Category: Guest Posts

Guest posts are blog posts that are written by Poptropicans who are not staff writers on the PHB team at the time of writing. Interested in contributing? Check out our “Write for the PHB” guide under the Contact tab up top.

Guest Posts, My Place in Poptropica

The Chronicles of Shiny Bird: Part 1 of 4

Slanted Fish

This is part one of a four-part extended “My Place in Poptropica” guest post series by ShinyB1rd, which details one Poptropica hero’s journey through the years. Enjoy!

Author’s Note

Hi everyone! I’m Shiny Bird, or just Shiny for short. Before we start, just a brief introduction: I’m a longtime Poptropican, been playing since 2009, but am new to this glorious community. In real life, I am a socially awkward, music loving, hipster wannabe who loves to write, play the French horn, and listen to music.

OK. Boring talk aside. Just so nobody gets confused, I somehow thought it would be cool and innovative to alternate writing in first and third person for this four-part MPIP story. I know, it’s weird since I’m literally writing about myself, but I was desperate to get out of writer’s block and this was how I did it, so whatever, that’s that, I’ll stop talking—ENJOY.

Prelude

Once upon a time, ten years ago in a school long forgotten… There dwelled bright, young, sophisticated little children. They all lived in harmony with one another. Everyone knew each other; they were all friends, and peace was prominent in the lands.

But lurking in the shadows was a particularly strange one. He was unusually silent; someone who separated himself from the rest; someone easy to flout.

One breezy winter, the children at the school were ordered to retreat inside the building for recess. Everyone settled comfortably inside the classroom, all except one boy. The boy thought this was going to be another boring, secluded recess. But that all soon changed.

He noticed an unusual crowd of kids gathering around a computer. Curious, he went to investigate. He saw a game. An unusual one indeed. A blue screen, little people, and what seems to be quite the adventure. Above all, there lay the majestic title: Poptropica.

The boy returned home with the name engraved in his head. Poptropica. Poptropica. Poptropica. He rushed to the computer, turned it on, and did a quick Google search. Before he knew it, he was staring at a blue screen with little people running across it, and the all too familiar word: Poptropica. He clicked on “new player,” created his Poptropican, and hopped on the yellow blimp. A story had just begun… What he didn’t know was that this story would continue to be written for more than a decade.

First Impressions

Once the game loaded, the boy was confronted with a map. There seemed to be various unique quests to choose from, each presenting a new challenge. But which one should he start with? “Spy Island” sounded interesting. There was also this new island that was coming soon with a cool name: “Astro-Knights Island.” But none of that mattered after he saw something else that sounded cooler: “Super Hero Power Island.”

Upon entering the island, he soon discovered that the island was in danger of mutant escapees from a prison that somehow didn’t get obliterated (along with the entire island) after a radioactive meteorite (that’s still pretty intact) struck it. (#Poptropica logic!)

Though a stranger to the island, he soon assumed the role of a superhero and convinced the police to let him fight criminals with literal superpowers and with a totally 100% authentic “Super Hero ID” obtained from some shady dude who owned a superhero costume store. Luckily, the criminals had -10 IQ so he dealt with them with ease. The boy hacked and slashed through each one of the challenges, and saving the island felt like a breeze.

With just over 25 minutes of experience and a one-sentence-long master class from some loner retired superhero under his belt, nothing could stop him. All the prisoners were sent back to the slammer, and the island medallion was within his grasp. But then the unthinkable happened: Ned Noodlehead claimed the medallion, and he demanded a hot dog to trade it.

The boy had met his match. All these years of training finally put to the test. A final boss battle. Typical, he thought to himself. This shouldn’t take no more than a couple minutes!

5 minutes later: Ugh, where do you find a hot dog around here?

30 minutes later: Okay this is getting ridiculous.

1 hour later: WHERE IS IT OH MY FJDHFDJKSLDS–

3 hours later: *bangs head on table*

One eternity later: OkaY. I giVe uP… i suRreNDe– “Hey, want a free hot dog?–Here have a free hot dog!” says the man standing next to a hot dog stand.

At 7 years old, simply noticing a picture of a hot dog plastered on the side of a cart was hard enough for the boy who’d just had the medallion he deserved swiped by a superhero-wannabe / comic bookstore owner. Finally, overjoyed by his victory, he did some lame dance to Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly Now.” In that moment, he felt something greater than joy: he had passion.

A Poptropican is Born

WAIT. He stopped himself before closing the game. In order to save his hard-earned progress, he realized, he had to create an account. So he clicked the “Save” button and got to thinking up a username. Favorite video game? HALO!… But that’s too simple… Hmmmm… Ah! My favorite character: The Arbiter! Oh wait, that’s taken…  ummm… “Arbiter213”? Perfect!

Lo and behold, a bird is born. But ladies and gentlemen, this isn’t just any bird—nonononono you don’t understand—it’s a Shiny Bird.

For the next couple of months, Shiny Bird would spend countless hours conquering each and every island that he set afoot. He traveled through time, saved the world from going bald, defeated some weirdo carrot addict in a pink bunny suit, brought peace among the seas of Skullduggery, traveled through space in a cool spaceship—et cetera, et cetera, et cetera! Peace and order would soon be spread in all of Poptropica, thanks to this adventurer.

The End…?

Shiny walks slowly out of the ruins of a steampunk island: he had once again saved the day. In fact, he’d saved all of Poptropica!

But now, he was desolate. Flooded in dismal. His glee had worn out. He had done everything he had ever wanted to do. His destiny was fulfilled. Why continue on when you have nothing left to do?

So right then, the boy said goodbye to his little hero, logged out, and shut down the computer. Shiny Bird was set down to his final resting place. He had brought peace to Poptropica. Now it was he who would be receiving it.

For now…

Hope you enjoyed part one of this “My Place in Poptropica” story! Stay tuned for the next few parts of the Chronicles of Shiny Bird, coming soon to the PHB.

If you haven’t already, we invite you to send in your own (and they don’t have to be as long as this one!). Please include your username and a minimum of 500 words, typed with good spelling and grammar, and divided into labeled sections. If you send in your story, we will continue to post new community MPIPs!

Interested in writing for the PHB under a different Pop-topic? Take a look at our Write for the PHB page for ideas, guidelines, and more. We’d love to hear from you!

~the Poptropica Help Blog

Guest Posts

What makes a Poptropica island?

Slanted Fish

This is a guest post by Bony Bones, who’s examining just what exactly makes a Poptropica adventure count as an “island.” The following is his opinion only. Enjoy!

Hello Poptropicans, this is Bony Bones. I’ve frequented this blog, reading, commenting, and occasionally guest posting, so you might’ve seen me around.

Today I’m popping in to discuss exactly what makes an island, an island. There has been some debate over whether certain quests should be granted full-island status or just be labeled as mini-quests. 

The islands/quests that I believe are up for debate are: Legendary Swords, Snagglemast, Realms, Monkey Wrench, Haunted House, Home, the Blimp Adventure, and each individual episode of the episodic adventures. Here are my reasons for why I believe an island is, or is not, an island:

1) It’s on the map

One of the most recognizable traits that a quest is an island is that it is accessible from the Poptropica island map. Being able to travel somewhere with your blimp, and not via store card, menu button, etc., certainly classifies an island as a full adventure. All of the aforementioned islands have been on the map at one point, besides Blimp Adventure.

2) You earn a medallion

As reminded by Jim Probably of Reality TV: Wild Safari, earning a medallion is “a Poptropica thing.” It’s the cherry on top of the island cake. This knocks off Snagglemast, Haunted House, and the Home Island as full islands, and it would have knocked off Legendary Swords if a medallion hadn’t been added recently.

3) It has a complete and recognizable story

Though every good story leaves loose-ends untied for good reason, it still must be a complete adventure to be considered a full island. I mainly included this attribute to recognize that, while you may get a medallion after each episode in an episodic adventure, each episode is a part of a greater whole.

4) The Creators recognize it as an island

For quite some time, until recently, there was a list of Poptropica islands on the Poptropica.com home page. This was a good place to determine what was an island, which included everything from Early Poptropica to Monkey Wrench.

5) It’s less game, more plot

Even if an island does have a recognizable story, as I mentioned earlier, it must be more story-oriented than game-oriented. In the case of Legendary Swords, because the quest originated as an “action-quest” (basically a fancy way to say it was a little bit more than just a mini-quest), and therefore it does not have an island-style story.

The “game” aspects, with the health bar, the choice of weapons, and the waves of bad guys to fight, stand out more than the plot.

6) It must be located on the planet of Poptropica

Though there are some islands, such as Astro Knights and Lunar Colony, that take place on other planets (or moons) — and others, such as Super Villain and Time Tangled, that take place within Poptropica, but within dreams or another time period, the beginning of every island’s story must begin on Poptropica itself. As we saw from islands like Lunar Colony, Poptropica is a planet made up of various islands.

Therefore, with these attributes in mind, there are 47 fully-fledged islands, from Early Poptropica to Reality TV: Wild Safari, including Monkey Wrench but not including any of the others mentioned at the beginning of this post.

I hope this helped clear up any confusion about what really counts as an island. Feel free to comment any attributes that you think should be added to this list or any quests that you feel are up for debate.

Thanks for letting me pop in (I really need to learn some new pop puns). See you guys around!

—Bony Bones

Hope you enjoyed this Pop Petition guest post by Bony Bones! If you did, be sure to check out his other PHB guest post, “Pop It, Lock It”!

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our page on how to Write for the PHB, and share blog posts on the PHC.

📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨

Guest Posts, Pop Petitions, PoptropiCon Island

Pop Petition: Make Mighty Action Force multiplayer

Slanted Fish

This is a guest post by Beefy Penguin (username: Durbadal) petitioning for Mighty Action Force, the card game from PoptropiCon Island, to be made into a multiplayer game for the Arcade. Enjoy!

Hi there, fellow Poptropicans. I’m Beefy Penguin, and I just finished the PoptropiCon trilogy. My favorite part? Mighty Action Force.

For those who don’t know, or need a refresher, Mighty Action Force is a Trading Card Game (TCG), which is a game where you collect different cards or trade them with others to build a deck and compete against others).

Now, I am a TCG fan (I play Cardfight Vanguard, a world-famous trading
card game), so when I saw the Mighty Action Force TCG, I felt that the
game deserved much more care and focus in the world of Poptropica.

So here’s what I’m petitioning: MAF should be released as a multiplayer TCG in the Arcade, so players can collect cards and compete with each other. (In fact, they should make a special room just for this game!)

A collection of Mighty Action Force cards.

Each player would have a basic deck, but that could be just the beginning. Single cards and booster packs could be obtained through quests, mini-games, trades, or purchased through credits. With so many characters on Poptropica, the possibilities for new cards are endless.

The game would be played against other players, head-to-head, in real time. A few new rules could be introduced to this game, like a clan system, the ability to boost your action with the power of another card, and to be able to defend against opponents’ attacks with the cards in one’s hand.

Poptropica has a lot of games in the Arcade—but nothing like this. It would be a great addition to the player experience, so I’d love to see it happen.

Until next time, stay popping!

Beefy Penguin out.

Hope you enjoyed this Pop Petition guest post by Beefy Penguin! If you did, be sure to check out our other Pop Petitions!

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our page on how to Write for the PHB, and share blog posts on the PHC.

📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨

Guest Posts, Pop Petitions

Pop Petition: Unlock all islands

Slanted Fish

This is a guest post by Incredible Hamburger (username: popguy6) petitioning for all islands, especially member-locked islands, to be made available to all. Enjoy!

Hey there, I’m Incredible Hamburger! (But not the kind of hamburger you would have for dinner…)

The reason I’m writing this Pop Petition is to convince the Poptropica team to make all membership-locked islands playable for non-members too. You know, the ones that say on the map when you roll over them, “demo for non-members.” I think a demo’s not enough, and here’s why:

First, there are kids like me who for one reason or another can’t get a membership. For me, it’s because my parents won’t let me pay for anything, because the cost is not in our budget. If I tried to buy a membership, they’d probably ban me from playing the game altogether! (Yes, Poptropica membership costs less than other games, but still.)

Besides, I really want to play the Wimpy Kid islands, Wimpy Wonderland and Wimpy Boardwalk. They’re the best! The graphics are very fun — they’re in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid style, so it feels like you are actually there. And the gameplay is even more fun. Your character (Poptropican) can talk to Greg, Manny, Rowley, Grandpa, Gramma, and more Wimpy Kid characters! Jeff Kinney really created something magical with Wimpy Kid.

On that note, I could say the rest of the member-locked islands have a similar effect, too. The members-only islands are all sponsored islands, meaning they’re based on other franchises, such as the Magic Tree House books for Red Dragon Island. Again, Poptropica makes it feel like you’re actually there in those worlds and with those characters (like Big Nate, Greg Heffley, Charlie Brown, and more). That’s why I love Poptropica so much, and I’d even say I feel like life is Poptropica.

It’s true that there are a couple of sponsored islands that are accessible to all (Timmy Failure and Galactic Hot Dogs), and I sure hope it stays that way. I’d also love to see a Captain Underpants Island in the future. But the point is, everyone should get to play every island.

So, Poptropica Creators, please: make the islands open to all! There are lots of people like me who just don’t have the means to get a membership, but would love to play every island, especially the ones that are currently locked for non-members. Give us a chance at them, too!

Until next time! Buh-bye! Incredible Hamburger out… for dinner. 🍔

—IH

Hope you enjoyed this Pop Petition guest post by Incredible Hamburger! If you did, be sure to check out our other Pop Petitions!

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our page on how to Write for the PHB. We also encourage sharing blog posts on the PHC.

📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨

Guest Posts, PHB Specials

PHB Special: Unsatisfying Island Endings

Slanted Fish

This is a guest post by Comical Carrot about island quests with unsatisfying endings. Note: Spoilers abound. Enjoy!

Hi, I’m Comical Carrot!

To me, the best part about completing an island in Poptropica is the satisfying feeling of saving people or solving a mystery. Most of the islands have intense and fun endings, like the Mystery Train chase scene, or the defeat of El Mustachio in Wild West. However, there are certain islands with unsettling and unsatisfying endings, where the player is confused, frustrated, and overall sad… and that’s the topic of this post.

Bonus Quest Endings

Sometimes, an island doesn’t just end at the end—there are bonus quests! People who aren’t members might relate to the frustration, since these bonus bits are for members only.

Twisted Thicket

In this island, you spend a ton of time trying to figure out the secret and mystery in the heart of the magical forest. The climax and most intense part is when the player has to destroy and slow down all the construction vehicles in order to prevent them from killing the forest and its creatures. After the player stops the construction, you feel happy to have saved the forest.

But wait! The special orb of the forest is cracked and is missing pieces. In order to collect the pieces, you have to do the BONUS QUEST!

I remember seeing this (as a nonmember) and feeling super frustrated and guilty as I saw the poor forest creatures fading away and desperate for help. The island isn’t truly finished and you can’t say that you have saved them at all. It’s not conclusive, and you pretty much can’t progress any further without membership.

Poptropolis Games

In this island, you compete in an Olympic-like competition and need to win first place overall in order to beat the island. After you’ve won as many games as you can and come out on top, you are awarded the medallion. Yay! You’re a winner and the best Poptropican athlete of all time.

But wait! There’s some grumpy old guy who wants to battle you for the title! And… it’s a bonus quest. Seeing this, the nonmember players know that they haven’t really finished the island and they can’t really claim their recognition properly.

There are other islands that could fit this inaccessible bonus ending category, too, like in Vampire’s Curse when you’re hunted, or saving the oil spill in SOS Island. But Poptropolis Games and Twisted Thicket are the more frustrating ones, in my opinion.

Cheated Endings

These are the endings where you feel cheated out of your hard work and victory by another character swooping in to be the “hero.”

Vampire’s Curse

Here you’ve risked your life and entered the lair of the vampire, found a cure, and rescued Katya. Who gets the praise in the end? Katya’s sleazy boyfriend, Christopher!

Yes, you do get the medallion, but Katya barely even thanks you! Not only did he want to get away from his girlfriend, but he also took all the credit for your hard work? What do you get in return? A medallion that the vampire dropped and a weird hunter coming for your life. Great.

(Big Nate Island also ends like this, where you don’t get the credit for discovering the treasure, but you still at least get the medallion in the end…)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

After surprisingly getting a golden ticket, the player ventures into the Willy Wonka chocolate factory, where they pass multiple tests and save the lives of the other kid contestants. You even save Charlie in the end! So who gets the key to the factory? Not you — Charlie!

Now I know this is kind of a stretch as the player doesn’t need the factory since they are an adventurer who just wants to help others out while Charlie and his family needs the money. (Also in the original story, your character obviously isn’t in it, let alone wins the factory.) This one wasn’t as bad as the other endings in this category, I think.

Super Power

I’m not even going to talk too much about this island. You do the hard work of defeating every villain in a unique and clever way, and do MOST of the work in defeating Betty Jetty. But who gets the credit and the medallion? Ned Noodlehead!

In the end, you still get the medallion, but not because the citizens of the island think you deserve it, but because you traded it for a simple hotdog. All your hard work was just as special as a plain old hotdog.

Weird Endings

And these are the endings where you have no idea what just happened…

Lunar Colony

In Lunar Colony, after finally meeting up with Salerno and almost saving her, she vanishes into another dimension. Once you come back to Earth, you see Salerno in some other planet or world, with unsettling things in the background. Sure, she made it to her dream destination, but the player is left with the concern of whether or not she will survive.

I remember seeing this, wondering what just happened, and how she even can communicate back to Earth. But at least people are now interested in space again…?

Nabooti

The ending of this island wasn’t so much concerning and unsettling, but it definitely was weird. The entire statue that you worked hard to place the sacred gems back into is… an alien? Yeah, I was super shocked by this but it was kind of cool and gave the island a unique vibe.

Other islands that could fit this section would be the subpar Back Lot Island movie at the end, and the fascinating but strange ending to the Mission Atlantis trilogy.

So that’s it for this post! Let me know what other bad endings to Poptropica islands you’d add to this list. To be fair, these bad endings aren’t actually so bad, since the islands themselves were fun and exhilarating to do.

Also, I’m considering buying a membership! Will doing the bonus quests help fill the frustration from the bonus quest ending islands? Let me know!

—Comical Carrot

Hope you enjoyed this PHB Special guest post by Comical Carrot! If you did, be sure to check out our other PHB specials!

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our page on how to Write for the PHB. We also encourage sharing blog posts on the PHC.

📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨