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!
PHB Specials

Poptropica and Age, Part 1: Who’s Playing?

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, it’s Slanted Fish.

Here’s a topic we haven’t explored much on this blog: Poptropica and age. I’m writing this from my perspective as a 20-year-old who’s been playing for almost a decade, which means I’ve seen the game grow from its humble beginnings to the big franchise it is today. And, it means I’ve grown up with the game from childhood to adulthood.

It’s often purported that Poptropica is a “children’s game,” but how accurate is this description? The answer may be a little more complicated than it seems.

Since this ended up being pretty long, I’ve broken it up into a few parts that will be posted over the coming days. In this post, I’ll go over who the game is made for as well as what kinds of people make up the actual community. Let’s begin!

Who is the game for?

Strictly speaking, Poptropica is a game for kids. It’s got kid-friendly content, has cartoonish graphics, and is marketed towards young kids, particularly pre-teens. When you register for an account on Poptropica Original, the age options are between 6 to 15. But by popular demand, in Poptropica Worlds, your age can go up to 99 – suggesting that Poptropica can be for all ages.

Still, even with this notion of “all ages,” there is a certain age group that Poptropica aims at in particular. One Poptropica Creator, Mitch Krpata, said in an interview that “a kindergartener could probably play the game but might not get much out of it. The sweet spot is around ages 8 through 12, when kids can both read the dialogue and understand the larger story. After that, you may still enjoy it, but (laughs) you may want to move on to your PlayStation 4.”

So, who is the game for? Technically, pre-teens and maybe younger teenagers, but it’s not like there’s an Age Police Force to stop you if you’re older than 15 and want to play. However, as I’ll discuss in the next section, this snapshot is only scratching the surface.

Who else is playing?

Some of you reading this may know that I got into Poptropica (and blogging about it) at the tender age of 11, in 2008, when you could fit all the islands of Poptropica on one map page. Even though the game was much simpler in those days (no store, no membership, no customizer!) I enjoyed it a lot. So much so that I started a blog.

Over the 9 years I’ve been involved in the Poptropica Help Blog (PHB) and the wider Poptropica fandom community, I’ve seen this idea of a Poptropica “age group” been broken down many times. Although the 11-year-old me who remembers the day Super Power Island came out definitely fit into the standard when I first started playing, I no longer do, and have not for many years. Still, I’m far from the only one.

One of the first to join this blog’s staff team was Codien, who at the time was 16, an age that seemed old and far away to many of the PHB’s readers who seemed mostly to fit the 8-12 range. As years went by, it seemed many in the fandom community also got older, and it became more common to find Poptropicans who were 13, 14, 15. More years passed, and 16, 17 weren’t so uncommon either. In fact, right now, the PHC chat hangout has several regulars who are currently college-aged, including myself.

PHB surveys we’ve conducted in the past few years reveal that the readers of this Poptropica fan site are not all in the expected 8–12 range. Our 2014 survey reveals that the largest group has been 12–14, with 46% in 2014, a trend that continued in 2016 and increased to 60% in 2017. Ages 9–11 were the second biggest group of PHB readers in 2014 and 2016, at 30% and 35% respectively. But in 2017, they were overtaken by ages 15–17, which made up 28%, an increase from previous years.

Of course, although some people have aged with the game as I did, others are also new faces popping up. They may be only now finding Poptropica in their teens, or are re-discovering it from digging up childhood memories, as many have reported in their My Place in Poptropica stories. At the same time, other people will lose interest over time, and that’s fine too.

There is at least one age outlier, though, and that is the gaming YouTuber Thinknoodles, who recently hit age 40. In Think’s case, although he once was an avid Poptropica player, his more recent videos have prioritized other games over Poptropica, suggesting his own fading interest. As of this writing, he has yet to post his promised walkthrough video for Crisis Caverns Island, which came out over two months ago.

And of course, the Poptropica Creators will play the game too, at least to evaluate the job they’ve done if not also for personal enjoyment.

To be continued…

Thanks for reading Part 1 of “Poptropica and Age”! What did you think? Your comments are appreciated!

In Part 2, I’ll talk about why there are so many older kids in this fandom and how it affects the community. Stay tuned!

~🐠

Astro-Knights Island, Guest Posts

Replaying Astro-Knights Island: A Commentary

Slanted Fish

This post originally appeared on Indigo Sky’s Blog and is being shared on the PHB courtesy of the author, Maroon Popper. See the bottom of this post for how you, too, can write for the PHB!

astro replay

Hey Poptropicans!

My name is Maroon Popper, and today I’m going to be re-playing
one of my old favourite islands: Astro-Knights Island. Not only that, but I’m simultaneously going to blog about it! Why? I thought it was a good idea, okay? (I’m probably gonna regret this later…)

First, let me introduce you to my Poptropican alter-ego, Maroon Popper. Maroon
Popper has been in existence since November 2009 and we have been though a lot
together, solving quests… ahem. She also happens to look awesome:

maroonpopper

I’ve started replaying Astro-Knights Island a few times but I’ve only finished it I think
once, because some of the battles you have to pass at the end are super-hard and I
normally give up. But not this time. I will not be defeated this time…

Okay, let me just get to the island. I’ll hop onto my blimp…

Capture

Made it!

A sign tells me I’m somewhere called Arturus. There seems to be something burning
on the ground. Suspicious.

I click on a guy standing nearby and he says, “The kingdom has been attacked!” Like, that’s it. No actual explanation.

There’s a building called the House of Mordred nearby, and I enter. Next to the door is
a guy who says this:

Capture2

Rude.

However, he does give me a pamphlet that explains a bit about this so-called Mordred.
Apparently, he brought technology to a medieval village. Ohhh-kay…

The rude door guy doesn’t let me investigate the museum without paying a gold coin,
so I leave. I jump into a fountain (don’t you just love how you can do that kinda thing
on Poptropica?) and oh hey, what’s this? A gold coin! Wow, that was lucky.

I go back to the museum and give the guy the coin I found, and he lets me enter.

There’s not really much to do here… it’s just someone’s house. A medieval house, only
there’s a computer. I think there’s something you have to do here later on, but nothing
to do yet, so I exit.

I enter the next building along, which is a planetarium, with a monk inside it who
looks super out of place.

Capture3

He tells me, with that depressed look on his face, that nothing works in the
planetarium because there’s no power. How terribly sad. The only thing that works is the telescope, and I get to look thought it but there’s nothing much to see – just a few
planets.

I leave the place and keep going right, passing a few villagers who all say ominous-
sounding stuff like, “This place isn’t safe anymore!” and “We were attacked by people
who came from the sky!”

I keep on going and– gasp! There’s a crashed spaceship!

Capture4

Like, what the actual heck.

I get to the palace, and some lady standing in front of its doors tells me that “The
princess has been kidnapped!” Shock, horror. I enter the castle, hoping to get some
answers for heaven’s sake.

I go inside the castle library, and pick up two books. One of them is called The Life of
Mordred: A Cautionary Tale. I’m just gonna post screenshots of it:

So, that’s the story of the famous Mordred. But it still doesn’t explain what the heck
has happened around here, so I leave the library.

I enter another room, which looks like someone’s bedroom, and a lady tells me that the
princess was kidnapped and it might have been her fault. She says that the princess
was giving her messages to pass along to a secret society. Interesting, but it still
doesn’t help me much. Why is everyone so unhelpful around this place, jeez.

I go into the throne room, and I meet the king and queen, where they kind of explain
things. Apparently some attackers came from the sky in spaceships and kidnapped the
princess. They ask me to help bring her back.

Sigh. It always has to be me who helps people, doesn’t it? Apparently some knights set out to find her, but they haven’t come back.

So – now, to find the princess. Um. What do I do?

And that’s all I’ve got time for, unfortunately! I hope you enjoyed this!

I don’t have a Poptropica blog, but I do have a personal blog, so if you enjoyed this
post, maybe you could check it out…? *looks hopeful* Here’s the link.

*runs away before someone tells me off for shameless self-advertising* Byeeee!!

–Maroon Popper

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Maroon Popper! If you did, be sure check out her site, Indigo Sky’s Blog.

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 Write for the PHB page. We also encourage sharing blog posts on the PHC.

If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in!

Membership, Poptropica Worlds

Is Poptropica becoming pay-to-play?

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, it’s Slanted Fish, and I’m here to talk about a question that’s been asked more and more lately: Is Poptropica becoming a pay-to-play game?

Now, Poptropica has always been a free game, and hopefully, it always will be. However, that line is becoming more blurred than it used to be, and that’s concerning.

Earlier this week, a big update was released on Poptropica Worlds, offering tons of cool new features, both expected and unexpected. We got costumes, house expansions, the Colorizer, and new furniture. There was just one major issue… most of it was for members only.

popworlds summer update 1

You might not have seen that coming from the Creators’ Blog’s breakdown of the news, which didn’t once reference membership. But let’s take a look at the facts:

  • 2 Color Changing Outfits: When you go to select the individual parts you want to buy, you’ll find that half of each outfit is for members only.
  • 8 Summer Outfits: Of these eight outfits, four of them (that’s half!) are for members only in their entirety, while the other four are completely available to all. You only find out that they’re members only when you click the costume to see the individual parts.
  • House Expansions: For members only. We did see this one coming from the descriptions for membership, though.
  • Colorizer: Those alluring “endless color options”? Members only. Non-members are stuck with a six-color palette for skin tones and another for hair.
  • Beach Decor: 19 new items, literally all of them for members only. Interestingly, the key and wallpapers are free for members, but the other items still cost coins.

Not since the Members Only Islands (which, by the way, has won “Worst Poptropica Update” in the Poppies community awards two times) has there been a massive update that’s been so… member-centric. And for many Poptropicans, that’s a huge turn-off.

Since the update, many have voiced out their criticisms, including LillySparkle$ on the Pop Blog, Purple Claw on Clawtropica, and those in the PHB comments. Some players have compared it to Club Penguin, which was notorious for a gameplay experience that amounted to waddling around and making new enemies if you weren’t a member.

The Poptropica Creators have responded on social media, but gave a more detailed reply about the situation on Purple Claw’s post:

pophq comment

It’s good to know the Creators are still taking our thoughts into account and re-assuring us that Poptropica will continue to be “a free game that can be enjoyed by all.” I definitely agree that the Poptropica Creators deserve to be compensated for their hard work, as do creators of all kinds who make quality, enjoyable content.

If you’re looking at Poptropica gameplay as being able to play islands, then Poptropica isn’t becoming pay-to-play. In fact, they’ve even gotten rid of having to wait through a members-only Early Access period for a new island on Worlds, which is a plus.

Why are we worried about membership then?

Remember, though, that the Poptropica experience is more than islands: it’s also customizing your character and your house. In that sense, the focus on membership that is so evident in this update, as well as other aspects of Pop Worlds, remains disconcerting for many Poptropicans – and for good reason.

A big reason is that, on Worlds, more of the experience has been put behind a paywall – compared to Poptropica Original, where many more aspects were accessible to all, including aspects that are now for members only on Worlds. This includes the endless Colorizer and certain costumes like the Dark Knight and Midnight Ninja, as PHB commenter GreedyShadow points out. Shouldn’t they be free on Worlds too?

Another concern is simply that it’s hard for some players to get memberships. Many Poptropica players are kids without money, who were attracted to Poptropica because it provided quality entertainment for free. Many parents may be reluctant to spend their money on a membership for their kids, and it can be hard to ascertain the value of, say, having an extra beach-themed room in your virtual house. Or as another commenter, Icy Cloud put it, “I don’t exactly want to use my money to buy pixels on a screen!”

PHB staffer and Poptropica member Silver Wolf has a different complaint: the allure for membership is worse than before, not better. “Despite paying for membership with real money, I still have to collect enough credits to buy all the items I want, rather than them being free as before. To me, it seems as if they’re just making it worse for everyone,” she says. Members do get a 20% discount, but perhaps that amount could increase.

So, what’s a Poptropica Creator to do for cash?

Honestly, it’s hard to say, especially without knowing the numbers of how much they’re getting and wanting. Given the market of kids, however, I’d advise against them putting all their proverbial eggs into one basket, that being the basket of membership. They’ve experimented with other things before, and they should continue to find ways to get financial support outside of paid subscriptions, which not all players are able to get.

They should keep doing creative ad partnerships with other companies wanting to advertise on Poptropica. Players have always enjoyed getting fun ad prizes and playing games in new buildings.

They should work on more awesome merch, from toys to books, particularly with a range of aesthetics beyond just childish: they can be cute like Disney Tsum Tsum toys or inspired by trending designs, like what you’d find in a Hot Topic store.

They could even open a Patreon or other funding page and offer exclusive perks – like specially-made costumes, house decor, or signed copies of the graphic novels. This gives those who are donating a more visible sense that they are contributing to the success of a game they love, while offering them good incentives that don’t interfere with everyone else’s game experience.

Now back to the players…

If you are a Poptropica player who loves the game and who has the means, please consider supporting the game! The Poptropica Creators do work hard to create a great and generally free product, but they still need money to keep things running.

If you can, support their work by buying the graphic novels or other Pop books, bringing home a new Pop toy, or even (gasp) getting a membership. You don’t even need a credit card anymore thanks to the apps – if you have credit from an iTunes or Play Store gift card, you can make an in-app purchase for membership. For a list of other Poptropica merch you can buy, take a look at our Merchandise guide.

Regardless of the existence of some paid content, however, Poptropica will remain free to play for all. Hopefully, the Creators will take this feedback and continue to consider the full gaming experience – not just with islands, but also with customization of house and character – in relation to non-members and the higher amount of free access we could enjoy on Poptropica Original. From the Creators’ comments, we can be assured that the game will continue to put out fun content for both free and paying players.

Thanks for reading! What are your thoughts on the colorful new Worlds updates? What might convince you to get a membership, if possible – or what’s stopping you from getting one? What suggestions do you have for the Creators to make membership an attractive option that does not detract from the non-members’ experiences?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and the Creators may check them out and consider them for future updates!

Keep popping,

~slantedfish 🐠

Clubhouse

Poptropica House Tour: Slanted Fish

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! It’s Slanted Fish here, and I’m kicking off a new series on the PHB: Poptropica House Tours! It’s exactly as it sounds – tours of player homes on Poptropica Worlds. If you’ve got an awesome house to show the world, I implore you to send in a guest post, and you could have your house seen by readers of the PHB!

Anyway, come on in! I’ve been spending a lot of coins on all sorts of house decor, and it’s making my space look pretty fun. So it’s about time to have some guests over!

When you first enter my house, you’ll notice a fish plaque hanging above the door, along with a fish tank to your right. It wouldn’t be Slanted Fish’s house without some remnants from the sea! I’ve also got a pool table and antlers in this hangout spot. Plus, the dresser should come in handy if you want to try on outfits from my closet!

Heading to the left side of this area, you’ll find more living room space to chill in. In addition to a gargantuan TV, there’s also a computer if you’d rather be entertained on a smaller screen. You can play Poptropica Worlds while in Poptropica Worlds? Uhh… weird.

Guests are welcome to the comically tiny black couch – or is it my plush red chair that’s comically large? Either way, that seat’s reserved. If you’d rather not be a couch potato, perhaps you’ll enjoy painting on the nearby easel, with the ram as your model.

If you’re feeling hungry, you can help yourself to food from the kitchen – no, don’t eat that thing… it’s a lamp, not a real hamburger. Sorry. Plenty of stuff in the fridge, though. How about some ice cream?

There’s also a dining area up here where you can sit and talk over delicious grub. The map of Poptropica islands, along with the Viking shield, has been known to inspire many a conversation about the various adventures that can be had on Poptropica.

As you might be able to tell, I like my plants… especially that Venus flytrap, which makes life a lot easier without flies floating around the food. Also, anyone here know how to play the piano? Maybe you could play a few tunes for us.

Ready for the third floor? Let’s take the rope up.

If anyone needs the restroom, here we are! The toilet itself is conveniently covered by a potted plant, which is about the best we can do until house expansions become a thing. There’s also a gilded bathtub in here – good for a nice soak. A couple of pictures hang on the walls, including this portrait of some old-fashioned guy I don’t know. He kind of looks like the governor on Skullduggery Island. Hey, it came in a nice frame, okay?

Finally, if you hop over to the left, you’ll find my bedroom. Here, of course, is a luxurious queen-sized bed to lay my fatigued adventurer body on every night. It’s also accompanied by yet another aquarium, some plants, and even some books for pleasure reading. Cozy!

And that concludes this house tour! I hope you enjoyed getting a look at my Poptropican’s home. I’d put up even more things that I’d bought, but there’s currently a glitch preventing more of my items from showing in the decor section, which is why I don’t have island trophies anywhere. Oh well.

As mentioned before in a Pop Petition post, it would be super cool to be able to interact with many of the objects in our house, instead of them merely sitting there. How awesome would it be to jump on our couches, water our plants, or snuggle in our beds?

Anyway, thank you for joining me on this house tour of Slanted Fish’s aquarium abode! If you’ve got a well-furnished house to share, click here to find out how you can write a post like this one and send it in as a guest post for the PHB for tons of Poptropicans to see.

See you next time on Poptropica House Tours!

~slantedfish

Contests, Livestreams, PHB Parties, Poppies

Recap: Poppies 2017 Winners and Party!

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans!

Throughout this month on the PHB, we’ve been hosting The Poppies, our annual Poptropica community awards event. This is our third year of doing the Poppies, and as usual, it’s been a blast! From nominating to voting to partying, we’re grateful to celebrate the Poptropica community with you.

Even the Poptropica Creators showed interest in our Red Blue Carpet event!

The main event, which celebrated the Poppies winners and the PHB’s ninth birthday with a lively party on the PHC and Poptropica Multiverse rooms, has just wrapped up. Thanks to all who attended – can you find yourself in the recap collage above?

We see amazing costumes at every PHB event, but this year we really wanted to highlight some of our favorites. So, we’ve compiled a selection of some stand-out outfits from the Poppies attendees in the Multiverse rooms! Check out their snazzy suits:

best poppies outfits

Kudos to Red Crush, Greedy Shadow, Mia (aka Grumpy Cactus – she also won Best Poptropica Fansite alongside her friend LillySparkle$!), Sporty Boa (who almost died for his outfit!), and Spotted Lion! Y’all are looking especially fly on the blue carpet.

Of course, what you really wanna know is who won, right?! We announced all the winners via a livestream during the party, but in case you missed it, you can catch up on it below. The video contains commentary from several PHB authors – Brave Tomato (main host), Spotted Dragon, Silver Wolf, and Lucky Joker – as well as pics for each category and a breakdown of voting percentages via charts (to show how the other nominees fared).

Below the video, we’ll also list out all the winners and the second-place runner-ups.

And the Poppies go to…

A huge congratulations is in order for all the winners of this year’s Poppies!!

Winners should have received a printable paper Poppie trophy from us via email or social media, and nominees (those who made it to the voting round) have been given badges. Thanks to Spotted Dragon for creating these! If you earned a Poppies trophy or badge but did not get one, we may not have your contact info – if so, do let us know!

Here at the Poptropica Help Blog, we can’t stress enough how blessed we are to be able to write about something we love and have so many readers who keep up with our shenanigans. Whether we’re planning creative parties or putting together island walkthroughs, it’s a pleasure to play Poptropica alongside all of you.

So thank you. Thank you for being part of this community, in big ways or small ways, whether veteran or newbie. Thank you for seeing us to our 9th year – from 2008 to 2017, it’s been a pretty long journey, and it’s not over yet. Here’s to more to come!

We’ll see you next time on the blue carpet!

 ✨ Don’t stop poppin’! ✨

– the Poptropica Help Bloggers –