albeit with different looks) from some of Poptropica’s ads, including American Girl: Joss’s Island.
Try as I might, I could not get the game to recognize my taps, so I haven’t been able to win this one. I guess it’s a bit glitchy, but maybe you’ll have better luck. Supposedly, winning will net you a nice 1,000 credits!
The day after the talent show isn’t very exciting: you trade the stage for the taco truck, with a notification saying it’s “Taco Taco Day,” with two tacos for the price of one. However, the tacos were always free, and you don’t even get to hold two tacos at once, so there really isn’t anything special about this one.
Fortunately, the next notification for the coming day looks more promising… seems like a PoptropiCon festival is on its way!
Also, as with the days before, you can collect another 5 sand dollars around your island for a small 300 credit reward. Looks like this might be a daily thing!
In other news, we’re in the midst of Poptropica Month, a celebration of Poptropica’s birthday through fan-made videos—and there are already plenty to enjoy! 🎉 Check out this one from Dimension Bros, the duo who’s hosting this event, on an interesting concept mixing Poptropica with The Purge (based on the TV/film franchise, where the premise is a night where all crime is legal).
If Poptropica entered a Purge, what’s the best tip for escaping Myron Van Buren? How will CJ use her illegal shrinking powers for good? Find out what the Purge-tropica Help Blog would say in this twisted video!
Keep up with the latest Pop Month videos in this master playlist, learn more about joining the festivities in this PHB post, and get to know other Poptropican video creators on the Pop Month Discord as well as the PHC! Pop on, Poptropicans. ✌️
Hey Poptropicans! Some follow-up updates have occurred since our earlier post this week on member gifts, Time Tangled on Haxe, and more. And we’re back with another little scavenger hunt on Paradise Island! Let’s pop in.
Members have an extra member gift waiting for them in their inventory: a Denim Jacket. Here’s me modelling it in the Party Time Tower on the Haxe version of Time Tangled Island, where lo and behold, Quippy has arrived in an Aztec mask!
Check out the wares in this common room store to represent the ages: you can dress like Pharaoh (King of Egypt), the Queen of Egypt, a Templar Knight*, and Joan of Arc*. By the way, that Templar Knight costume is currently available to all in the latest store update, despite being for members only here.
Coming up from where we last left off on Paradise Island, the next part isn’t too exciting. It’s a sunny day for “free time on the beach,” but you do get one task: collect 5 sand dollars. They’re gray circles on the shore so small it’s easy to miss them, but don’t forget to jump into the water to reach the one near the kayak.
A message on your smartphone does hint at a talent show on the horizon, with a new mini-game on the way. Stay tuned (and in tune) for that!
That’s it for this post, but don’t miss out on all the fun things happening lately in the Poptropica community! From Poptropica Month to a revisit to Mystery Train Island, there’s plenty to read and see in the posts below.
And of course, you can always join the PHC Discord to connect with more Poptropicans. The place has gotten more active lately, so why not join the fun? 😄
Hey Poptropicans, here’s the latest tea… *slow sip* ☕️ Here we go!
It’s a new month—hello September!—which means new member gifts! Members who log in this month will receive Earbuds (basically AirPods), Roller Skates, and three shades of Boba Tea. No special actions this time—not even on the skates.
This stuff’s pretty cool, but the name “boba tea” doesn’t hit quite right: it’s usually either “boba” or “bubble tea.” Bubble tea (or boba), in case you haven’t had the pleasure yet, is a tea-based drink invented in Taiwan with chewy tapioca “bubbles” and comes in many delicious flavors. Try it sometime!
Update: Unlike other Haxe islands, there’s no Quippy in the common room on the Haxe version of Time Tangled, which means no store of exclusive items. 😟 Will the Creators add it in the future? We’ll have to see…
September is a special month on Poptropica because it’s the game’s birthday month! You may recall a guest post on the PHB about a “Poptropica Month” of videos hosted by Dimension Bros on YouTube. The Poptropica Creators’ Blog has joined in the fun by spotlighting the event’s kickoff video! Watch it here:
It’s not often the Poptropica Creators give a shout-out to fan creators on the official blog, but it’s always a nice surprise when they do! They’ve shared some fan art from the community (some for their official contests, and others just for fun), but the last time a fan video was highlighted might’ve been back in 2017 with Thinknoodles’ Poptropica Worlds videos.
Anyway, the Creators’ Blog post promises more festivities to come, saying, “Check back here for more from the Poptropica Creators to celebrate our birthday month!” There’s something to look forward to! 🎉
Whether or not you’ve ever made a Poptropica video before, you’re super welcome to join in on Poptropica Month. And stay tuned for more birthday celebrations!
Last but not least, the Pop Creators put out a question on their Instagram story this week, asking, “Do you play more games on your phone or on your computer?” If you’re on Instagram, you can let them know before the story disappears!
That’s all the tea we’ve got for you! Will you join us for Poptropica Month? Or Community Creations? (Our latest theme is “Masks”! 😷) What island do you want to see ported over to Haxe next? And have you tried bubble tea? Share your thoughts with us on the PHC Discord or in the comments below!
Hey Poptropicans, here’s the latest on the not-so- paradisiacal Paradise Island. (If you haven’t already seen them, catch up on our first and second updates so this post will make more sense.) As promised last time, we’ve got a beach party coming! 🏖
Your phone notifications will tell you there’s ice cream on the promenade—and there is, but it’s exactly the same as what’s been on Home Island all summer, so y’know, been there done that. A few new decorations show up on your island, but it’s nothing compared to the mystery blonde girl’s party from the previous day.
Also, despite the notification message, nothing special happens when you change your outfit, nor is there anything new in the surf shop. So let’s move on to the only other part of this beach party…
You’ll also be sent a new task to “play the head-2-head game,” and if you head down to the sandy shore, you’ll find a game of Balloons waiting to be played. You remember Balloons, Poptropica’s reverse Connect-4 two-player mini-game, right? It’s found its way here with a twist! 🎈
If you manage to get an opponent to play “The IslandPartyBalloons” (and it did take me a few tries to connect with someone), you’ll find that it’s not the gameplay that’s changed compared to the classic (which can still be played in common rooms). Instead, the scenery has gotten a beach remodel and the balloon colors have been altered, too! (Also, check out our Balloons Guide for tips.)
Balloons (beach edition)
Balloons (original)
Despite winning a game, that task never cleared up for me, so it looks like the Creators still have some work to do here. I also haven’t gotten any other new notifications or tasks on what’s coming up, so perhaps this is all for now?
🏅🏋️♂️ The Pop community has also been buzzing with excitement over our recently concluded 2020 Tribal Tournament, which ended with a party of our own—a grand old time in the ruins of Poptropolis. Catch the recap to find out which tribe reigns supreme, enjoy some good art, and more. Until next time~
Hey Poptropicans, it’s another new day of events here on Animal CrossingParadise Island! (In case you missed it, catch up on the first two days of Poptropica’s latest endeavour in yesterday’s post to make sense of this one.)
Day three’s festivities: a party on a new character’s paradisiacal island. It’s like your Paradise Island, but with more stuff. Remember that message you got from the blonde girl who can’t wait to visit you on your island? She shows up, and before you can even respond, you’re whisked away to her island party. At this point, no names of characters have been introduced—not yours, not hers, nor anyone else you meet. How strange?
Anyway, the girl says you’re just in time for the surfing contest, but there’s not much contest about it: you surf alone on the waves of a familiar game from the recent ad American Girl: Joss’s Island. And not only do you still not know who all the other randos on the party host’s island are—well, except for DJ Saturday Nite from Zomberry Island—you can’t even talk to them!
Moving on, here’s your chance at 1000 credits. After the waves, the host will introduce you to the next activity, a starfish scavenger hunt. There are five to find, and it’s not a big island, so it won’t take long. However, there’s one that’s a little trickier to grab—the one on the sand near the surf shop. To get that one, jump into the water from one of the island’s edges and swim over to pick it up!
That’s it for day three, but let’s check out what else is on this alternate Paradise Island. Some of these fancy things—like the glowing dance floor and the pen of horses—definitely aren’t in the Ko-Kea catalog. Nor are the renovations to the beach house exterior! But perhaps we’ll get these features in the future?
At any rate, it looks like the ability to visit other players’ customized islands might be on the horizon. Now that would be a party!
Looking ahead in a message received, day four looks like it’ll bring a beach party. Wait, wasn’t this already a beach party? Guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens next. (To join the fun, see our initial post on Paradise Island.)
👉 Why “Paradise Island” doesn’t land with many Poptropica players
Since sharing about Paradise Island here on the PHB, Poptropicans everywhere have been popping in with their takes on this latest development. Here are a few thoughts from players on the PHC, our Discord server (and my own addendums):
“Poptropica is supposed to be a game of storytelling, and what the creators have been making these days just doesn’t cut it. We older players know early Pop well, and know that it was nothing like this. I say this with heart, but Poptropica is simply not Poptropica anymore, what with all these new updates that only take away from the game we know and love. The creators have been focusing more and more on worthless updates instead of continuing the educational yet fun format they had before, and right now, what I want more than anything is to see Old Poptropica, in all its glory, show up on my computer screen.”
Purple Paw
Absolutely. Just as has been written about elsewhere on the PHB, Poptropica was created as a unique digital platform for modern storytelling for the next generation. It was never meant to become Mocktropica Island.
“Mmmmkay… so it’s our third (fourth?) redo of Home Island, and once again they’re chasing current trends… that’s it. I don’t want to come off as overly negative, but the only thing that can save Pop at this point is an entire new team of Creators, or a fan remake/spin-off. It’s like they’re intentionally doing everything except what people actually want, in an attempt to cater to a nonexistent audience!”
MaryannTheConqueror
A few things come to mind about Poptropica’s chasing of trends: there’s Realms, a sandbox creation that mimics Minecraft; the recent-ish emphasis on new clothes, pets, and home decor that feels like Club Penguin; and now, the personal islands with daily tasks that copies Animal Crossing.
Animal Crossing | image: Nintendo
Instead of making inferior versions of things that already exist, Poptropica might do well to go back to the unique product they used to be so good at creating: immersive island worlds filled with meaningful storytelling.
“The whole reason Poptropica is my favorite game is because of the storytelling. It’s the only thing I’m good at, and the reason I much prefer it to other amazing games that are mostly gameplay, like Super Mario Bros. So it’s been really disappointing nowadays. I haven’t played the new makeover yet, but from what I’ve heard it sounds pretty nice. Except for the daily tasks. Those games are always so boring. They lull you with a false sense of progress, and completely destroy all enjoyability in very little time. Like Sims. I’d like to have something simple and quiet, that I can come to on my own time for a wholesome storytelling experience, like long ago.”
Incredible Fire
The daily, mandated, straightforward tasks are a bit reminiscent of Poptropica: Forgotten Islands, an old iOS and Nintendo 3DS game that probably lives up to its name by being so uninspiring as to have been generally forgotten by the fandom. It was basically a sequence of nonsensical fetch quests, and you can read all about it in our Forgotten Islands Guide. Let’s hope Paradise Island doesn’t become like it.
Poptropica: Forgotten Islands
Do you have a hot take on Paradise Island? Talk about it with other Poptropicans on the PHC Discord or share it in the comments!
🎉 Want a good Poptropica party? Come join us at the closing ceremony of the PHB Tribal Tournament, which takes place this Saturday, Aug 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern! (If you live elsewhere, check a time converter for the time in your zone.)
We’ll be announcing the winners of the Games and having a good time on the PHC and in Poptropica common rooms. See you there!
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