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 Sneak Peeks, Zomberry Island

PHB Sneak Peeks: Zomberry Mini-Games?

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, ready for a peek into what’s going on behind the curtains of Poptropica HQ?

Many of us have noticed that Poptropica has been so busy behind-the-scenes that they haven’t delivered much lately. Whatever big updates they’re working on, they’re not divulging – we’re barely getting any sneak peeks on the Daily Pop, and even Poptropica’s own Skinny Moon has mentioned she’d love to say more, but can’t reveal anything yet.

But thanks to a brief tip sent in by PHB reader Hyper SW, we just might have some clue of what’s going on and what’s to come! This is the heads-up that was given to the PHB:

“A new game called Game Jam is coming soon! In the game you defend yourself from zomberries using different musical instruments. Due to legal matters, I’m going to keep this update short.”

zomberry2

Well, that’s interesting! Zomberry 2.0? Another sneak peek, this one from an anonymous PHC glitcher, is of another upcoming game called Zomberry Catapult:

zomberrycatapult

Despite the Zomberry Main Street scenery, we’re not sure if this is an island in itself – it looks like Poptropica is working on a series of mini-games to keep us entertained (as we await the next island!). You may remember a few Daily Pop sneak peeks from February where we saw zombie characters in what appeared to be platformer games and other mini-games. They seem to be related:

What could all this mean? Will we get to play these Poptropica original games on Home Island? Will Zomberry Island be getting an update? Or will Poptropica release a mobile app containing several these little games? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Stay popping, Poptropicans.

–🐠🐠

Magazines

POPCORN, the PHB magazine: Spring 2016 issue!

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, the butter is back!😀

As you may recall from our last POPCORN announcement, our PHB magazines are now being published seasonally. The spring 2016 issue, #30 of our Poptropica fan magazine, is now ready for viewing. Check out the spring 2016 issue now! (Or download it to read offline!)

These issues are still available as downloadable PDFs, but you may notice a few small stylistic changes – most notably, the Featured Poptropican on the cover! In the past, I’ve just used my (Slanted Fish’s) Poptropican, but that’s boring after a while. This season’s issue features Cobalt Spinner, our newest PHB author and longtime Poptropican (you can read his story here). A couple of selected artworks in this issue are of his character’s impeccable design.

popcorn cover30

Henceforth, like many magazines, each new cover will feature a different Poptropican from the community! They will be selected by me, the editor of this magazine, on the grounds that this Poptropican has had a significant role in the community, preferably with some connection to the issue of the magazine they are featured on. Please understand that there are many wonderful individuals out there, far more than there are issues of The POPCORN, so don’t take it personally if you aren’t featured on the cover. You can have your chance to be featured within the magazine by submitting stories, art, and more to our subreddit and DeviantArt!

Which brings us to another point of change: in the past, we have pretty much admitted any work that was sent to us into the magazine. Sometimes, however, this would make the magazines rather long, and the quality of work varied. In order to be more consistent with length and quality, we are now limiting the amount of work that makes the final cut. Again, please don’t take it too hard if your work isn’t chosen – with our subreddit and DeviantArt sharing platforms, it is easier than ever to have your work publicized, even if it doesn’t make it into the magazine.

There’s another new section as well: Fansite Spotlight! We’ll be using The POPCORN to highlight notable works that other Poptropicans in this community are doing, to help them reach a wider audience for all the good work they’re up to. This spotlight isn’t necessarily limited to fansites, and may include other projects as well. You’ll have to peek into this issue to see where the first spotlight shines!

Anyway, enjoy this spring issue of The POPCORN! To read past issues, check out the PHB’s Magazines page. Stay popping, Poptropicans! 🐠🐠

Pranks, Web Development

Stay popping, Poptropicans.

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, it’s Slanted Fish here – and guess what, something BIG is popping!

But first, the bad news… how shall I put it? It’s not you, it’s me. I just need some space. I think we should see other people, and I think it’s for the best. In case you couldn’t tell by my cliché breakup lines – I, Slanted Fish, will be leaving the Poptropica Help Blog indefinitely.

I’m sorry this comes so soon and sudden after the departure of our beloved Blake and Samwow5, but with all the busyness of the oh-so-~POPular~ life I lead, I feel like I need to take a break from this wonderful place for a while. I may return, though, so don’t cry just yet.

Here’s where the great popping news comes in! I’m leaving PHB in good hands – the hands of my fellow coworkers. Taking on the leadership are the dynamic trio of UiPE, HPuterpop, and Giant Hawk. With the help of the rest of the PHB team, they’ve already got some exciting ideas up their sleeves and are eager to share them with you. Now, I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but I can offer this teaser image:

teaser2

Check back on the PHB tomorrow to find out what this is all about – it’s super grand and you won’t want to miss it! In fact… you may not even recognize the PHB after this. That’s how big this is.

Until we meet again, stay popping, Poptropicans.

–SlantedFish 🐠🐠

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Fearless Rider

Slanted Fish

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Fearless Rider, who first found Poptropica through her sister, and now makes her mark as her own Poptropican. See below for details on sending in your own MPIP!

MPIP-FearlessRider

Hi!!! I’m Marshmallowlilypads, AKA Fearless Rider. (You’ll hear the explanation for the name later!) How are you, PHB readers? Are you ready for My Place In Poptropica? Are you sure? Super sure? Absolutely sure? Positively sure? Totally sure? Okay, I’d better start before you guys leave.

Forbidden Love

My discovery of Poptropica goes way back, second grade to be exact. My one older sister was always the popular one. And… I was the weird one. I always felt like I was in her shadow, always known as “her little sister”. I doubted people even knew my name. My sister was also a trendsetter, and, to be honest, a pretty good one at that. Silly bands, bagged chips, fake nerd glasses – say anything, and my sister could make it a trend. So, when she played Poptropica in the computer lab one day, boom, it spread like wildfire.

My sister would play Poptropica on her computer, and, if she allowed me to, I’d pull a chair up right behind her and watch. Poptropica was awesome back then (and still is!). I’d breathe right over her shoulder, totally mesmerized by the game.

My sister got older, and I’d annoy her more and more, until she eventually banished me from the room when she played. But, when she walked out of the room, I inched myself into the living room and made my first Poptropica account. I forgot the password and username, but I still remember the in-game name: Cuddly Eye. I had to make it up the first chance I got, since my sister was coming back into the room. But, the first time I hopped into that yellow balloon, I fell in love.

It was a forbidden love, if you think about it.

Tab In, Tab Out

Way back then, I had a really bad memory. A terrible memory. I made over 20 accounts because I kept forgetting the usernames and/or passwords. A few months after I made my first account, I took a break. Of course, I forgot my password. So I made a new one. This happened several times, and that’s why I have so many aliases.

I’m not the most talented Poptropica gamer, so I looked up walkthroughs often. And walkthroughs led to… ta da! The PHB! Okay, okay. I’m not going to say that when I started looking at the PHB, I was totally into it and submitted stories and ideas and now I’m a PHB legend! No. That has not happened. At all. When I first started checking out the PHB, I didn’t even look at the comments section.

It was all about the walkthroughs. I would get on an island, look at the tab on my computer that said something like, Ghost Story Island Guide, and do what it said. I don’t know if other people do this, but it’s most efficient for my taste. Yes, it consisted of a lot of tab-switching: tab in, tab out, tab in, tab out. But I ended up finishing ALL of the islands (you know, when all of the islands were open to everyone. I didn’t have a membership back then).

And then, guess what? I forgot my username.

More Recently…

I stopped playing Poptropica for a pretty long time after that. A year, I think. I moved houses, switched schools, and homework got more intense homework… so I didn’t have a lot of time for playing. But soon, I was allowed to do homework in study hall, and Poptropica popped up again (see what I did there?). And when life gives you Poptropica, you find the PHB! Again!

I was older then, and I had my own computer, so I could pretty much go on Poptropica and the PHB all I wanted. I explored more of the PHB, told my friends about it and gave them the link, and played Poptropica more! I finished exactly 30 islands, and I’m still working on Arabian Nights Island.

But when I discovered The POPCORN magazine, it… called to me. Before you call me a freak, I submitted a story to The POPCORN and… it showed up in there! Boom! The Warden’s Daughter by Fearless Rider! I made my signature look, which you can see in the graphic above (my user is Marshmallowlilypads). I posted my first ever PHB comment on White Gamer’s MPIP, and I’m still trying to make my mark on the PHB. Wish me luck!

–Fearless Rider (Call me Marshmallow!)

–

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 PHB.

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Funny Ant

Slanted Fish

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Funny Ant, a self-proclaimed “Poptropica island hopper who can never seem to find a good outfit.” See below for details on sending in your own MPIP!

MPIP-FunnyAnt

2010 | Discovery

Hola, Poptropicans! My story begins when I was around 6 years old. I loved adventure games, but I was running out of ones to play. I remember asking my mom to help me find some. We searched, and, eventually, came across Poptropica. I made an account with the username Braden0418, and the password–hey, wait a minute! I’m not telling you my password. 😛 Anyway, my account has never changed since. I made a few other duplicate accounts to test out various outfits, but Braden0418 has always been my main account.

2011 | Island Hopping

In 2011, Poptropica was my favorite game, and I played it every day when I had the time! I mostly explored Common Rooms, hoping to find some exclusive costume parts, and I enjoyed playing the occasional game of Balloons or Sky Dive. I loved asking random Poptropicans conversation questions just to see what their answers were!

I had completed quite a few islands that year, but my current attire was pretty bland. I had a few free costumes from the Store, but none of them seemed to work with my Poptropican. I then realized that you could customize clothing from NPPs (Non-Player Poptropicans), and I went crazy collecting everything I could from the islands that were out at the time. (In late 2015, I would find the perfect outfit for my Poptropican… probably not for long, though!)

2012 | Poptropica Help Blog!

I was having trouble completing an island, and I needed some help. None of my family members played Poptropica, and they weren’t very interested in it at the time. So I did a Google search for “Poptropica island guides,” and there it was. The Poptropica Help Blog. I was immediately hooked, and read pretty much every article that the PHB had. The Cool Stuff page was my favorite, with many glitches and hidden items.

In late 2012, I had discovered a hidden costume glitch (some type of schoolteacher-type shirt, I think) which no longer exists. My costume closet has the outfit somewhere, I believe. After that, I began a “complete all the islands” spree, which lasted around two months.

2013 | Island Tales

Around late 2013, I had all the islands completed… except Skullduggery Island. It’s just SO HARD to get 1,000,000 doubloons. I still haven’t completed it! My favorite island so far has got to be Super Power Island. I love the flight superpower and Ned Noodlehead (also known as Comic Kid). I give the PHB credit for the other island medallions I’ve earned. Couldn’t have done it without you guys! 🙂

I loved reading the PHB’s Poptropican’s 911 magazines as well, and made up my own creative stories inspired by Poptropica. One of my favorites was probably when I pretended to be an undercover Poptropican, trying to stop the evil Dr. Hare from destroying the world with his carrot-ray. I am now writing a story that I’ll call “Project 15k.” Who knows, it might appear on the PHB someday!

2014 | A Carnival Full of Monsters

Monster Carnival island, which was supposed to be released in 2008, was re-released this year, and I was amazed by all the new costumes. Just like when I first discovered customizing, I went crazy trying to find the perfect outfit. I had bought Membership back in 2013, which gave me access to the whole store, Member-exclusive costumes and all!

I remember that I had gotten an epic costume (I believe it was a Ringmaster Raven/Knight mashup) and I went into a Common Room. Every user inside immediately tried to customize my outfit and/or friend me. I let them, because I knew I had some hard-to-obtain costume parts on me.

2015 | Leaving Poptropica

Around July 2015, I discovered a new massively multiplayer adventure and sandbox game: Minecraft. I was so into it that I completely forgot about Poptropica and Funny Ant. That is, until late 2015, when I looked at the PHB just to see if anything was happening… and stuff WAS going on! There were the Meme Face Mondays, PHB author MPIPs, the Avatar Studio Gift, and much more. This prompted me to join Poptropica again, and I remembered all about finding outfits for my Poptropican… so that’s what I did I did. (But, like I said, probably not for long. :P)

I started Project 15k in December of 2015, tying my experience with Poptropica into it. One of the PHB staff has already made a guest appearance–but that’s all I’ll tell you for now. I don’t want to spoil the story! 😛

2016 and Beyond | Making Myself Known

When 2016 began, I made a New Year’s resolution worth keeping: Be a Poptropican that others can look up to. I plan to start a blog filled with the latest Poptropica fashions and other nifty things. Project 15k will hopefully be finished during the summer. It’ll be posted both on the Poptropica blog that I may create soon and, like I said, it just might make an appearance on the PHB.

And that’s My Place in Poptropica. Adios, and keep on island hopping, fellow Poptropicans!

–Funny Ant

–

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 PHB.