PHB Specials

PHB Special: Hidden Games of Poptropica

Hey Poptropicans! 😀

Throughout Poptropica, you may come across the occasional hidden game – a mini-game you can play just for fun, that has no effect on the island quest you’re on. In this PHB Special, we’ll be taking a look at these sometimes-forgotten fun features that add a little excitement to Poptropica!

[Press ‘Start’ to begin.]

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Note: this list does not include games that are required during islands that you can re-play for fun later, nor does it include official mini-quests that come with their own item card in the Store.

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Table Football :: Big Nate Island

The first truly noteworthy “extra game” to arrive on Poptropica can be found on Big Nate Island. Inside the secret clubhouse at the top of the playground, you have to play the ‘Go To Jail’ hangman game, but the ‘Table Football’ game is optional. In Table Football, you aim a folded piece of paper into a football post, and you need 3 goals out of a maximum of 5 chances to win.

Plus, if you do win, you get a bonus book called Big Nate’s Pratical Jokes! Good, wholesome fun.

bignate tablefootball

Computer Ping-Pong :: Counterfeit Island

Inside the Web Browser Cafe on Counterfeit Island’s Main Street, clicking on the computers will activate a cool little computer game of ping-pong! The graphics and concept are simple: just move your cursor up and down to control your white ping-pong board on the left.

Like a goalkeeper, you want to prevent the pixelled balls from getting past your wall (the left) by bouncing them back with your board. The red balls are normal, while the yellow bonus balls move a bit faster and will also split apart into more balls and come back once they hit your board.

Slot Machine :: Wild West Island

On the facade of the Four Aces Casino in Dos Cactos on Wild West Island, you’ll find, at the very top left corner, a slot machine! It’s fairly straightforward: click on the crank at the left to turn the machine, and see where each of the three slots land when they’re done spinning. If they’re all the same, a slew of jalapeno peppers will rain down like confetti! If not, nothing happens.

Pool :: Game Show Island

On the bottom level of the Club Nouveau Riche on Game Show Island’s Main Street, under the glowing 8-ball sign, you can play a game of pool by clicking on the pool table! There’s just one ball, the white ball, and your goal is to align your pool cue (the stick) to try to roll the ball into the hole.

The blue circles, which appear in varying sizes, will make your ball bounce back, resulting in possible point multiplications. Every time you win (by rolling the ball into the hole), you get more lives. See how high of a score you can get before you run out of lives!

Planet Slug :: Night Watch Island

Notably similar to the pop-ular mobile game Angry Birds, Planet Slug is an app game found on your cell phone on Night Watch Island. In this game, you fling a little rocket ship from a slingshot in outer space, and your goal is to aim it at these green planets that look like slugs. Your rocket ships may also hit the asteroids, but that is not the ultimate goal. If you can hit all the slugs before you run out of lives, you win!

Terror in the Garden :: Zomberry Island

During the zomberry apocalypse, Gamer Guy is too busy holed up in his apartment on Zomberry Island playing video games. If you click on his gaming console, you’ll activate a game called Terror in the Garden! This game is essentially the same as the final showdown on the island when you’re saving the citizens with the zomberry antidote, except instead of people, you’re shooting at vegetables with faces! There are no prizes for winning, but it’s good practice for later in the island.

garden zomb game

Mega Fighting Bots :: Mocktropica Island

Inside Ephraim University on Mocktropica Island, if you click on the computer in the classroom, you can play Mega Fighting Bots! In MFB, you play as Bucket Bot, and you move around by clicking on where you want to go. To attack, you double-click, and your goal is to destroy your opponent before they destroy you.

Since MFB is also a main part of the Mocktropica bonus quest, you can find more tips and info for the game on our Mocktropica Island Guide. Alternatively, you can also play MFB on the external Mega Fighting Bots site set up by the Poptropica Creators!

Feats of Speed :: Home Island

Most recently, Poptropica added a new mini-game to Home Island called Feats of Speed, which you can read more about in this PHB post. Not part of any island quest, this recycles a part of PoptropiCon: Episode 1 where you race the Cheetah Bandit to the top of a building.

To get started, talk to Speedy Sam on Home Island (you’ll recognize him by the treadmill) and he’ll challenge you to a race. If you can beat his score, he’ll let you try for the world record, and if you beat that, you’ll win a snazzy pair of Sneakers that you can wear on your feet (really)! There are more sneakers to come, so stay tuned for that as well.

Plus, we’ve been getting hints of Poptropica working on some more mini-games that are Zomberry-themed – we’ll have to wait and see what this becomes!

Anyway, that about wraps up this list of hidden games in Poptropica! Which ones do you like? What are your high scores? Do you want Poptropica to include more of these hidden games within the islands? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

As always, stay popping, Poptropicans!

–🐠🐠

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Super Grape

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Super Grape, who loves adventuring on Poptropica islands and discussing her favorite villains. See the bottom of this post for details on sending in your own MPIP!

MPIP-SuperGrape

2009-2010 | The Start of Something New

 It was June 5th, 2009, the last day of school, so our teacher let us go to the computer lab for a fun day. While I was looking for a fun game to play on the computer, I noticed one of my friends was playing this intriguing game. I had never seen anything like it – the animation was great and it looked like my friend had this character on the screen following an arrow. I wanted to know the name of the game my friend was playing, so I asked her, and she told me: “Poptropica”.

I thought it was a weird name for a game, but I wanted to try it out anyway because it looked fun! I asked my friend how to get there, and she told me exactly how to find it. First I went to Funbrain, which is an educational kids’ site, then I saw the Poptropica logo and clicked on it. It took me right to the blue screen with blue vines we know and love, and then, of course, two blue buttons popped up.

My friend told me to select “new player”, so I clicked it. Then it asked if I was a boy or a girl, so I clicked girl. Next it asked my age, and I clicked 11, and then lo and behold, this person came out of the small wooden box like magic! The name of my person came up as Super Grape, and she looked great.

I then started to play around for a bit with the person, and started to get the hang of the game on my own. I learned that I could travel across to different islands, I could collect island medallions, and even enter common rooms to chat with other players who also played the game. That’s when I realized that Poptropica wasn’t just a fun game, but also a really great experience that changed my life – the start of something totally new for me!

I must admit though, if it wasn’t for my friend, I probably wouldn’t have discovered Poptropica in the first place. I started playing Poptropica more often from that day on, but somehow I had forgotten all about it by the following year.

2010-2011 | Favorite Villains

Somehow, in the summer of 2010, I was able to find Poptropica again. I then made a commitment to myself to finish all islands and to get every island medallion.

The first island I was finally able to complete was Super Power Island. That’s where I got my signature look, the blue superhero outfit my Poptropican wears on a daily basis. I change into different outfits for special days or on costume-themed islands like PoptropiCon, but I wear my blue superhero outfit regularly, because it really brings out the “Super” part of my Poptropican’s name (Super Grape). Also, blue is my favorite color.

As I started to focus on completing the other islands, it was during one of those islands quests that I discovered my favorite Poptropica villain of all time – a weird bunny character. He’s also the first villain in Poptropica, whose name I learned later on as I played through the 24 Carrot Island quest: Dr. Hare! I don’t know why, but for some reason I really like how he’s dressed. I also love that he has made many appearances in Poptropica, like when he appeared on Reality TV Island, or when he appeared as a plush toy on CJ’s bed in Shrink Ray Island, and of course, we can’t forget about his return in Super Villain Island.

I also have a theory that Dr. Hare might have been inspired by a Batman villain named Javis Tech aka The Mad Hatter, who also used mind control technology, along with mind controlling hats to make people do what he wanted – just like Dr. Hare!

My second favorite Poptropica villain would probably be Binary Bard. When I first encountered him on Astro-Knights Island, he reminded me of Cyborg from the cartoon Teen Titans. He and Cyborg were both humans before they become cyborgs, they both have red eyes, and are both very smart. Anyway, I continued to play Poptropica for a while and completed every island during that summer.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to vote when the Creators held a Poptropica Villain Contest on the official blog, because I was busy with school and completing the islands. However, I did learn that Binary Bard won 1st place with Dr. Hare in 2nd place! Dr. Hare may not have won the contest, but if he had to win any award, it would probably be for being the most popular villain in Poptropica because people have made lots of fanart of him. And who wouldn’t like a villain who’s dressed up in a pink bunny rabbit suit and loves carrots? So congratulations Dr. Hare, I think you’re the most popular villain in Poptropica.

2011-2012 | New & Exciting Adventures

The following year, I was surprised to find that new islands had appeared on Poptropica, waiting for me to explore and start collecting medallions again. I quickly got to work on completing the brand new islands that had suddenly appeared while I was away from Poptropica, and I was away because I had been really busy with school.

Every brand new island was just another exciting adventure waiting to happen! With Wild West Island, I had to chase down a wanted criminal, and also got to become a marshal. Red Dragon Island was based off a beloved kids book series, The Magic Tree House, and in it I had to travel back to ancient Japan and learn the ways of the ninja to save Jack and Annie. Another great island was Wimpy Wonderland Island, which was the first island that was based off of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney.

Out of all the islands I’ve played on Poptropica, they are all pretty great. But if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Astro-Knights Island, because it has a great storyline, it takes you into outer space, and it features a robotic owl that’s named after a famous wizard! All of the islands in Poptropica are very cool, but Astro-Knights Island will always be my favorite.

In November of 2011 I finally got membership, and Legendary Swords had come out. I just had to play it, because everyone in my class was talking about it, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So I bought the card with membership and started to play it, and I have to admit it was pretty awesome! I mean, you find a sword in a stone! You use the sword to fight evil robots, who work for a mysterious Poptropican named E.Vile.

In the end you face a big robot, but E.Vile never really showed himself (besides the hologram) – he never comes out to fight you in the quest. So who exactly is this E.Vile? I That’s the big question everyone is asking in Poptropica.

There are multiple theories, one theory is that he’s Omegon from PoptropiCon, who also has bots working for him, but I myself have a theory that E.Vile could be Mordred’s father! It would explain why they both like to use robots as minions, and they look very similar. Not to mention that they both want to take over the universe and Poptropica! In fact, maybe E.Vile helped Mordred, and that’s how he got back to Poptropica, before he was captured by Zeus, and was taken to Super Villain Island only to end up in a sleeping chamber.

We may never know for sure who this E.Vile is, but one thing is for sure – he’s evil, and that’s literally in his name.

2016 and Beyond | Still in the Game

These days I still play Poptropica, but not as often because I have school. I have completed the most recent islands, and PoptropiCon was a pretty good one as of late. Episode 3 (Reign of Omegon) felt like it was based off the newly released Avengers movie (Age of Ultron).

Galactic Hot Dogs Island was also fun because it’s based off of a kids’ comic book series. Escape From Pelican Rock was a good island, and it reminded me of Muppets: Most Wanted, where Kermit is framed because he looks like another character who’s the real villain. Monkey Wrench Island was good, because it explains how we get the blimp.

I still enjoy Poptropica and hope it will be around for years to come. If I had to make one adjustment, though, it would be to get rid of the arrow that controls the Poptropican, because I think experts of Poptropica would already know how to control the Poptropican without it. However, I would keep the arrow around for the beginners, until they get the hang of it.

Who knows, maybe one day the Creators will make a island that combines all of the islands into one big island! But as awesome as that would be, I would rather have a Star Wars Island.

Thanks for listening to my story!

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). Click here to read more MPIPs, and look out for more in the future!

~the PHB.

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Zany Hawk

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Zany Hawk, who found Poptropica from Funbrain’s Math Playground and has enjoyed playing with common rooms, islands, and the PHB community. See the bottom of this post for details on sending in your own MPIP!

MPIP-ZanyHawk

2008-2009 | From Math Playground to Poptropica

It all began when I was in third grade and my class was watching a Goosebumps movie. My teacher told us that if we thought it was too scary, we could go to the back and play games instead. Well, there was a dark figure with a creepy voice in that movie – so off I went to the back. A few minutes later, while I was on Funbrain, I found the game Poptropica through an advertisement and my teacher said I could play it. A friend sat next to me and we checked it out together.

The name I got in the game was Sneaky Fox, and he looked like John Travolta’s character from the film Grease. I thought, “Wow, he’s a pretty cute character!” So I went on and played Super Power Island, then Spy Island. The game seemed boring with only a few islands at the time, so I went back to Funbrain’s Math Playground. My teacher wanted us to play it to practice our math. Poptropica was always advertised when I finished a level of math, and I figured whenever I’d come back, there’d be more islands for me to play through.

2009-2011 | Fun in the Common Rooms

I made a new character, which I believe was named Smarty Dolphin or Smarty Fox, and I heard there were common rooms on the islands. I entered one, and inside it looked like a candy shop.

What shocked me at the time was that I think I may have interacted with some of the PHB authors! We played quite a few games, like Sky Dive and Soupwords. I kept doing the angry expression and other characters did the laughing emote in return. Not long afterwards, I forgot about them, and I suppose they forgot about it too.

2013-2014 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Other Islands

I have two Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, the first one and the do-it-yourself one. At some point, I caught wind of the fact that the author of the Wimpy Kid books, Jeff Kinney, is the creator of Poptropica. I heard a snowy Wimpy Kid island was made (Wimpy Wonderland), and decided to check that out along with Red Dragon and Big Nate Island.

However, I didn’t know what to do on the islands. All I knew how to do was go left and right to collect limited edition items or buy from the Store to customize my character.

Later, I was looking for a guide for Shrink Ray Island, which to me was very hard. I went to Google, found the Poptropica Help Blog, and used the cheats there. Back and forth, I followed the guide and played the island. I was sitting with my little sister, who liked to watch me do the animations from using Store items. At the time, I also played Shrink Shot, which was the Shrink Ray Island promo game that you could get a lot of free items from. You can still play it today.

2015–present | Together again?

I made a new Poptropican called Zany Hawk, who looks like a cartoon James Bond! I was happy to get what I think was four medallions for completing islands using Slanted Fish’s island guides. I commented on some blog posts on the PHB as well.

Even though I was internet friends with the PHB community way back then, I’ll always remember the fun and craziest times we had together. If you like my story, add me on Poptropica by searching the user BigHero6Fan1. See you next time, Poptropicans!

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). Click here to read more MPIPs, and look out for more in the future!

~the PHB.

Guest Posts, PHB Sneak Peeks

PHB Sneak Peeks: Developer Rooms, Round 2

(Hey Poptropicans! This is a guest post by glitcher TechWizard, back with more sneak peeks of developer testing rooms. Be sure to check out his first guest post for more! –SlantedFish 🐠)

Hiya guys, it’s your m8 TechWizard back again with more crazy rooms that I discovered in the behind-the-scenes world of Poptropica (how? well, that’s a secret). Man, I work too hard. You must be sick of my posts now. Are you? C’mon, be honest. Well, enough rambling, let’s get sightseeing!

Our first room is… uhh.. what’s this place? Well, it’s just a void I call the Pac-Man room. Nothing fancy here, except Pac-Man and that ominous green background… *shudders*

pacmanroom

Out next room is a collision testing room. If you like to hopelessly spam grey and orange balls, this is the place for you! You can spew out these balls to your heart’s content, and watch them interact with platforms in the space.

imonacollisioncourse

I also found yet another sound testing room – Poptropica sure loves sound testing, huh? The moon-like object here follows your cursor, and you can play some sound bytes by clicking the buttons.

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What else is there? Well, here’s an input testing room that tests stuff like cursors and following movements. That eyeball sure loves to stare intensively into my soul…

Screenshot_2016-04-15-20-11-50

That’s all for this post – maybe I’ll return for another post again!

Remember, reality’s an illusion, the universe is a hologram! Buy gold, Bye!

–TechWizard

Guest Posts, Popspiracy Theories

Popspiracy: Behind the Backpacker

(This is a guest post by Hyper Gamer, a PHB reader here to share some Poptropica thoughts. Keep in mind that what he 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

How is everyone? It’s me Hyper Gamer. I’m here today to share a Popspiracy.

Last month, the Creators posted a Daily Pop sneak peek of this character, laden with gold and goodies, titled “Backpacker”:

sneakpeek_03-25-16
Backpacker: Time to hit the dusty trail.

Good news! The Backpacker NPC (non-player character) is finally released. He resides on Home Island, but it seems like not everyone has been able to see him there yet. You have to complete Monkey Wrench Island in order to be able to see him, but if you’ve done that, try restarting the island as well.

What does this Backpacker guy do? The Backpacker guy tells you how to get to more adventures, which is basically the blimp. Below is a gif of me interacting with this character.

backpacker

Let’s start by discussing potential reasons why the Creators decided to create this guy. Yes you might think it’s for tutorial purposes, but I think there is more to it than that. Take a look at the image below.

backpacker1

On the left is a conversation with Amelia Earhart. On the right is a conversation with Backpacker. Notice how they both have a tutorial on how to get to more adventures. Why would there be a need for two tutorials of the exact same thing?

Maybe it’s supposed to be like that, but I think the Backpacker is part of an unfinished project that lies within the realm of secret projects the Creators can’t reveal. Perhaps they released the Backpacker earlier so we would think that they were doing something. If that’s the case, Backpacker’s release was made to not seem like something random that was unfinished. It actually looks fine where it is.

Now let’s talk about his role as a character in the Poptropica world. Going back to the sneak peek, the caption says, “Time to hit the dusty trail.” Now where is this trail? Is it on another island? Now look at all that stuff he’s carrying and the medallions he’s wearing. There’s only one explanation: He’s one of us. The backpack is his inventory and the medallions he won from other islands. Now why would some great adventurer be spending his time telling us how to get to more adventures?

Let’s look at his backpack. The sword could be from one of his adventures, perhaps on Astro-Knights Island, the map appears to be the one from Mystery of the Map, and the green coins must be his credits, to name a few. What if the Backpacker saw Poptropica through our perspective? Maybe he only sees what we see. By that I mean, he can only go to the Islands that have been released. Sine he’s completed all released islands, he is at Home Island resting. It’s called “home” for a reason. Now he spends his time helping all the newcomers on their adventures while relaxing on Home Island.

He has an ax and a crystal, which could be from the Poptropica Realms. And here’s another thought: he must be a paid member. He has membership, so he has no use for credits. That’s why he has so many green coins (credits) in his sack. Also, only members-only items have goggles like the pair he’s wearing. Sure, they may look a bit different (perhaps greener for those items based on Dr. Hare) on the item cards, but that’s a very small thing to worry about.

What do you guys think? Is the Backpacker part of something bigger? Is he Poptropica’s first NPC to break the fourth wall? Write back with your thoughts in the comments!

-Hyper Gamer

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!