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The Islands of 2010 – Ranked 15 Years Later 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣0️⃣

February 23, 2025February 24, 2025 LJ

Howdy Poptropicanos! 🤟 This is LJ, and today I will be ranking the islands from 2010, which are celebrating their 15th anniversary this year. It’s crazy to realize how long ago these were released, isn’t it? I believe that the islands from 2010 highlight some of Poptropica’s best work, and I can’t wait to get into it. Let’s begin!

Please note that this is not a comprehensive review of each island; therefore, the analysis will be concise.

#7: Steamworks Island ⚙️

(Released for members on August 12 & all players on September 9)

Placing Steamworks Island in the last position may attract some flack as it seems to be pretty popular among many players. In all honesty, though, my recollection of this island is rather limited. 😬 I believe I’ve only played Steamworks on two occasions: once shortly after its initial release and another time during Poptropica’s Hall of Fame competition.

I can recall a few elements, however, such as Sprocket being a supportive companion and the very challenging boss battle, both of which I like looking back. Still, I wasn’t fond of the lonesome experience throughout most of the gameplay, but I’m willing to admit I was probably just too young to fully appreciate the intricacies of this island at the time. Perhaps I should’ve played it more, but ultimately, Steamworks Island stands at seventh place on this list. 3/10 mech cranks. (I’m so sorry y’all.) 🫣

#6: Great Pumpkin Island 🎃

(Released for members on September 30 & all players on October 14)

The Peanuts franchise is a source of comfort for me, as I’ve enjoyed several of its television specials and feature films repeatedly over the years. 😊 Great Pumpkin Island effectively mirrors the classic “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” special, and I sincerely appreciate the TLC the creators put into bringing the wonderful world of Peanuts into Poptropica.

The gameplay is brief, but it’s packed with various games and engaging moments that make for a very enjoyable time. I would like to rank it higher (compared to its placement in the Halloween ranking), but the competition is strong this year. 6/10 great pumpkins! 🙂

#5: Skullduggery Island 🏴‍☠️

(Released for members on May 20 & all players on June 17)

The next entry on this list is the unique adventure that is Skullduggery Island. I feel like Skullduggery tends to divide opinions sharply; players either love it or hate it. Personally, I find myself firmly in the camp of those who like it. 😀

Much of the gameplay involves traversing the seas, trading various goods, recruiting crew members and upgrading ship models. While this process requires some patience that sometimes I don’t even have, upgrading to a new ship gave me a rush like no other, haha. 😁

Encountering storms, enemy ships, and sea creatures while sailing around was somewhat nerve-wracking but overall remained fun. Plus, the trading aspect was enjoyable and educational for me. The diversity of the landscapes was also impressive, as each mini-island seemed to represent a different region of the real world. There are a lot of things I like about this one! 7/10 doubloons!

#4: Cryptids Island 👣

(Cryptids Island was released for members on December 20, 2010 & all players on January 18, 2011. For the sake of ranking all of the islands as quickly as I can, I’ll be including it in this list as opposed to waiting to tackle the year 2011.)

Like Steamworks Island, this island is one that I surprisingly neglected during my childhood, which is pretty baffling to me given that its premise seems like something I would’ve instantly gravitated towards. The pursuit of the world’s most popular cryptids in order to prove their existence seems to be a perfect concept for a Poptropica island.

I’m very glad that I made the decision to revisit this one a couple of times in 2020 because I really took a liking to it. 👍 The mini-games were entertaining, the landscapes were appealing, and the Jersey Devil jump scare remains memorable to this day. 8/10 footprints for Cryptids Island!

#3: Reality TV Island 📺

(Released for members on February 24, 2010 & all players on March 24, 2010)

Reality TV Island had me hooked right from the trailer. The idea of being on a TV show and becoming a star was so cool to me back then. 🌟 I remember investing in a considerable amount of time to make sure my application was flawless in order to secure a spot on the show. (Spoiler: you always get accepted, lol)

The island was packed with a fun cast of eccentric characters that I personally fell in love with. (I even made paper dolls of them so I could play RTV irl with my cousins!) While a majority of them weren’t super fleshed out, each had their own little quirks that became apparent by reading their dialogue if you decided to click on them.😜 We also got a handful of guest appearances from fan favorite villains like Betty Jetty and Dr. Hare to pick up any slack.

I thought most of the games on the island were a total blast! While some, such as Water Run and Coconut Catch, could be somewhat irritating, overall, it was a fun and thrilling experience. (I actually got pretty decent at Water Run eventually.) The worst part about this island, though, was if you ever got trapped in a relentless cycle of being voted off the show, like I did – especially if you were super close to winning. GAHHH. 😂 Regardless, I give Reality TV Island 9/10 coconuts!

#2: Counterfeit Island 🎨

(Released for members on December 21, 2009 & all players on January 4, 2010. For the same reason as with Cryptids Island, I’m including it here.)

In contrast to Reality TV, Counterfeit Island introduced a couple of unforgettable characters, such as the devious art thief Black Widow and the pitiable, ever-drifting Balloon Boy. Talk about Poptropica icons! 👌

Moments I found enjoyable include analyzing the art in the museum, utilizing the x-ray device, and the scooter chase with the shady cop. I also found the plot twist surprising and well executed. (This was before I spoke French and could understand that “Veuve Noire” means “Black Widow”.)

Fun Fact: Counterfeit Island marked the first instance where you needed to travel to another island in order to complete it. It wouldn’t be until Rumpel’s side quest, which came more than a decade later, that we’d see this again. 🤓 That aspect always made Counterfeit interesting to me, alone. I was simply blown away.

Counterfeit Island is indeed a masterpiece. 9.5/10 paint palettes!

#1: Mythology Island 🌩️

(Released for members on April 1 & all players on April 29)

Where do I even begin with Mythology Island? This was the first island I ever played on its release day as a member which contributes a bit to my fond memories of this one. Mythology Main Theme is also one of my favorite soundtracks in the game which adds a few bonus points. 😏

As a kid, I developed a profound fascination with Greek mythology, entirely because of my playthrough of Mythology Island! I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the various deities and encountering them (such as Hades, Athena, Aphrodite, etc.) was even cooler. The narrative was compelling, the characters were memorable, the scenery was exquisite, and the gameplay provided a meaningful educational component without being excessive. In essence, everything was perfect in my opinion. 😄

I, like almost everybody I knew, felt really disappointed when Poptropica transferred Mythology over to Haxe. It’s as if numerous elements that made the island truly remarkable were discarded in favor of a more simple, straightforward experience. (Not my Poptropica! 😤) Nonetheless, the original version will forever hold a special place in my heart as one of my all-time favorite islands, not just in 2010, but across the entirety of the game. 💚 10/10 starfish!

Wowie, what a year! In tandem with 2011 and 2012, it definitely represents a peak period for Poptropica. I can’t wait to do those upcoming years later…

Were you able to play any of these islands? I’m curious to know which one you liked best and which one you liked the least. Please share your opinions in the comments down below. ⬇️

Also, check out my other rankings of the Poptropica Islands if you’re interested: 2008, 2009, 2013 & 2014. Until next time, pop on! 🍀

Comics, Fanfiction, PoptropiCon Island

Piñata Man: A Poptropica Fan Comic 💥🪅

February 13, 2025 Magic Kid

Piñata Man is a quirky, wanna-be superhero whose dream is to prove himself to the Mighty Action Force! This comic follows a silly adventure of his, in which he attempts to save The Wizard’s soda which is stuck in the evil vending machine! Will he be able to do it or… will he fail terribly?

BONUS! Here’s my comic making process:

First, I get the script for the page I’m working on (the amount of times I lost it while working on this was actually insane). Using that as a guide, I make a messy doodle of what I want the panel to look like.

Second, I ink the panels. Not much to that.

Then (third), I roughly sketch out the characters. For some reason I decided to use pink for all my sketches and stuck with it the whole comic 😛

Fourth, I ink the comic and detail the characters!

Unlike the other pages, I gave this one a black background to make it ✨EXTRA DRAMATIC✨

Fifth, I color the characters and the backgrounds! The colors I used for the characters were not the actual colors of them in-game — I used simpler, brighter colors to make it easy on me to draw. 😀

Finally, I add shadows and highlights to help bring these silly guys to life!

For the rest of the pages I added speech bubbles for the very last step. But for this page there is no dialogue, so I just added a white outline on the evil soda machine.

And that’s my process! Now repeat all of that 11 times over the course of two and a half months, and you get this comic! 🥳

Thank you so much for reading this comic! It was a lot of fun to make and I hope that y’all enjoyed it. 😄

Over n’ Out!

~Magic Kid

Ghost Story Island, Great Pumpkin Island, Islands, Mini Quests, Monster Carnival Island, Uncategorized, Vampire's Curse Island, Zomberry Island

Ranking the Halloween-Adjacent Islands 🦇

November 2, 2024November 2, 2024 LJ

Howdy, spooptropicans! Halloween may be behind us, but I’m here to prolong the excitement for just a little longer as today I’m going to rank all of the Halloween-related islands in Poptropica.

There are six islands that I believe fit the bill perfectly due to their spoopy nature; a couple of them are even directly themed around Halloween, such as the beloved Haunted House mini-quest, which will also be included in this list albeit not a full-fledged island. (Because duh, right? 😄) Now let’s get started! (Spoilers warning)

#6) Haunted House 🪦

I feel a bit guilty including this one only to put it at the end, but it just doesn’t stack up against the rest. It lacks a lot of substance which makes sense since it is a mini-island after all. That said, Haunted House definitely gives off those lovely OG Poptropica vibes that I appreciate, especially since it’s from 2009. I enjoyed riding around on the broomstick, solving a few puzzles, and seeing all the classic monster costumes at the party too.

#5) Great Pumpkin 🎃

I really like the “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” special and the island is no different. The cartoon was greatly adapted into the world of Poptropica. It’s short and sweet, but effective in its plot and depicting the characters accurately. Great Pumpkin is a cute, light-hearted island filled with many games and tidbits that make for a very fun play. My favorite parts were the ones with Snoopy. There’s also a Halloween party in this one as well some trick-or-treating involved. Perfect!

#4) Vampire’s Curse 🧛

(I felt really proud of myself after completing this one and memorizing exactly how to do it with every subsequent playthrough. 🤓) Although Vampire’s Curse might not be the most thrilling experience, it is quite complex—and being alone in Bram’s secluded castle definitely cranks up the scare factor. The artists really outdid themselves with this gorgeous island. The largely monochromatic color scheme is oddly satisfying, and the gothic buildings paired with the ominous thunder and rain create a lot of visual appeal. There’s also a romance plot that is both dramatic and sentimental woven here. However, I think the next island tells a romance story that is even better…

#3) Ghost Story 👻

There are so many eerie places on Ghost Story that keep you on your toes as if you’re just waiting for a jump scare—especially the cemetery. And let’s be real, hearing Fiona’s voice from behind you was startling. While the setting itself is cool, it isn’t anything extraordinary; That’s not always a bad thing though. The true highlight of this island is its storytelling. The emotional love triangle storyline and the topic of death set this island apart from the others in a really cool way. It’s very mature for Poptropica standards. This would’ve been a great island for the creators to bring back considering the aging fanbase, but alas, this dream will never come true. RIP 😔

#2) Zomberry 🧟

This one brings back a lot of fond memories for me, so I’m aware I might be a little biased here. Zomberry is my second favorite island from 2013, and it’s claiming the silver spot in my rankings once again. Like the previous two islands, the setting is dark and scary, but this time with our character wandering through a city taken over by zombies. I find the zombies’ blueberry designs pretty amusing, and they’re not really a threat in the end; still, it’s a pretty horrific scenario. Zomberry is a pretty awesome island for introducing us to memorable characters like DJ Saturday Nite and Gamer Guy, along with plenty of action when you’re battling those zomberries.

#1) Monster Carnival 🎪

I realize this pick might come off as a bit obvious since this island was my top choice in my recent 2014 islands ranking, but I can’t help that I love it so much! The 6-year mystery leading up to its release still gets me excited like a total geek. Monster Carnival does a wonderful job of combining the playful atmosphere of a carnival with the elements of a horror movie. The soundtrack, the monsters, and Ringmaster Raven—who’s one of the best villains and characters in the game—really elevate this island to another level and make it truly special to me.

And there it is! How many of these islands have you played, and what does your ranking look like? Also, how did you celebrate Halloween? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

I’m grateful to all of you for reading, and I look forward to our next conversation. Until then, stay awesome and pop on! 🍀

Arabian Nights Island, Guest Posts, Jade Scarab Island

Comparing Dream Islands: Jade Scarab VS Arabian Nights 🪲🧞

September 25, 2024September 22, 2024 LJ

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Invisible Ring. Enjoy!

If you could have one wish, what would it be?

A) More Invisible Ring guest posts?
B) The second half of my pirate movie?
C) Poptropica to be revived in all its former glory: Monkey Wrench, Realms, classic common rooms, etc.

I wish! Don’t we all…

Unfortunately, I’m not a genie, so wish C is beyond my power to grant. I AM a poptropican with a magical craft table though! So, while I keep concocting the difficult spell of wish B, I shall now grant to you wish A.

From the scribe that brought you my comparison of the dream islands Fairytale Island and Goofball Island, comes the final dream island post, Jade Scarab vs. Arabian Nights– which are the first and last dream islands in Poptropica’s history!

Comparisons

Both of these islands are absolutely ✨magical✨, filled with magical secrets and deep-rooted legends from different parts of the world. They’re also both full of rich culture and beauty while also being challenging and exciting like most popular Poptropica islands. They even share some of the same musical soundtracks!

There were only four episodic adventures ever made, and Arabian Nights is the last of its kind. Similarly, there were only four Dream Islands ever made, and Jade Scarab is also the last of its kind! Talk about a coincidence.

Contrasts

Jade Scarab was one of the three 2020 Dream Island winners that eventually launched in 2022, while Arabian Nights was the 2013 Dream Island winner that launched in 2014. While Jade Scarab is one complete island, Arabian Nights is an episodic adventure that is split between three parts.

Fun fact: Arabian Nights is the only dream Island with any common rooms in it! 🤓 Jade Scarab doesn’t have one, however.

The medals are all different too! All of the dream islands have a different medallion and a different story to tell.

The Fairytale medallion has a royal purple strap and an etching of the mysterious villain Rumpelstiltskin, which leads me to believe Rumpelstiltskin himself dropped the medallion when he turned into smoke and escaped the fairytale castle.

The Goofball medallion has an indigo strap and a picture of a piñata. With a dull color and a fun picture, this medallion embodies the balance of goofiness and dullness that is ultimately delivered on Goofball Island.

The Jade Scarab medallion has a jade green strap and an etching of the island’s magical mascot, the Scarab. Need I say more?

The Arabian Nights medallion shows up at the end of each of the three island episodes. Three medallions? That’s as many as the rest of the dream islands put together! All three Arabian Nights medallions all look exactly alike too. They each have a blood-red strap and a sword. Surely these bold and deadly medals were either worn by thieves, made for thieves, or even made BY thieves! Heck, they could’ve even been stolen by thieves too!

But enough about fun facts and medallions. How do the actual quests compare and contrast?

Each quest revolves around an expedition to find a special treasure; an archeological expedition to find the Jade Scarab and an infiltration expedition to finding the Arabian Nights genie lamp. Each treasure has its decoy, but only the one on Arabian Nights has a dangerous curse if you don’t find the real treasure.

There’s a curse on Jade Scarab Island, too, but it only happens to the bad guys who try to stage fake curses and lock people in caves. It’s really just the supernatural Jade Scarab guardian protecting the treasure and punishing the thieves for their shenanigans.

Arabian Nights has a supernatural being too, Samhal the genie. But he was no guardian. He was a dangerous trickster, granting wishes with cruel twists everywhere he went.

But what made the Arabian Nights quest even MORE dangerous were the villains. While Jade Scarab had one or two thieves, Arabian Nights had 40 of them! Among the thieves was the most ruthless one of all, Scheherazade: leader of the thieves and the infamous genie of destruction. Yes, Arabian Nights was one among many of the scary and suspenseful islands that were coming out from 2013-2015.

Jade Scarab, however, stayed true to the traditions of the first dozen or so islands from the early days of Poptropica. It’s a lighthearted, humorous, and not too serious island that has a fun quest and a museum where you can learn lots of cool stuff in the process!

So why is one island so serious and the other is not? In my opinion, it all comes back to the two treasures, the lamp and the Jade Scarab.

As you play these quests, you learn that the Jade Scarab is good and must be protected in the museum. But no good came from the Arabian Nights lamp. That treasure wasn’t going to any museum. It had to be eliminated.

And that brings us to the biggest (and best) comparison. There are happy endings to both islands! Curses are broken, towns are restored, amends are made, and all peoples have a chance to get a new start and a chance to be prosperous again.

Aww, what nice stories for both islands! Which one do you like better? Better yet, which of the four dream islands is your favorite one of all?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and if you want more dream island comparison posts, then you are welcome to share with me your own dream island adventures from the dream island contests of long ago. (If I receive readers’ entries, I will try to be as fair as I was in my comparisons of the official dream island winners.)

Thank you for reading, and I hope to pop to you all again real soon!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Invisible Ring. If you did, you might also enjoy watching her full-length Poptropica fan movie, Battle Morale!

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? We’d love to hear from you!

Astro-Knights Island, Big Nate Island, Islands, Reviews

2009 Island Showdown: Astro-Knights VS Big Nate

September 23, 2024September 22, 2024 LJ

Howdy Poptropicanos, it’s LJ in your faces again! 🤪 To commemorate the 15th anniversary of Astro-Knights Island and Big Nate Island this year, I thought it’d be fun to conduct a comparison between the two where I evaluate the fundamental elements of each island to determine which one is the better option. ~~(Pretend that the outcome isn’t obvious, alright?)~~ Let’s begin!

For the gameplay discussion, my emphasis will not be on the plots as I intend to reserve that topic for the story portion that will come later. Instead, my focus here will be on the technical dimensions of the islands.

Big Nate Island

This island encompasses a plethora of key features that are emblematic of Poptropica islands such as locating a multitude of paper pieces scattered everywhere, piecing the papers together, swimming underwater, mixing liquids, and playing a few of minigames (racing an opponent, hangman and table football). I appreciate all of these elements, particularly the minigames. I wouldn’t have minded a few more to be honest. One negative thing I will say is that I was not a fan of Nate following my character around everywhere I went. Was that just me? So anyway, how does Big Nate compare to Astro-Knights?

Astro-Knights Island

The time required to complete Astro-Knights is about double that of its rival, which I find absolutely delightful! In the early stages, the gameplay is more or less similar to Big Nate involving the typical exploring and item collecting. However, upon reaching space, things really get exciting.

We get to build a custom spaceship, which, while not having a substantial impact on the island’s tactical gameplay, remains an entertaining feature. Navigating through space, avoiding asteroids, luring space sharks, and fighting against enemy ships were indeed challenging tasks, yet they were not overwhelmingly stressful.

The most challenging parts of Astro-Knights Island are the four significant battles that resemble “boss fights,” including the three misleading encounters (the Mother Phoenix, the Tigercopter, and the Dragotank) and the final showdown against Mordred. Besides the Mother Phoenix, I experienced a fair share of difficulties with all of these. Nonetheless, these battles greatly eclipse even the most engaging gameplay that Big Nate Island has to offer. Honestly, the absence of such difficulty is sorely missed. ~~Any islands for that matter, but that ship has unfortunately passed.~~

Which one wins?

It seems I may have gone a little overboard in my discussion of the gameplay in Astro-Knights Island. 😅 There was just so much to unpack! It’s quite obvious which one I was more enthusiastic about and which island takes the first round: Astro-Knights!

The differences in the characteristics of these two islands are strikingly apparent. Let’s get into it.