Category: Contests

A message from Slanted Fish, creator of the PHB

Wow. Ten years. A whole decade of the PHB.

Ten years since a little girl of 11 (me from the past) discovered the untaken WordPress URL that started this blog — poptropica.wordpress.com. Ten years since the release of Super Power Island, the fifth Poptropica island, and the first island to get a guide on the PHB. Ten years since she started blogging about a then-small game and clicking publish, many times over—the words traveling from an apartment in Hong Kong to reach millions of kids all over the world. The rest, as they say, is history.

We’ve shared a lot of fun memories over the years—this blog has celebrated in Poptropica parties like the one we just had, hosted contests (like the Poppies), and gotten to talk with some cool Pop Creators. We’ve brought you exciting news of island releases over 50 times and grieved with you when Poptropica wasn’t shaping up. And we’ve had the delight of sharing your amazing creations, making meme faces out of your Poptropicans, publishing your guest posts, hanging out on the chat… and more.

Perhaps it sounds clichéd, but it’s much more than I dreamed of when I first started blogging. I simply started out of a desire to write—to help others with the power of words, which I put into guides that, back then, didn’t even have pictures; to share a joy for a simple game that I watched become a pretty big and beautiful enterprise. I couldn’t imagine where it would go, and I still don’t know where it will go. And that’s okay.

Ten years ago a kid who’d just finished elementary school started a website for fellow kids to share in a common joy. Today I’m just a couple of semesters shy of an English degree, in part because this community gave me a platform to nurture a little creativity and love for the written word. And I hope it’s been a place of joy for you, too.

Thank you to every Poptropican out there who’s been a part of the PHB journey. It’s been pretty great, and 32 million views later, we’re still making history. There is good in the world, and we can all be a part of it. Here’s to a poppin’ decade. ❤️

Slanted Fish
Editor-in-chief, Poptropica Help Blog

During the party, the PHB staff hosted a livestream to announce the winners of this year’s Poppies. You can revisit it in the video above, or look down for the results:

And the Poppies Awards for 2018 go to…

• Best Poptropica Worlds Island: Greek Sea Odyssey (runner-up: 24 Carrot)
• Best Poptropica Worlds Character: Dr. Hare (runner-up: Beatrice & Hazel)
• Most Educational Island: Time Tangled (runner-up: Mythology)
• Best Accessory: Shrink Ray Gun (runner-up: Lightning Staff)
• Most Evil Poptropica Villain: Zeus (runner-up: Myron Van Buren)
• Best PHB Author: Brave Tomato (runner-up, by one vote: Lucky Joker)
• Best PHB Series: Community Creations (runner-up: Pop Fan Artist Spotlights)
• Best Ask Blog: Your friendly neighbor art thief, blackwidowpoptropica (runner-up: Welcome… Eh Whatever, ask-director-d)
• Best Fan Art of 2018: “Alice and Fierce Fox” by POP-whitewolf (runner-up: “Train to Zomberry Island” by ANNE14TCO)
• Best Poptropica Portfolio: Jessica Devine, aka Skinny Moon (runner-up: Mitch Krpata, aka Captain Crawfish)

That’s 10 for 10 years, folks! Thanks for all your nominations, votes, joining us at the party—and, even if you didn’t do those things, thanks, at least, for being a part of the Poptropica community and our PHB adventures. We’re glad you’re here. 💙

Best Fan Art nominee gallery

One visual representation of the wonder of the Pop community is the fan art it produces. To celebrate that, we’re including this gallery of this year’s “Best Fan Art” nominees:

“Alice and Fierce Fox” by POP-whitewolf

“Train to Zomberry Island” by ANNE14TCO

“i bet y’all weren’t expecting THIS” by napstachill

“Pisces” by ArtisticAsianBunny

“The Flight” by happyclonetrooper

“The day he lost everything” by epiphxny

“Black Widow” by Happy Lobster

“POP: .:S A V E T H E W O R L D:.” by criaha

Thanks for popping by on the Poptropica Help Blog!

Here’s to ten years. Cheers. 🍻

— the PHB —

The voting poll is now closed. Join us at our livestream party to hear the results!

Come, all you people… The Poppies are in town, and it’s time for the voting round!

Not sure what’s going on? You should probably get caught up on what the Poppies are!

As I was saying, your nominations in the previous round have been tallied up and the 2018 Poppies hype intensifies as we enter the…

VOTING ROUND!

In this round, you, the awesome fans and viewers, will get the opportunity to vote for who or what you think deserves to take home an epic, golden Poppies trophy! How exciting!

Okay, here’s how it goes down: You’ll have 10 categories, each with several of the most popular nominations as options to choose from. Note that a couple categories (Best Poptropica Worlds Island and Best PHB Author) have been automatically set, so you may not have caught them in the Nomination Round.

The Voting Round ends next week, on Wednesday, July 25. So without further hesitation, open up our poll and vote, vote, vote!

Then, start putting together your snazziest outfit and mark you calendars for the party of a lifetime on July 26, 7 p.m. Eastern time, in which we’ll be announcing the winners via livestream while celebrating the PHB’s 10th anniversary on Poptropica and the PHC! (More details about the party here.)

So until then, stay tuned for more Poppies news, and don’t forget…

✨ Vote now for your faves in the Poppies! ✨

See ya on the blue carpet!

Nominations are now closed. Stay tuned for the Voting Round!

Roll up to the blue carpet, Poptropicans… The Poppies are upon us!

🏆 What are the Poppies? 🏆

The Poppies are an annual Poptropica community awards event, hosted by Poptropica fans for Poptropica fans. This will be our fourth year celebrating, and as always, we welcome you to participate in the festivities and tell us where you think the spotlight deserves to shine in all things Poptropica.

First, we begin with the nomination round where you get to nominate your favorite picks for certain award categories. This round starts today (Thursday, July 12) and will end next Wednesday, July 18.

Then on the following day, July 19, comes the voting round, which lasts for a week.

This will culminate into the big day on July 26, when we’ll celebrate the PHB’s 10th birthday with a party on the Poptropica Help Chat (PHC). At the event, we’ll be announcing the winners via livestream as we hang out in multiverse rooms! More details on the party will be announced as the end of the voting round approaches.

Part I: Nomination Round

Today marks the start of the nomination round. Each award category will be announced below and followed by a brief description. To keep the nominations a surprise, you’ll be putting your choices in our survey anonymously (though you could reveal your identity if you choose).

Please limit your nominations to a max of three per award. Also, you’re not required to nominate for every category, though it is encouraged!

Keep in mind that some of these categories are applicable to both Poptropica Worlds and Original Poptropica.The awards for the taking this year are:

Poptropica Gameplay Awards

Best Poptropica Worlds Island: There are only a few islands on Worlds thus far, but even out of the few, one has to be the best. Which island had the best storyline? The best scenery? The best soundtrack? Since there are only a few islands on Worlds, they are all automatically nominated.

Best Poptropica Worlds Character: “Best” is a pretty broad term, but it’s definitely not a bad thing—that gives a wider range of characters to choose from! Many new characters have been introduced in Worlds already, but whether it’s a coin-giving pirate, a crazy lady in a carrot costume, or a purple-haired emo teen, which one stands out to you the most?

Most Educational Island: One of Poptropica’s primary goals from the get-go was not only to entertain but to educate as well. Out of the 40+ islands between both games, which one do you feel you learned the most from?

Best Accessory: Whether it’s a rare handheld item from Poptropica Original or one of those color-changing gadgets from Poptropica Worlds, what’s the coolest accessory every Poptropican should have in their closet?

Most Evil Poptropica Villain: Over the years, Poptropica has seen some pretty mean-spirited characters perverting the name of justice. From the carrot-nabbing, slave-driving Dr. Hare to the Booted Bandit trying to frame you for a crime you didn’t commit, which villain takes the prize for being the absolute worst to your Poptropican?

Community Awards

Best PHB Author: We have a great team of staff writers who work diligently to put out entertaining, interactive, and informative content, and we’re all very different. The current staff includes Slanted Fish, Brave Tomato, Spotted Dragon, Lucky Joker, Fierce Flyer, and Sporty Boa—and we’re all automatically nominated!

Best PHB Series: Throughout the years, many unique and fun series have made their way onto the Poptropica Help Blog. Whether it’s still ongoing or a thing of the past, which ones have you enjoyed the most?

Best Ask Blog: Past Poppies have had category for fan sites, but this year we’re focusing it on a growing trend in the Poptropica community known as ask blogs, which are fan blogs in which Poptropicans can send in questions for the appointed “owner” of the blog—a Poptropica character—to answer. You can find many of these in the #Poptropica ask tag on Tumblr, among other places.

Best Fan Art of 2018: Many Poptropican artists have created stunning masterpieces throughout the year so far, but which of them deserves the title of “best”? Our DeviantArt group page and Community Creations posts are great places to start searching for fan art! This category looks for works that were created/published in the year 2018 only, to give the more active artists a chance at the award.

Best Poptropica Portfolio: Our amazing Poptropica community wouldn’t be complete without the works of Poptropica Creators, who’ve helped build this game into what it is. We’ve featured several Creators’ portfolios on the PHB, showcasing the stunning visual or written work integral to Poptropica—but who did it best?

Well, there you have it—10 awards for 10 years of the PHB. Can you believe it’s been a whole decade since the PHB began?

Remember, the voting round starts next Wednesday, and next week’s poll options will be based on the most popular nominations. So, be sure to keep on popping in to keep pace with the Poppies going on throughout this month! In the meantime…

✨ Place your nominations now! ✨

Have fun!