Guest Posts

Get Wise about Pathwise

pathwise-tm

(Hey Poptropicans! This is a guest post written by TallMelonisCool, a Poptropica player in the community. In this post he’ll be sharing some tips for the game of Pathwise. Enjoy! –🐠)

My favorite common room game on Poptropica is Pathwise. It’s the one I’m best at, and I have some tips to share, so I thought I’d make a guest post about it. Here we go!

Tip #1: Start in the middle of the playfield.

People say that starting on your end in Pathwise makes it easier to get across to the other end.

But actually, starting right in the middle makes it easier to block the other person if they start at their end of the playfield, giving you an advantage.

Tip #2: Leave gaps in between each move.

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Move in a way where you place a tile in the middle, then place your next tile not next to your first tile, but leave gaps, like you see in the picture.

Once you get all your tiles placed like this from one end to another, it is much harder for the other player to block you. Even if they block one of the two spaces that you left in the gap, there is still more space for you to form your path!

pw2

Looking at the board above, at this point, it’s like I’ve already won!

Tip #3: When trying to block the other player, do not place your tile too close to other player’s path. Instead, build a wall.

A mistake that players make is that, when they try to block their opponent, they mostly place their tile right next to the opponent’s path. Most of the time, if the opponent is smart, they will move around that and avoid the block. But it is a lot better if you place your tile as far away as you can because you can start making a wall to block your opponent.

Well, that’s all the tips I have for being a great player at Pathwise, but do also check out the PHB’s Pathwise Guide for more tips, as well as tips in their other Game Guides. 

Now get out there and win lots of Pathwise battles! 😀

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Hope you enjoyed this guest post by TallMelonIsCool!

The PHB welcomes guest posting from anyone in our community if you have something to share, whether it be sneak peeks, My Place in Poptropica stories, or any other ideas you might have. We also encourage sharing on our subreddit and the PHC.

If you have an idea for a guest post, send it in to [email protected]! :)

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Calm Star (TealWings)

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Calm Star (TealWings), who discovered her passion for writing through browsing the Poptropica fandom. See the bottom of this post for sending in your MPIP!

mpip calmstar

2010-2012 | Early Days

I was about four or five years old when I started to play Poptropica. We were at the library, when I saw my sister playing a game on the computer. I asked her about what she was playing and she responded, “You are a baby! That tiny brain of yours can’t do anything!” Those words stung like bees.

However, when I went home that day, I decided to start a Poptropica account. My first account was called Messy Speck. I like that name because, it was so…. me. When my sister saw me playing Poptropica, she suddenly wanted to help me. She showed me what the icons meant, how to make friends, and more. Back then, I did not know how to beat a single island! I needed help, and fast. But it wasn’t until a couple of years that I figured that out.

2013-2014 | Poptropica Help Blog and Being Too Busy

I was searching one day for a website to help me beat the islands. Then, I saw my sister looking at a walkthrough. I always studied it when she was at the computer, then I found its name, Poptropica Help Blog. I immediately looked it up and clicked on it.

It gave me so much information! I would spend days on the computer, reading its tips and tricks. I was in love! Now, I used it all the time when I wanted to do something on Poptropica.

The following year, in 2014, I was super busy, so I only played on the weekends. Besides, I figured, Poptropica will never disappear… right? I was on and off Poptropica a lot, also playing other games my friends played.

Plus, my computer had a lot of viruses. Eventually, I had lost interest in Poptropica, so I quit playing.

2015 | A New Account

In 2015, I got a new account, Cool Star. My interest in Poptropica renewed, but I did not use an account to play much. Instead, I read the PHB a lot. I could not comment on the stories and posts I saw, because I did not have an email account. (Editor’s note: You can comment on the PHB without an email address – just enter a fake one!)

So, I wrote what I wanted to say on the PHB in my own journal. Because of this, I fell in love with writing. I loved the way you could express your feelings anonymously!

Pretty soon, I had three journals full of my feelings. Writing did not just become a hobby, but a passion. I wrote fiction and nonfiction articles about anything! I became addicted to writing!

At some point, I stopped playing Poptropica again. My other friends were playing new games, so I did too. I thought I’d quit Poptropica forever. I became busy with other things, so Poptropica was the least of my worries.

But I was still writing. A lot.

2016 | A New Way

In 2016, I actually found time for Poptropica. I had gotten an email account, and so, it was commenting time on the PHB!! I actually did not comment a lot – but I kept writing in my journal.

I’m now in fifth grade. And I love playing Poptropica! My username is TealWings, and my name on Poptropica is Calm Star. But I am not calm!!! I have beaten 20 islands, but not on the same account.

Also, you might see me in the common rooms! I love how you can’t say mean things on Poptropica. Why do you have to be mean to someone?

Anyway, without Poptropica, I would not have realized my passion for writing! Ok, that was awkward. Did I come on too strong? Let us keep going. I also want to say that, thanks to the PHB’s Avatar Studio Gift, I have a lot of cool costumes. Well, that’s all for now… PEACE OUT!

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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 Poptropica Help Blog

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Marci (Queen of Libraries)

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Marci (Queen of Libraries), who discovered Poptropica while on a computer in the school library. See the bottom of this post for details on sending in your own MPIP!

mpip marci

Howdy, it’s Marci. Or as I like to also refer to myself, Queen of Libraries – like the Queen of Hearts character from Alice in Wonderland, but with libraries. Anyway, that is beside the point. Let’s get on with the MPIP, eh?

The School Library

It all started in school. The school library, to be more specific. During recess time, instead of playing with the other kids, I normally went over there to read some books, hoping for the time to go by quickly. (Hey, well, I’ve never been much of a people person.) Sometimes if I felt like it, I would hop on one of the computers to play on FunBrain.

Anyway, I decided to play on FunBrain one day, and that’s how I found Poptropica. While playing one of the minigames, I spotted one of the ads. Of course, I clicked on it. And that’s how it began. I made an account (one of which I can’t remember now), and played until I beat every island (though I can’t remember how many there were at the time).

Whoopsies, Forgot About It

However, even though I thoroughly enjoyed the game, that quickly came to an end. After I beat every island, I found that I had nothing to do on Poptropica anymore. I quit and forgot about it and found other fun things to do, like draw and write (which Poptropica previously distracted me from). I also found other games like Free Realms (which is now shut down), Wizard101, Woozworld, et cetera, and played those instead.

But let’s talk about how I re-found my love for Poptropica.

My First Sleepover

A couple years later, when I was in 5th grade, I re-discovered my love for Poptropica. At the time, I had made a friend in the same grade as me. After a month or two of being friends, she asked me if I’d like to sleep over during the weekend. So we both asked our parents if I could come over during the weekend, and they said yes.

When I got there, I saw that my friend was on the home computer. I was curious, and she must have noticed, because she gave me a funny look and said, “I’m playing Poptropica.” I couldn’t help but watch. I saw her playing islands I haven’t seen before, which wasn’t surprising since I hadn’t play the game in about two years.

Finding the PHB and Finally Getting Involved

Anyway, after sleeping over, I quickly decided to play Poptropica on my laptop. It’s no surprise I instantly fell in love with the game again, like I did before. However, I did get stuck on some islands, and looked up guides on Google. Can you guess where that brought me? The PHB, of course!

Ever since I found the PHB, I haven’t quit the game. But I haven’t been actively a part of this community, either. To change that, I decided to write this MPIP.

Once the New Poptropica comes out (I still have no clue when that might be), I look forward to creating a blog myself after years of reading the opinions, theories, and news from various Poptropicans in the community.

For now, I’ll just be hanging out on the PHB Discord server from time to time, under the name “Marci//QueenOfLibraries”. I can’t promise I’ll be on much, though. I might also try to find some time to blog, if anyone would care enough to invite me to write on one.

Anyway, this is Marci signing out. Thanks for taking the time to read this post!

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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 Poptropica Help Blog

Glitches, Guest Posts

Glitch Fix: The Solution to Discolored Limbs

(Hey Poptropicans! This is a guest post written by Perfect Sky, a Poptropica player who’s also quite active in the community. In this post she’ll be sharing a solution to an unfortunate glitch. Enjoy! –🐠)

Hey everyone, it’s Perfect Sky!

So, I’m sure we have all experienced one very annoying glitch over the past couple years: the discolored arms/legs glitch. After visiting a sound-updated island (SUI), you might have noticed your Poptropican’s arm color change when you returned to a non-SUI, or entered a common room.

This glitch causes the skin tone of your Poptropican’s arms and legs to change, matching the color of the pants you wore. Usually (but not exclusively), this happens when you change your outfit while on an SUI, by using the Costumizer, or putting on a wearable item from the island. So if you were to wear blue pants on an SUI, you might find your arms turning blue!

pop_discolored_arms

Now, maybe if your Poptropican’s arms happened to turn black while wearing a black jacket, this might not look so bad. But, if your arms turn bright pink and you proceed to put on a blue shirt, this could be a major fashion disaster! We wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we? But wait, we don’t have to worry any longer, because there is a very simple way to fix this unfortunate discoloration.

The solution is quite simple, but unfortunately, this does not prevent the problem from happening again. Whatever causes this issue to occur has not yet been resolved. So you may still notice this happening nearly every time you return to an island with the old format. And I must admit, it gets pretty frustrating. But hey, at least it’s easy to fix. Here’s how.

OPTION ONE: This method goes back to an old glitch that has been used for many years. All you need to do is go to a non-SUI hold down Ctrl + Shift + S on your keyboard, which causes your Poptropican’s skin tone to change randomly. Just repeat this keyboard trick until you find your original skin tone (note: there is a limited selection). It may take a few tries to get a color you like. Once you do it, you will notice that your Poptropican’s arms and legs look normal again.

OPTION TWO: As I stated before, the first method only works with default skin tones. So, what about custom skin tones? Well, the solution is still very easy. All you need to do is remix the color. But using the free Colorizer in the New You shop on Home Island will not solve the problem, since Home Island is a SUI. Instead, you will have to purchase the Colorizer gold card from the store so it can be accessed on other islands. Once you have the Colorizer item, use it on any non-SUI to remix your custom skin tone next time your Poptropican’s arms decide they don’t want to match anymore.

And that’s it! Pretty simple, right? There’s no need to worry about those discolored arms ruining fabulous outfits any longer. Well, that’s all for now. I hope this helped!


Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Perfect Sky!

The PHB welcomes guest posting from anyone in our community if you have something to share, whether it be sneak peeks, My Place in Poptropica stories, or any other ideas you might have. We also encourage sharing on our subreddit and the PHC.

If you have an idea for a guest post, send it in to [email protected]! :)

Guest Posts, Popspiracy Theories

Popspiracy: When will New Poptropica release?

(This is a guest post by Tall Cactus, who regularly blogs on her own site, Tall Cactus’ Poptropica Blog. Please note that this post is about a theory, and not to be taken as fact. With that said, enjoy! –🐠)

popspiracy-tc-newpop

Hey Poptropicans, TC here! As you may know, last week a sneak peek for the upcoming New Poptropica was released: an animation of a monster worm. I actually think the worm is for the mysterious Crisis Caverns, which I believe could possibly be on the New Pop, but that isn’t what I want to discuss in this guest post.

Instead, I want to focus on New Pop’s release date. Like, when is it coming out? Surprisingly, there hasn’t been much revealed on the matter. More people are wondering what the content will be, not when it’s actually going to be revealed to the world. That’s why I decided to write about my theories on when the game-changing update will pop into existence…

First things first, it’s definitely coming out before the new year. The Creators have stated many, many times that we will see the New Poptropica “later this year” (2016) There is a slight chance that they won’t be able to finish before then, but I wouldn’t worry about that happening – even if it did, it would most likely just come out a couple months late, hopefully by January or February.

Right now, it’s October, and after that there are only two months left in the year. Meaning Pop 2.0 is right around the corner. At this point, it’s safe to assume it’s going to make its debut sometime in November or December, because it doesn’t look like it’ll be coming out this month. There’s too much Halloween sp00piness going on right now!

So yeah, expect it sometime in the next two months, goodbye and thanks for reading –

Wait just a minute, this needs more details! We can’t just forget about the holidays…

Because of the holidays, I doubt the New Pop will come out at the way end of December, as the Creators probably will have some time off of work, to spend time with their families just as we players do. And then there’s (American) Thanksgiving coming up on November 24th – since most of the Creators are based in the States, I’d assume they’d have some time off then, too.

As for the nearer future, I don’t necessarily think it will suddenly release in early November. They’ll probably take more time to work on it, so I doubt it’ll come out of nowhere.

That just leaves one possibility, one perfect opportunity. With the process of elimination, I can say that the New Pop will probably have a release date sometime in early to mid December. The 8th or the 15th perhaps, as Poptropica updates have a tendency to release on Thursdays. However, remember this is not a confirmed fact, so don’t be surprised if I am wrong. Until the Creators actually give out a real date, don’t go marking your (advent) calendars just yet.

Before I end this post, I’d like to say a few more things. Look, don’t worry about the New Pop. It’s not going to be bad. That worm animation was absolutely amazing and fresh, yet it stays true to the 2D Poptropica art style. New Poptropica may have some updated graphics from what we’ve seen, but I do believe it will stay the Poptropica we know and love.

I’d recommend you check out Shaky Skunk’s recent guest post for her theory about classic islands being remade in the New Poptropica, starting with 24 Carrot Island.

And with that marks the real end of this guest post. Thanks for reading – let’s get theorizing in the comments section below!

– Tall Cactus