Category: Labs (Land)

Poptropica Labs, or Land, was the precursor to what would become Realms, Poptropica’s open sandbox world.

Labs (Land), Popstorms, Shrink Ray Island, Sneak Peeks, Store

Best of Land: Haunted, Shrink Ray re-release, & hair PopStorms

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! Now that the final “Best of Land” challenge has ended, the Land public preview is now over (alpha version 2 is back to being members only). On Halloween, while we here at the PHB announced the winners of our 6th Annual Costume Competition, the Creators featured the best “Haunted” Land entries they received – and here they are (click to enlarge):

From Brave Owl, this is one forest we wouldn’t want to walk through at night.
From Cuddly Ring, a house of horrors with three levels of thrills.
From Dangerous Tooth, a classic haunted mansion.
From Fast Lizard, an amazing paranormal panorama.
From Fearless Lizard, a floating fear factory.
From Friendly Raptor, these are two great tastes that taste terrifying together.
From Invisible Octopus, this is one great pumpkin.
From Popular Fish, it’s a ghost ship adrift on a sickly sea.
From Prickly Fish, we’re just going to assume this gargantuan skeleton creature is reaching out for a big hug.
From Red Singer, there’s a surprise around every turn in this haunted house.

Captain Crawfish sure enjoys incorporating alliteration in his captions. 😉 You can vote for your favorite over on the poll in the sidebar of the Creators’ Blog. Right now, Brave Owl’s intricate tree and Fast Lizard’s grass monster are in the lead. Here are the results thus far:

  • Brave Owl (24%)
  • Cuddly Ring (4%)
  • Dangerous Tooth (5%)
  • Fast Lizard (24%)
  • Fearless Lizard (10%)
  • Friendly Raptor (3%)
  • Invisible Octopus (3%)
  • Popular Fish (3%)
  • Prickly Fish (10%)
  • Red Singer (11%)

Also, congratulations to Silver Lightning for being the readers’ choice for best “Obstacle Course” Land!

From Silver Lightning (another repeat Land challenge champ), this multi-screen course is truly a-maze-ing!
From Silver Lightning (another repeat Land challenge champ), this multi-screen course is truly a-maze-ing!

Poptropica Land is currently no longer available to non-members, but the Creators have stated that, with the help of our feedback and Land creations, they’re preparing for an official launch early next year – which may even be available to everyone (we’ll have to see)! 😀

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As mentioned earlier, Shrink Ray Island will soon be re-released as a SUI (sound-updated island), with bigger screen, sounds, and all the gimmicks of the newer islands! According to an official tweet, this update is coming in November – sometime this month! The official Tour page has even been given a makeover, now with a desktop wallpaper and printable poster (see below):

Oh look, it’s the protagonist CJ, from whom my Poptropican got that awesome striped hoodie! :mrgreen: And… I know we’re miniature, but that’s a creepily big cat. 😮

Also, Members can now claim two new free Store costumes: the Milk Box and Bottle Cap!

(Maybe you recognize them from a sneak peek related to one of the “Inside Poptropica” videos. Speaking of videos, they’ve also re-uploaded the Shrink Ray Island trailer, but it is basically the same as the previous except for the “now with sound” emphasis and new soundtrack composed by Jeff Heim.)

As a classic island, Shrink Ray will come as a one-part story, rather than episodic (multi-part) – and according to Poptropica, more one-part islands will be released for both online & mobile starting January 2015. However, whether this means new one-part islands or just old ones re-hashed into SUIs remains to be seen. Hopefully it’s the former. 😛

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Over on Poptropica’s Twitter, two new sneak peeks called PopStorm (Poptropica brainstorm) have surfaced – perhaps a continuation of the Hair Potion idea? I still think it’d make a cool gold card item or something, and these sketches look goofily grand. 😀

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Last but not least, plans for an Android app are looking steadier! According to this tweet, it will be ready in just 5 more weeks, which at this point means it’ll be available in the first week or so of December.

That’s all for now – be sure to catch up on the posts below for all the latest Poptropica news and more! And here’s the popping bad pun for this post: Pop on like popcorn, Poptropicans. 😀

Labs (Land), Sneak Peeks

Best of Land: Obstacle Courses, Racer Island, & monkey ruins

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! The Best of Land: Obstacle Courses have been announced on the Creators’ Blog, and without further ado, here they are (click to enlarge and view captions):

From Comical Ant, here’s an ant farm maze. Mr. Silva from Shrink Ray Island would feel at home here!
From Dangerous Fox, a very spelunky obstacle course.
From Fast Lizard, it looks like Myron Van Buren has another devious challenge in store for his, er, houseguests.
From Prickly Fish, this one packs a lot of gameplay into a small space.
Serious Bird’s Village won the readers’ poll. He’s still climbing the ladders of success.
From Shifty Bubbles, this one takes you up, down, and underwater.
From Shy Paw, this intricate course will take you to every corner of the screen!
From Silly Whale, it’s nice to see someone who just wants players to have a bouncin’ good time.
From Silver Lightning (another repeat Land challenge champ), this multi-screen course is truly a-maze-ing!
From Silver Sun, we would have liked this no matter what, but the sword-wielding statue certainly made its point.

Cast a vote for your favorite on the poll in the sidebar of the Creators’ Blog! As of now, Silver Lightning’s maze in the lead by a fair bit. These are the current results:

  • Comical Ant (14%)
  • Dangerous Fox (2%)
  • Fast Lizard (7%)
  • Prickly Fish (4%)
  • Serious Bird (5%)
  • Shifty Bubbles (6%)
  • Shy Paw (5%)
  • Silly Whale (8%)
  • Silver Lightning (37%)
  • Silver Sun (7%)

Also, congrats to Serious Bird, who was not only featured among the best Obstacle Courses above, but was also the readers’ poll winner for his fast food Village! Delicious.

"From Serious Bird, you don't have to go far for a bite to eat in this town. Does the building on the right shake in an earthquake?"
“From Serious Bird, you don’t have to go far for a bite to eat in this town. Does the building on the right shake in an earthquake?”

The next and final Land challenge is the theme of Haunted House, and the Creators will be featuring the best ones on Halloween (Friday, Oct 31)! Remember, the Land public preview itself ends on the 30th, so if you’re a non-member, be sure to make the most of this cool feature while you can. 🙂

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Poptropica has continued to tweet behind-the-scenes pics, and fresh from this pile are these monkey ruins, with no further explanation. Just speculating here: perhaps these are related to the monkey sneak peeks we saw earlier, which may mean an island based on the Poptropica comics with Jorge and Oliver. We’ll have to wait and see! 😛

monkey ruins

Here’s another behind-the-scenes look at something called Racer Island. As cool as this sounds, though, it was an island concept that has been abandoned (much like WaterThrill Island). 😦

racer island

In other news, don’t forget to enter (if you dare, that is) the PHB’s 6th annual Halloween costume contest! Fourteen winners will be announced this Friday in time for Halloween, and if you win, your costume will be featured on the PHB! Pop to the top, Poptropicans. :mrgreen:

Advertisements, Counterfeit Island, Labs (Land), Sneak Peeks, Social Media

Return of Balloon Boy, Tweets on Tumblr, Monster High ad, Best of Land Villages, & more!

Spotted Dragon

Hey guys! There are a lot of recent tweets and posts to cover, so let’s get started! First off, I want to emphasize this new video that has been added to the Creator’s “Inside Poptropica” YouTube playlist:

…Does this mean that Balloon Boy, who has been floating aimlessly since the release of Counterfeit Island, may be returning soon? Part of me is thrilled and part of me is sad that we may not be able to look in the sky and find him there any longer. Here is what has been said on the subject:

balloon boy talk

As you can see, Balloon Boy may soon become a Balloon Man…

In other news, Poptropica is still buzzing about Tumblr! The awesomeness has even spread to classrooms, and look, even the PHB’s 1D costumes are in the mix! (Click to view full images!)

Ugh, I hate it when I’m stuck on the loading page with a ton of vines across my screen. 😛

Plus, some more concept art has been released! The first two shown in the gallery are for the current Monster High: Freaky Fusion ad (see below). There’s also a just-for-fun sketch captioned “tongue tied” where a Poptropica artist experiments with crazy tongues on characters, and another of a boy Poptropican shooting hoops on the moon (and here they link to the Lunar Colony trailer).

For girls only, a Monster High: Freaky Fusion ad is available on Night Watch Island (there’s even an icon on the Map you can use to get there). Inside, along with a quiz game and the promo posters, there’s a freaky portal on the right – it doesn’t have a purpose, but it does look cool.

You’ll find two prizes on the top floor: Sirena Follower and Fusion Power (see below for images – thanks to Scary Plug of PWSP for the pics and insight!).

monster high freaky fusion

The Poptropica mobile app has gotten a couple of updates: first, Survival: Escape! (episode 5) is now available for 99 cents. (Although, of course, you can just play it for free online! Plus, if you need help, check out our Survival Island Guide.) Also, 3 free Halloween costume packs have been added to the Shop on your home island, and the app icon has even gotten a Halloween makeover! Cute.

The Best of the Land: Villages have also been announced! Check them out:

“From Cool Sponge, an old-fashioned village that looks like the perfect place to hold the inaugural constitutional convention. (Cool Sponge also made it into Monday’s Dream Homes!)”
“From Creepy Goose, how clever is this? She zoomed way out for a blimp’s-eye view of her village.”
“From Friendly Heart, imagine waking up to that giant shrubbery every morning. It wouldn’t be terrifying at all.”
“From Ice Age, an intricate desert setting. Unfortunately, Ice Age wasn’t a registered user so we can’t share their avatar with you! Always a good idea to save your game.”
“From Mad Comet, here’s a medieval village that seems to be struggling with a dragon problem. (Mad Comet, too, was featured on Monday!)”
“From Neat Tiger, we can see why they needed to build this village above the flood plain. Looks like they’ve got everything up there!”
“From Popular Shadow, it’s another dragon! Let’s hope this one is a protector. If not, we know exactly what to do (Red Dragon Island reference).”
“From Serious Bird, you don’t have to go far for a bite to eat in this town. Does the building on the right shake in an earthquake?”
“From Silver Lightning, another underwater-themed world! We’ll take the raft, thank you very much.”
“From White Flyer, it looks like a Poptropica Main Street! Even without the blimp it’s a dead ringer. Well done.”

Click here to go vote for your favorite! The poll, from now until Monday, should be to the right of the page. As of now, these are the results:

  • Cool Sponge (14%)
  • Creepy Goose (4%)
  • Friendly Heart (9%)
  • Ice Age (6%)
  • Mad Comet (8%)
  • Neat Tiger (13%)
  • Popular Shadow (3%)
  • Serious Bird (23%)
  • Silver Lightning (7%)
  • White Flyer (7%)

The next theme in the contest, which runs from October 24 to 26, is Obstacle Course. Check out our Poptropica Labs (Land) walkthrough for help. Good luck everyone!

As for The Best of the Land: Dream Houses, Zany Clown’s treehouse ended up as the best of the best according to readers’ votes. Congrats, Zany Clown! 😀

From Zany Crown, this is a treehouse that stays true to its roots. Just beautiful.
From Zany Crown, this is a treehouse that stays true to its roots. Just beautiful.

~SD

Labs (Land)

Dr Hare’s Lab – destroyed!

HPuterpop

Hi Gs,

Quick post to tell you guys about a new video released on the official Poptropica Youtube channel, in which Captain Crawfish shows you the world sharing functionalities of Poptropica Land. You can watch it below –

Now, a couple of things to note about the video – one, he mentions to not make fun of his crummy world in our blogs – oops.. 😛 Second, he loads a world constructed like Dr. Hare’s Rabbot room (which looks pretty cool), and begins to destroy as he never got his own toy. 😉

He also mentioned that they’ve been looking at all of the submissions for the Land challenge – over 10 thousand were submitted for the dream home, and they loved every one. 😀

Anyway, tell me what you think of the frequent and random videos from the Creators in the comments below. 😀

TAFN.

-HPuterpop

P.S. What do you think of my spooky new Gravatar?

Arabian Nights Island, Labs (Land), Sneak Peeks

Best of Land’s Dream Homes & Arab genie sketch

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! The Creators have posted their top ten entries for the Dream Homes portion of the Land challenge, and I’m honored to be listed among them! ❤ In fact, you can check out the PHB post below for an in-depth tour of my “slanted fish” Land. :mrgreen:

However, I don’t want to detract from the glory of the other picks (and there are some pretty great ones!), so here’s a gallery of the chosen Lands, along with their witty captions (click to enlarge):

From Cool Sponge, here’s a Victorian-style mansion that looks like an absolutely gorgeous place to live, provided the Bates Motel is not located just down the hill.
From the one and only Friendly Fish, an abode that lives up to her name.
From Golden Lightning, a period piece that wouldn’t look out of place on Mythology Island.
From Golden Lobster, a dream home of biblical proportions — inside the belly of a whale!
From Hyper Fire, the great thing about a houseboat is that if you don’t like your neighbors, you can just pack up and leave!
From Mad Comet, a gorgeous fusion of old and new, built into a hillside. Does the League of Shadows have meetings here?
From Red Sun, a nicely organized, wonderfully appointed home. It’s move-in ready!
From Small Tiger, this one has it all: a lovely garden, comfortable accommodations, and a storeroom that will guarantee you outlast the apocalypse.
From Striped Fox, this home is distinguished by a massive telescope in the observatory, which fortunately is pointed away from the bathrooms.
From Zany Crown, this is a treehouse that stays true to its roots. Just beautiful.

Great entries, guys! And don’t feel bad if yours isn’t up there: the Creators received thousands of entries over the weekend, and they promise that they looked at every submission. The next/current theme until Oct 23 is Village, and the Creators will be announcing their favorites on Friday.

By the way, for more details on making the most of this sandbox feature, do check out the PHB’s Poptropica Labs (Land) Guide, now with a detailed chart for what you unlock at each level and how much Poptanium you need to get there! 😀

There’s also a poll on the sidebar of the Creators’ Blog asking “Who created your favorite Dream Home?” and so far, Zany Crown and her treehouse is taking the lead! These are the results:

  • Cool Sponge (7%)
  • Friendly Fish (that’s me!) (12%)
  • Golden Lightning (5%)
  • Golden Lobster (7%)
  • Hyper Fire (6%)
  • Mad Comet (10%)
  • Red Sun (4%)
  • Small Tiger (11%)
  • Striped Fox (2%)
  • Zany Crown (31%)

Also, is it just me, or are the Creators deliberately avoiding words like “contest” and “winners” for this “challenge”? Not that I have a problem with it; just an observation. What do you think? 😛

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Another behind-the-scenes sketch has popped up on Poptropica’s Twitter, and this one’s an early character sketch for the unreleased Arabian Nights, Ep. 3! From the looks of it, it’s a female genie – perhaps the one from the Sultan’s lamp? We’ll have to wait and see.

arab3 genie sketch

Speaking of Arabian Nights Island, friendly reminder that Episode 1 will be available to all this Thursday, October 23 (at least according to one of Poptropica’s tweets)! And while we’re talking about upcoming releases, Poptropica has also tweeted what’s to come for ads:

Anyway, that’s all for now! Keep on popping on, Poptropicans. 😀