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!
Guest Posts, Popspiracy Theories

Popspiracy: Conflicting Islands, Time, and the Blimp

Slanted Fish

(This is a guest post by Happyhappy760, a PHB reader here to share some Poptropica thoughts. Keep in mind that what she presents is only theory, not to be taken as fact. If you have a Popspiracy, see below for details on guest posting! Enjoy! –SlantedFish)

popspiracy

Hey guys, it’s Happyhappy760 here, and some of you may of seen me from the PHC or around the PHB comments section. Please don’t visit my blog. (It’s dead.)

Anyway, I’m sure that all of us sometime or another have visited these particular islands: Time Tangled, Monkey Wrench, and Early Pop. Now, there’s something in common between all these islands… Guess!

They all play a part in the beginning of Poptropica! (If you got that wrong, wamp, wamp, waaamp. Unless you found another thing in common. But that’s not what we’re talking about.) Monkey Wrench Island shows how the blimp was made, Early Poptropica shows were Poptropica all began, and Time Tangled allows you to go back in time to before Poptropica was created.

Part 1: The Conflicting Timeline of Islands

So, you may be thinking,”Happy, you need to tell us what this is about!!” Okay, I’ll tell you. This is where everything comes together. First, think about the islands and time. Think back to when there were like, three islands. (Ahh, the good old days… sorta.) There was NO Monkey Wrench.

We started with Early Pop, with no blimp at first, but the blimp later appeared when other islands showed up. The pilgrims settled down in Ameri– ahem, Poptropica. But in Monkey Wrench, the monkeys make the blimp.

Then in Time Tangled, you go back before Early Pop began. And Early Pop started in 1982, according to the pilgrims’ sign! In Time Tangled, Leonardo Da Vinci was born in 1452. According to the Shark Tooth museum, Professor Hammerhead died at 77! 1982 was NOT 77 years ago! (Although at some point it will be. But right now, it’s not.) So if all these timelines are getting mixed up, Poptropica is basically one big Time Tangled Island! But… there’s a catch.

pop1

Part 2: The Blimp is a Time Machine, and Poptropica was established as an entity following the existences of ancient world civilizations.

The blimp. It could be a time machine in itself! It allows you to go to different times! Even in Poptropica’s earlier days, you had the blimp, but what if you were from the future, and the blimp took you back in time?! As Poptropica evolved into more and more islands, and SUIs, your blimp made its way back to the future! In the future, where it came from, Monkey Wrench Island was there, and maybe that’s where the blimp came from.

Now, notice how Time Tangled goes back in time before Poptropica’s settlers settled down (when you use the mini time device to travel to ancient civilizations). But look at real world events, people! There were people in ancient civilizations before America became a country! It could be the same with Poptropica! (Just that Poptropica sort of replicated real world events.)

pop2

Also, maybe the reason you didn’t use your blimp to get around Time Tangled Island is just because it’s an island. It’s too big to fit in the lab, and it’s too big to take back to certain times. Besides, if you took it back to those other time periods, some Poptropicans would think it was an enemy spirit or something, and destroy it. Then how would you get to the different islands?

pop3

Part 3: Crusoe and the Grecian warrior on Shark Tooth

And remember that warrior on Shark Tooth? Maybe Crusoe from Monkey Wrench is his descendant! ‘Cause what if the warrior hung onto your blimp and follow you to Shark Tooth?

I’m sorry, that doesn’t make sense. Kind of. But we don’t know where Crusoe went after we landed on Home Island. Maybe he went to Shark Tooth (he does have that jungle aesthetic) and settled there. So… yeah. I’m getting ahead of myself.

pop4

(My Photoshop paint job. It could be worse! :P)

But there’s one thing I can’t figure out… If the Early Pop pilgrims are the earliest settlers of Poptropica, then who are these guys who supposedly come before their time?

pop5

If you can figure this one out, good for you. But that’s my Popspiracy, and I hope you enjoyed!

~Happyhappy760

P.S. Don’t forget to be happy.

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Share your Pop conspiracies in the comments or on the PHC – we’d love to hear them. If you’d like to develop it into a full guest post like this one, contact the PHB (minimum 500 words). Stay popping!

Books, Web Development

This Expedition is Not a Lost Edition – plus interview with book author Mitch Krpata!

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans!

For all you avid readers waiting, the second Poptropica graphic novel, The Lost Expedition, has finally been released to bookstores – and those who pre-ordered the book should be receiving it soon!

You can order the book on Amazon, among other places, if you want to check out what happens next in the adventures of Oliver, Jorge, and Mya following the events of the first book, Mystery of the Map, which was also made into an island. We’re not sure if The Lost Expedition will be made into an island, but Poptropica Creator Skinny Moon recently stated that it’s not one of the islands they’re currently working on. Also, unlike the first book, this one isn’t being distributed for free online!

PHB author Brave Tomato recently uncovered some pretty cool info about the third book as well, which you can check out here. In the meantime, here’s the description for book two!

Oliver, Mya, and Jorge continue their search for home, with a few hilarious stops along the way. As the friends set sail for new sights, they find the evil Octavian is still hot on their trail, and he’s determined to get his hands on their magical map. To make matters worse, a mysterious organization is keen on expelling the three friends from Poptropica. As the pals travel, they find that each island is filled with its own unique brand of peril, and the mystery surrounding the map and Poptropica itself begins to unfold. Will our trio be able to once again outfox Octavian and discover the identity of this secret society?

Over on the Creators’ Blog, there’s an interview with the author, Mitch Krpata (who, by the way, is the voice of Captain Crawfish)! Here’s an excerpt below, but you’re encouraged to check out the full exclusive interview on the Creators’ Blog!

So, Mitch. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m married and have two young kids and a dog. I like to watch movies, read books, play board games, and sleep late. Anything that doesn’t require me to leave the house.

How long have you been working on Poptropica? What do you do exactly?

I have been working on Poptropica from the beginning. I was part of the team that met every week in a windowless conference room to brainstorm ideas, and also helped to lay out Early Poptropica. My main job has been to write the island scripts, but I also help with marketing and promotion, licensed products (like the books and Ubisoft games), making our YouTube walkthroughs… I’m also a real cut-up on Slack.(Editor’s note: He certainly is. His gifs are epic.)

Tell us something random about yourself that Poptropica fans would find funny or surprising.

I love professional wrestling. One day I will convince the powers that be to let me make a Lucha Libre Island.

Can you give us some hints about books 3 and 4?

Book 3 will finally start to answer some of the many, many questions that have come up in the first two books. It’s also action-packed! Can’t say much about book 4 just yet…

Oliver and Jorge battle it out in a game of Poptropica soup words. Who wins?

Oliver would win because he’s a total bookworm. Jorge would probably look for swear words, which aren’t allowed.

For the rest of the awesome interview, check out this post on the Creators’ Blog celebrating the launch of the book! Congratulations to everyone involved with the book production! 🎉

Creator Skinny Moon, who conducted the interview, ends the post with this snazzy animated gif that she says “may or may not be video straight from Poptropica HQ.” If it is – it sure looks like the Creators get up to some dizzyingly fun antics! And given her earlier comment about Mitch’s gif-making prowess, it may even have come from the man of the hour himself!

kbs

Anyway, we’ll let you know here on the PHB what interesting information we uncover from the second book once we have a chance to get to it. Stay tuned! 😀

Contests

PHB Tribal Tournament: Tribal Thinkers!

Slanted Fish

poptribe thinkers

As the philosopher René Descartes declared, “I think, therefore I am.” If you can think – as you are doing now – then you must exist, because a thought has to come from a thinking thing. And here you are, thinking and existing here in the midst of the PHB’s Tribal Tournament! So are you ready?!

This final competition in the PHB’s Tribal Tournament is called Tribal Thinkers, and it tests your knowledge of Poptropica and its extending community. If you haven’t caught up with how to get involved with the Tribal Tournament yet, you’ll want to read this post first.

Anyway, onto the round of contemplation! We’re going to give you a bunch of trivia questions, and to earn points for your tribe, you must give the correct answers in your tribe’s channel on the PHC. Each correct answer given by anyone in the tribe will net the tribe five points.

Note: All answers can be found somewhere on our website (the Poptropica Help Blog). Please do not comment answers anywhere outside of your tribe’s channel, or else other tribes may benefit from your mistake! Without further ado, here are the questions…

Trivia about Poptropica!

  1. When was Poptropica founded?
  2. What brand of soda does Gamer Guy drink?
  3. What item on Shark Tooth Island isn’t actually needed in the quest?
  4. What is carved on the tree in the Lewis & Clark Expedition on Time Tangled Island?
  5. What are the names of the B.A.D’s guard dogs on Spy Island?
  6. How much did the Astro-Knights Early Access pass cost?
  7. The Tabloid on Reality TV advertises an article about dating who?
  8. What Greek letters are on the Drachma coin on Mythology Island?
  9. What does Sprocket from Steamworks Island want to call his autobiography?
  10. For which island did Poptropica first launch its own external website as a promotion for the island and what was the website?
  11. Which island’s name is also a possible Poptropica player name?
  12. Which island contains an altered version of the painting American Gothic by Grant Wood?
  13. What does the binary code found on the recycle billboard outside the Game Show Main Street factory translate to?
  14. Which island has a common room that has no name, and what is the room?
  15. What is the name of the ship in Captain Crawfish’s dream on Super Villain Island?
  16. Which time period on Time Tangled Island requires an item from another time period to collect the misplaced artifact?
  17. Which island has a character claiming to be from “Time Twisted Island”?
  18. Where did Dr. Spyglass, from Spy Island, use to work?
  19. Who was the Ice Arrow, seen in Astro-Knights, crafted by?
  20. In the trash bin on Mocktropica Island, what is the name of Zeus’s tree character?

Trivia about the PHB team!

  1. What is Brave Tomato’s favorite island?
  2. What was Slanted Fish’s first Poptropica account?
  3. Spotted Dragon made a fansite about Poptropica and ___?
  4. How did Slippery Raptor discover Poptropica?
  5. Which island did Ultimate iPad Expert play first?
  6. Who is HPuterpop’s character designed to resemble?
  7. What was the name of Koi (Spencer)’s second Poptropica account?
  8. What place did Ylimegirl win on the Reality TV Island Champions Map?

Bonus question! (Worth 10 points to any tribe that gets it right!)

  • What’s the name of Skinny Moon’s puppy?

Stolen Snapshots!

In addition to the trivia questions, we also have another round of Slippery Raptor’s Stolen Snapshots here to stump even the most seasoned Poptropican. Can you guess where these are taken? Each correct answer from within a tribe will earn a tribe ten points!

Get those thinking caps on, because there’s a lot to ponder for this round! This round ends on Sunday, August 21, Wednesday, August 24, so be sure to submit answers to your tribe’s channel on the PHC before then.

Remember, you can still earn points for your tribe via the Artistic Athletes competition AND the Medal Marathon all throughout August 24!

Again, if you’re new to this tournament, please read over the details in our first Tribal Tournament post to get caught up. If you have any questions, you can ask your tribe rep on the PHC!

Think hard, and good luck!

– the PHB tribe reps –

PHB Specials, Pop-over

PHB Pop-over Special: Over the Garden Wall

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! Hop over the garden wall with me, it’s time for another PHB Special!

For fans of the Cartoon Network mini-series Over the Garden Wall, I hope you like this little Poptropica crossover featuring the main adventurers, Greg and Wirt! If you like their Poptropica costumes, you can use the ASGs below or read further for how to get their costumes.

otgwpop

(If you’re not familiar with ASGs, see our Avatar Studio Gift page.)

GREG (ASG: otgwGreg)

There may not be a teapot you can wear on your head yet, but the Braised Basher’s mug-hat comes pretty close, and you can get it with the WKF_ASG_BraisedBasher ASG or the costume on the Poptropica app’s Store (but not online). Greg’s adorable green overalls come from Ned Noodlehead on Super Power Island, and his satchel comes from Octavian on Mystery of the Map.

For the whole package, just ASG otgwGreg!

WIRT (ASG: otgwWirt)

Wirt’s costume is actually pretty simple. The pointed red hat may not be all that pointed, but at least its fits the head snugly – and you can grab it off a guy from the Mali Empire on Time Tangled Island. As for the navy blue button-up, you can find it on Captain Boomer on SOS Island.

For the entire ensemble, just ASG otgwWirt!

There you have it! If you’ve never heard of Over the Garden Wall, it’s a cute animated series that can be completed in less than two hours, and it’s about two boys lost in the woods – it’s a good show for all ages, and one that we recommend here at the PHB!

Anyway, that concludes this little OTGW x Poptropica crossover! Off into the unknown we go!

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Quiet Hero

Slanted Fish

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Quiet Hero (Chloe), who saw classmates play Pop and made a good friend by helping him out. See the bottom of this post for details on sending in your own MPIP!

mpip quiethero

2010 | Introduction

I was in second grade when, during free time, I saw a few boys playing this cool-looking game called Poptropica so I went home and searched it up. After that, I was hooked. Since this was so long ago, I honestly forget a lot of what I did but I remember that the first island I played was Spy Island which I loved. I also played Counterfeit Island, as that was the one the boys had been playing.

Before long, I had completed all fourteen or so islands, and every time a new one came out, I completed that too. I remember spending months on Skullduggery Island, trying to figure out the trading! I also remember struggling to complete the ‘hard’ mini games on Astro-Knights and rage-quitting multiple times, haha. I remember wanting to smack Betty Jetty after trying to defeat her dozens of times!

2011 – 2012 | Still Loving It, and Helping a Friend

I remained active with Poptropica for a few years, being so excited every time a new island came out. My favourites were Mystery Train and Cryptids. My avatar had this Gamer Girl costume which I loved so much for some reason. Poptropica was this place I could go when I was feeling sad and it was so much fun finding all the interesting plots and funny characters. Around this time, I also started playing a lot of other multiplayer games such as Club Penguin, Panfu, and Animal Jam.

I remember this boy with learning difficulties in my fourth grade class who got to play Poptropica instead of do the work sometimes (lucky!), and one time during lunch he was stuck on Astro-Knights Island so I told him that you had to move the hay bales and use the rat on the owl, etc. During class he would ask me to help him, and I was allowed to, since I usually finished the work early, then played Poptropica with this kid. He became a pretty good friend of mine until I left the school at the end of fourth grade.

2013 – 2015 | Not Playing as Much

I started to stop playing Poptropica as frequently since I grew out of it a bit and started to focus more on school and other priorities. Every now and then I would play through a few of my favourite islands as a new player without a login (I had forgotten my old account’s password!) just for the fun of it. But in this time, it wasn’t really a big part of my life anymore.

2016 – present | Making a New Account

My old account was loooong forgotten, but a few months ago I decided to make a new one and have some fun playing around with the islands. I rediscovered the PHB, which I used to read all the time for island guides, funny facts and cool things about Poptropica. I now read it regularly and am about half of the way through completing all of the islands (still can’t get past Betty Jetty lol).

I love Poptropica and how it appeals for all ages and it’s a really fun thing to do in my spare time. On another note, as you can see, my outfit now is a cross between the princess and the ninja which I totally love! To me it represents a cross between girly and strong. My username is calantharose if you would like to add me. Anyway, hope you enjoyed my story!

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Hope you enjoyed this “My Place in Poptropica” story! Feel free to send in your own (please include a minimum of 550 words, type with good spelling and grammar, divide it into labeled sections, and include your username). Look out for more community MPIPs in the future!

~the Poptropica Help Blog