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!
The new island is here, and it’s called Reality TV: Wild Safari! Yes, there are similarities with the original Reality TV Island released in 2010—but it’s also its own island in other ways. We’ll cover more in a future review post.
It’s no blimp, but I guess I could live with this helicopter spin palace.
Right now, you won’t find RTV 2 on the island map, but it’s completely playable on CoolMathGames.com. You don’t even need a membership to play!
Promo screens on Poptropica and on social media are calling it a “preview,” suggesting there’s more to come — but as far as we can tell, the whole island is already on CoolMathGames. After all, you even get an island medallion at the end. Suppose we’ll find out when the island releases on Poptropica!
This spin-off island is a quick one, and here on the PHB, our Reality TV: Wild Safari Island Guide is already ready for your perusal. If anything, there is some interesting trivia to uncover about some of this island’s inhabitants!
Check out Reality TV: Wild Safari Island on CoolMathGames.com and let us know what you think in the comments!
This post is part of our Poptropica Yearbook series. If you missed the intro, check it out on the 2007 Rewind. And now, let’s turn back the clock…
It’s not too late to revisit the year 2008! Though Poptropica had started off just the year before with one island, six more had appeared by the end of the following year: Shark Tooth, Time Tangled (known as Time Twisted before its release), 24 Carrot, Super Power, and Spy. They all fit on one map page!
It was right in the midst of the launch of Super Power Island that two big hotspots in the Poptropica universe made their debut. First, on July 17, 2008, the Poptropica Creators’ Blog was born.
The OG Poptropica Creators’ Blog in 2008. This is their first post.
Just nine days later, on July 26, this very blog — the Poptropica Help Blog, then known as Scary Tomato’s Weblog — was created! As the only active Poptropica fan site around, it soon gained lots of interest, garnering over 100K site views by November. In addition to island guides, sneak peeks of upcoming islands from the Creators also generated tons of buzz.
The first staff members were recruited to join 11-year-old Slanted Fish (then known as Scary Tomato): Smockers, an 11-year-old blogger; and Codien, a 16-year-old graphic designer who gave the PHB its name, first logo, and redesigned headers (this one was for Halloween!):
But back to Poptropica. It was a much simpler time back then, and believe it or not, even the Costumizer tool was new, released in early 2008. To make things interesting, the Creators would occasionally release bonus customizables to be found. Rather than being items, they’d simply be put on your character.
But the most exciting customization came when some strange new parts leaked, not intentionally placed by the Pop Creators. They were known as “Monster Carnival” leaks, named after a then-fabled island that would be enshrouded in mystery for many years to come.
Pretty cool, right? And the fun was just getting started…
You’ve reached the end of the 2008 page of the Poptropica Yearbook! Stay tuned for the next chapter, and to view the entire collection, check out the Poptropica Yearbook in our Pop Plus collection.
While you’re here, sign the yearbook by commenting? ✏️
Based on sneak peeks we’ve seen, this next island will be an adventure filled with safari animals and a film crew — and what’s more, according to a little intel from Poptropica glitcher idk, it’ll be a sequel to Reality TV Island, first launched nearly ten years ago!
Poptropica has already confirmed that the island will be on Poptropica Original. And, if the past is any indicator, it is likely that members will get early access to this island, while non-members may have to wait for a period of time before the island is released to all. Consider treating yourself to a membership to get first dibs on Poptropica’s first island in about 17 months!
July’s a big month here on the PHB as well, with our annual Poppies event. Have you made your award nominations yet? Deadline is Friday! 🏆
Hey Poptropicans! Have you ever wondered what Poptropica was like in its earliest stages? You’re about to find out.
Over the next few weeks, here on the Poptropica Help Blog, we’ll be bringing you our Rewind series for years past, culminating into a full Poptropica Yearbook. We thought it would be fun to take a nostalgic look at where we’ve come from, and where Poptropica has taken us, so get ready for a blast into the past! Our first stop: the year 2007.
Poptropica was officially launched to the public in September 2007, although the exact date has been forgotten in the sands of time. From what we’ve heard, even the yellow blimp hadn’t arrived yet — with Early Poptropica being the only island around, you simply fell into a hole to begin your adventures.
While no Poptropica blogs had yet sprung up to document these beginnings, an old YouTube video uploaded by Codien, an old friend/former staffer on the PHB, gives us a glimpse into what Poptropica was like back in the day.
Notice the ‘BETA’ beside the Poptropica logo at the top (and ignore the recording software watermark). Apparently, the game was still considered to be in a beta testing stage back then — look at those primitive icons for the Items and Map!
Here’s some more fun stuff. The Poptropica Creators shared these images of some prototype designs of what Poptropican characters might’ve looked like, as well as concepts for how Poptropica gameplay might’ve turned out.
And one final tidbit: did you know that Poptropica was almost named Poptropolis? In that same post about concepts, the Creators shared, “If a competitor didn’t come up with a similar-sounding name, we never would’ve had the islands of Poptropica.”
That competitor, by the way, was Nicktropolis, a virtual world by Nickelodeon that, unlike Pop, didn’t last. As former Creator Mitch Krpata confirms in an interview years later, it’s because of the “tropic” part of the name that they came up with the idea of separate island adventures.
Anyway, that concludes the 2007 page of the Poptropica Yearbook! Stay tuned for the next pages… we’ll be traveling from 2008 to 2013. (From 2014 onwards, we started our end-of-year Rewind series, which pretty much covers the same thing!) In fact, you’ll be able to view the complete series on a new page in our Pop Plus collection, titled The Poptropica Yearbook.
While you’re here, sign the yearbook by commenting? ✏️
Looks like Dr. Hare has had a rough night, as he was seen earlier today on the Poptropica Creators’ Instagram story keeled over, while fellow Poptropica elites Shark Boy and Sir Cador stared straight on with indifference. Nearby blimps surrounded them, ready to give a lift to the hospital.
What’s the problem, doc? Couldn’t get enough carrots to supply your next evil plot? Lost the ability to toy with victims? The Creator who snapped this story certainly doesn’t think he’s up for whatever he’s up to.
Y’know, we’re not entirely sure why we’re still gossiping about this has-been villain who is fast falling into irrelevance considering his last stunt happened more than a year ago, but here we are.
Speaking of relevance, did you hear that Poptropica’s getting a new island? Looks like cheetahs are in, and hares have been beaten out of the race!
🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺 