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!
Membership, Mini Quests, Roblox, Store

All Members’ Content Now Free 🥳🫣

Slanted Fish

You read that right: All members-only content is now free to play!

Releasing right on the heels of Poptropica’s sudden removal of membership, all islands and store items that were previously for members are now available to all. This includes Survival Ep. 4, Arabian Nights Ep. 2, Mission Atlantis Ep. 2, and PoptropiCon Ep. 3. Enjoy! 🙌

However, the members-only side quests — Rumpel’s Challenge after Fairy Tale, and Blitz on the Fritz after Goofball — are now nowhere to be seen. But perhaps it’s a small price to pay for everything else now being accessible to all. This essentially means membership is now obsolete.

Well, almost — the clubhouse appears to be the last holdout. Non-members who pull the switch to access the multiple rooms (a members-only feature) will be greeted with the message that first popped up last week about how memberships are no longer offered.

It’s amazing to see Poptropica dropping their paywalls, but we still haven’t heard them give any sort of official statement as to why. As exciting as it is for more players to gain access to previously limited content, the lack of updates in general seems to further confirm the lack of priority being given to the game. 🫣

Meanwhile, Suit Up Games — the Roblox studio spun out of Poptropica since last year — has continued to release new Roblox games. This year, instead of Pop, they’ve been working with clients like Hasbro’s Nerf toys.

And the resources being diverted from Poptropica to Roblox are most evident in the profiles of the people behind them. For example, while Suit Up Games’ Managing Director, Ross Targett, was also Poptropica’s General Manager last year, this year he’s taken the Poptropica role off his LinkedIn profile entirely. Meanwhile, Poptropica’s full-time Art Director, Jon Pitcher, is also now Suit Up Games’ full-time Art Manager and Lead Animator as of August 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Suit Up Games announces Nerf Extraction
Jon Pitcher promoted at Suit Up Games

But hey — no more Poptropica membership. Go enjoy it while you can! 🥳 And if you want to do it in community, drop by the PHC, our Discord server for Poptropica fans ages 13+. Keep on poppin’ on!

~🐠

Membership

No More Poptropica Memberships ⁉️

Slanted Fish

Breaking news — and possibly even game-breaking at that: Poptropica is getting rid of paid memberships.

Players clicking around at any members-only content, such as certain store costumes and islands, are now being confronted with a pop-up that says “Membership subscriptions no longer offered.”

UPDATE: All members’ content is now free for all. Read more here!

But before you get too excited: no, the game’s members-only content has not been opened to everyone. Existing members still retain their membership status and can still access the paywalled content, such as PoptropiCon, Ep.3, while they remain closed to non-members.

On Poptropica’s website, all membership plans are now marked at $0. But this does not mean you can now snag a membership for free — on the contrary, now no one can buy a membership.

Even if you enter valid credit card details to make a purchase, the page will give an error about how the posted currency does not match the plan currency code, whatever that means. Changing the currency will result in the same error, just with a different currency listed.

As much as we’d like to share optimism for a Poptropica without paywalls, the signs aren’t exactly pointing to a bright new era. If Poptropica intends to let everyone access everything, why haven’t they done so in this move? (UPDATE: Days later, they did make everything available to all.) As usual, there is no comms around this update on any of their platforms, leaving fans to speculate.

There certainly aren’t any new member gifts this month, let alone 12 Days of Member Gifts, breaking a five-year December holiday tradition that began in 2018. The shop floor hasn’t been updated either, still swimming along with November’s aquatic-themed items. Meanwhile, Poptropica’s recent Cyber Monday merch sale has now ended.

With one less thing to manage — the monthly member gifts — and very few updates to the game in general, Poptropica seems headed for its sunset, as fans have been speculating on the PHC, our Discord server.

What are your thoughts on this no-membership business? Share with us in the comments and on the PHC!

~🐠

Merchandise

Cyber Monday sale of Pop merch on Zazzle 🏷️

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! Remember Poptropica’s sudden pop-in to hype up Cyber Monday just a few days ago? In the last remaining hours of Monday, they followed up with another message on the PHC to announce up to 50% off on Pop merch on their Zazzle online store! ⚡️

(UPDATE – DEC 2023: The Discord appearance has been debunked as not representing the real Poptropica. The PHB apologizes for the error.)

Strange that they are only announcing this on our little Discord server, and not on any of their own channels with more followers… 🤔

In reality, most of the items are just 25% off, though there are some at half-price: the Dr. Hare Wrapping Paper, mugs of 8-bit Pixel Beev and Hare, Funny Bunny Farm, Fairy Tale and Monster Carnival, phone cases of Binary Bard, Dr. Beev the Beaver, and Dr. Hare, and throw pillows with the Fairy Tale Pattern and Dr. Hare. See more on Zazzle!

A selection of the official Poptropica merch you can buy online.

Poptropica mentions that the discounts are for a limited time only, so get on it quick if you want anything! Though they didn’t specify when the deals would end, and we’re now past Monday and into Tuesday, time is ticking on the deeper discounts.

Wondering what to get? Here on the PHB, we’ve reviewed a few of the many items on Pop’s Zazzle store, including stickers, the vintage bandana, Time Tangled wall clock, Funny Bunny hat, and Dr. Hare button. Maybe something will inspire you. Enjoy the sale! 🛍️✨

For more about all the Poptropica merch that exists, from Zazzle to beyond with toys and more, check out the PHB’s Merchandise Guide. ✨

Free Membership Giveaways

PHB Membership Giveaway: November 2023

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! We’re approaching the end of the month, which means it’s time to announce another lucky Poptropican to win our monthly membership giveaway! 🎁

Congratulations, Cherrybear11 — your new membership status lets you play various exclusive quests, including Survival Island, Ep. 4: Cabin Fever. You’ll also get to enjoy member gifts and more.

The Poptropica Help Blog hosts a membership giveaway every month, and it’s easy to enter! Just comment on our Free Poptropica Membership page and leave at least two other comments around the PHB within the month to be entered into that month’s giveaway. 🩵

We’ll announce a winner sometime in the final week of each month. If you don’t win, you can always try again for the next month! Full details »

Fanfiction, Guest Posts

Fanfic: The Chronicles of Friendly Thunder 🌩️ Chapter 4

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Serious Heart. Enjoy!

Hi! Serious Heart here. It’s been a while, but let’s get back into The Chronicles of Friendly Thunder! Catch up on the last chapter here.

NARRATOR:
It’s been a while since we last saw Friendly Thunder, hasn’t it? Anyway, last time we saw him, he was sailing away from 24 Carrot on a blimp, heading off into an adventure. While most residents of Poptropica are still having lunch, the crew are trying to decide which island to go to next…

FRIENDLY THUNDER:
We should totally go to Astro-Knights!

ICY SNAKE:
No, we should go to Counterfeit!

PURPLE CLAW (speaking up for the first time):
Maybe we should go to Timmy Failure! It’s got a fun name, and it can’t be all that bad!

NARRATOR:
They head to Timmy Failure Island. It takes a while, considering the huge gap between 24 Carrot and Timmy Failure, but they get there.

FRIENDLY THUNDER:
Wait, why are we all covered in… smelly trash?

ICY SNAKE:
Beats me. Hey, look there’s a girl, and Timmy, and… a polar bear eating garbage? What the heck?

TIMMY FAILURE (pointing at the girl):
At last, I have proof of your misdeeds, you nefarious huckster!

CORRINA CORRINA:
What are you talking about? I was trying to help you!

TIMMY FAILURE:
Save it for the magistrate. You’ll be in shackles for the rest of your natural life!

CORRINA CORRINA:
I don’t have time for this. Good luck washing off the garbage stink.

NARRATOR:
Corrina Corrina runs off to wash off the stink.

TIMMY FAILURE (turns to look at the trio):
Joke’s on her. Garbage stink is the ideal olfactory camouflage.

That’s it! I really wanted to end this particular chapter on a comedic note. And it’s been a while since I’ve said it, but…

अच्छे समय के लिए चीयर्स,
Serious Heart

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Serious Heart. If you did, you might also enjoy other fanfictions we’ve shared.

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? We’d love to hear from you!