PHB Series – Page 23 – 🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the January recap for Community Creations. January’s theme was Puzzling, so be sure to check out all the featured artists!

No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.

Top 5 Picks

A Different Approach by Dizzy Feather

Good to know I’m not the only one who struggles with these sorts of puzzles! They may seem simple, but there’s something about them that makes them trickier than they appear. In Poptropica, the classic conundrum can be completed in Crisis Caverns. How long did it take you to solve on your first try? Find the artist in the comments and on the PHC Discord.

Espionage (Poptober Day 12: Sneak) by Lucky Joker

Spy Island is certainly an island known for its puzzles, and it has earned its spot as one of my personal favorites. From cracking codes to sneaking past B.A.D. guys, the puzzles seem nonstop. But hey, I’m not complaining! I loved using all the cool spy gadgets too (and I’ll admit, the guard dogs scared the heck out of me when I was younger). Great composition and story presented in this submission! Find his Instagram here.

Knife Monopoly by distorted-graffiti

A little unique, here we have some Poptropicans solving a different type of puzzle altogether! This meme-worthy parody of a board game seems, oddly enough, the perfect game for Myron to play. You know… other than hunting someone for sport. The simple drawing has a ton of humor in it, especially in all the little details. I appreciate the different style knives, the lil’ rat, and of course the wine glass. Find their Tumblr here.

The Stone Wheel by Blue Moon

The harsh mid-winter wind wrapped itself around the branches, covering them in frost,
dead, bare, and leafless. What once was sunny paradise of nature and animals was now nothing more than a dim, gloomy bog.

But it was not the winter that had done it.
I can be seen, from the anxious villagers’ binoculars, a lone silhouette of a Poptropican
venturing in the moor. Her name is Sophia. Indeed, she had been warned many times not to go in
there. But she did not listen.

In legends, it was said that the swamp was a place to burn witches in the medieval times.
The spirits of the witches, seeking revenge, forced the kingdom to sacrifice five children each year,
or else the whole island will be burned down. The kingdom chose the children randomly, and this
year, Sophia’s friend had been chosen. Being the helpful Poptropican she always is, Sophia knew
that she had to save her friend.

As she ventured further into the bog, she found a small cave, almost completely covered in
moss and shrubbery. According to legend, it was the witches’ gathering place.

The entrance was blocked by a huge stone wheel, ornately carved symbols and alphabets
embedded everywhere. At the center of the wheel there was a moose’s head, with the antlers and
everything, in pristine condition. The witches have kept their entrance well.

The stone wheel, needless to say, was a place to input the password, in which Sophia had
no idea of.

Suddenly, as though an invisible hand was writing, a string of letters appeared.
“SLEEP IS NOT, DEATH IS NOT;
WHO SEEM TO DIE LIVE.
HOUSE YOU WERE BORN IN,
FRIENDS OF YOUR SPRING-TIME,
OLD MAN AND YOUNG MAID,
DAY’S TOIL AND ITS GUERDON,
THEY ARE ALL VANISHING,
FLEEING TO FABLES,
CANNOT BE MOORED.”

Luckily, Sophia was well-educated. She typed the name of author (can you guess who
wrote this poem?), cranking the levers and rolling the wheel. It turned.

She entered, though she did not know what to expect at the end of the cave. But whoever
she is, Sophia is not a coward. She will always remain loyal to her friends, and she knew at that
moment, that she had to save her friend’s life, even if it meant that she had to face a coven of
rebellious witches. She already made up her mind that she was doing this not only for the sake of
herself and her friend, but for everyone in the village, the Kingdom, for Poptropica…

Despite its short length, this story really captivates the reader right off the bat. I love the establishment of mystery in the eerie environment and subtle introduction of characters. Does anyone else recognize the poem that Sophia read? Would you be able to solve it without a wifi connection? I’ll leave that mystery up to you. Excellent writing! Find the artist in the comments.

Where’s Your Boss by tillymeowjings-arsb

With the lore of Fairy Tale Island and the Baron growing deeper by the day, sometimes it feels like the more information we get, the more puzzling the story gets! I love this hilarious interaction with Ack, but it does make me realize how dense our Poptropicans can be sometimes… Honestly, if Ack submitted those drawings into Community Creations, I would definitely feature them. 🥺 Awesome comic design! Find their Tumblr here.

Honorable Mentions

No honorable mentions to feature this month, unfortunately. How puzzling… 🤔 But don’t fret! Keep those awesome creations coming next month!

February: How Do I Participate?

Community Creations is a cool series for anyone in the Poptropica community to join in on. To sum up what it’s about, it’s basically a chance to show off your artwork, creepy fan-fics, Pop clubhouses, costumes, and anything else that pops into your mind.

If we really like the piece you submit, we will feature it here on the PHB! As long as it relates to that month’s theme. So what is February’s theme? February’s theme is…

🚓💰 Thievery! 💰🚓

As February begins and occasions like Valentine’s Day sneak up on us, I want you to steal my heart with your creations this month. Yes, thievery is perhaps morally questionable, but let’s admit: some thieves are just super cool.

From Poptropica’s most infamous art thief (Black Widow), to the 40 thieves of Arabian Nights Island, and from the super-villainous criminals of Super Power Island to the cat burglar costume of Night Watch Island, Poptropica certainly has its fair share of robbers and pickpockets. So in honor of all these suave stealers, let’s make ’em some art! Just don’t steal anything. 😉

Submit: Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created, email it to the PHB team on our Contact page, OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, Tumblr, Discord, OR the PHB’s Instagram.
Results: Next month, I will feature 5 submissions that stood out to me the most as well as some honorable mentions.
Limitations: Just make sure you relate to both the theme and Poptropica (and nothing NSFW or otherwise inappropriate).
Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!

I will be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. While quality counts, I’m mainly looking for something to simply catch my eye, so don’t be afraid to join in!

So what are you waiting for? Go make something awesome!

~SD

Free Membership Giveaways

PHB Membership Giveaway: January 2023

January 31, 2023February 1, 2023 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! We’re approaching the end of the month, which means it’s time to announce another lucky Poptropican to win our monthly membership giveaway! 🎁

Congratulations, Popular Raptor — your new membership status lets you play various exclusive quests, including the recent relaunch of Survival Island, Ep. 3: Distress Signal. You’ll also get to enjoy exclusive items in the store.

Survival: Distress Signal — Digital Wallpaper

The Poptropica Help Blog hosts a membership giveaway every month, and it’s easy to enter! Just comment on our Free Poptropica Membership page and leave at least two other comments around the PHB within the month to be entered into that month’s giveaway.

We’ll announce a winner sometime in the final week of each month. If you don’t win, you can always try again for the next month! Full details »

Congrats again to Popular Raptor! Keep on popping on! 🦕

Guest Posts, Pop Petitions

Pop Petition: Bring the Costumizer Back 👕

January 30, 2023 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Dizzy Feather. Enjoy!

Longtime players may remember an old feature that allowed one to copy outfit parts from NPCs and other players: the Costumizer. Accessible with a green shirt button, it used to be on every island. But nowadays you can only use the Customizer on a single island, PoptropiCon.

Why was this feature removed? Well, when it happened in 2021 along with the release of the current character customization screen, the Poptropica Creators offered this explanation:

The costumizer was removed because we were receiving many complaints about the feature. Older players had to spend the credits to purchase a costume or they may have had a discontinued outfit from the early days that is unavailable in the store. Meanwhile, a new player would be able to instantly copy and wear the same items from any older profile, sidestepping the other player’s efforts.
Poptropica Creators’ Blog (here)

As many players have pointed out already, the Costumizer was designed not only to allow costume pieces be copied, but also to prevent other, more exclusive pieces from being copied. All it would take to adjust a costume piece’s accessibility was a small change in the code.

Besides, the lack of the Costumizer isn’t fair to new players, who have no access to what were once extremely common outfits. With the new store constantly rotating outfits that I’ve seen a thousand times before, there may seem like many options, but they’re all limited to that pool. Instead, to access more pieces, they would need to turn to unofficial glitching tools like the ASG, which still doesn’t have everything.

Not only are new players left out of old store outfits, but also outfits that were available when a player first entered Poptropica. For example, I loved the pink, gray-striped shirt, but I have no way of getting it anymore on a new account. I lost count of how many times I’ve seen someone else wearing it, but now I can’t use the Costumizer to copy it.

Removing the Costumizer isn’t fair to old players either. Those who enjoyed this amazing feature for years, all of a sudden, can no longer use it, now left as just a memory to reminisce on.

With the slow pace of porting the islands back, having the Costumizer around would have been a nice way for players to pass the time, playing around with outfits from NPCs and other players. You can only replay an island, decorate your clubhouse, and play arcade games so many times without getting bored.

Bring the Costumizer back, Poptropica, and give truth back to the old advertisement that stated the game offered endless customization. Without the Costumizer, the possibilities may be wide for those with a lot of outfits in their closet, but they’re not quite as endless as they could be with the Costumizer.

– Dizzy Feather

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Dizzy Feather. If you did, you might also enjoy other posts of hers, such as her party clubhouse tour.

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!

PHB Specials

Which Poptropica character are you, according to the Chinese zodiac? ⚡️🧧

January 22, 2023January 2, 2023 Slanted Fish

Happy Lunar New Year, Poptropicans! 新年快樂！(xīn nián kuài lè)

Do you know your Chinese zodiac animal? Each creature symbolizes personality traits that correspond with the lunar calendar, and yours is determined by your year of birth, with one rotating every 12 years. We matched each one with a Poptropica character — read on to find yours!

You can also figure out which Pop character matches your astrological zodiac sign, which is based on your birth month, here! ♒️

🐀 If you were born in 1996, 2008, or 2020, you’re a Rat. You’re resourceful like Ratman from Super Power Island, who embraced the sewers and its rats for his own powers!

🐂 If you were born in 1997, 2009, or 2021, you’re an Ox. You’re strong like the half-bull Minotaur from Mythology Island!

🐯 If you were born in 1998, 2010, or 2022, you’re a Tiger. Like the Tigercopter on Astro-Knights Island, you can be a bit competitive!

🐰 If you were born in 1999, 2011, or 2023, you’re a Rabbit. This is the year for ubiquitous Dr. Hare — time for the elegant to shine.

🐲 If you were born in 2000, 2012, or 2024, you’re a Dragon. You’ve got confidence like the Cloud Dragon of Red Dragon Island, ready to defeat every evil thrown your way.

🐍 If you were born in 2001, 2013, or 2025, you’re a Snake. Like Medusa from Mythology Island, you’re a clever one not to be messed with.

🐴 If you were born in 2002, 2014, or 2026, you’re a Horse. You’ve got energy like El Mustachio Grande, prancing about the plains of Wild West Island with his legion of horses!

🐐 If you were born in 2003, 2015, or 2027, you’re a Goat. Like the half-goat, half-man Satyr from Mythology Island, you carry an aura of calm.

🐵 If you were born in 2004, 2016, or 2028, you’re a Monkey. Like Ack on the Baron’s ship, you’re clever and curious, with your wits about you.

🐓 If you were born in 2005, 2017, or 2029, you’re a Rooster. You’re observant and hardworking, like Ringmaster Raven, but hopefully towards better ends than revenge.

🐕 If you were born in 2006, 2018, or 2030, you’re a Dog. Like the three-headed Cerberus guarding Hades’ throne room on Mythology Island, you’re a loyal keeper.

🐷 If you were born in 2007, 2019, or 2031, you’re a Pig. Not only do you match the three little pigs from Fairytale Island in terms of species, you also think logically like they do.

There you go — the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac represented by Poptropica characters! Which one are you? Do you think it suits you? Anyway, enjoy the Lunar New Year if you celebrate, or just have a good one! Happy Year of the Rabbit — or whenever you’re reading this. 🙂

~🐠

24 Carrot Island, Blast from the Past, Islands, Nabooti Island, Pop 5, Spy Island, Super Power Island, Time Tangled Island

Pop 5: Ranking the Islands of 2008

January 19, 2023February 15, 2025 LJ

Yoohoo Poptropicans, long time no speak. Yes, it’s true – LJ hath returned! ~~I feel like I’ve been gone so long that I don’t even know how to write anymore, but bear with me. ☠️~~

How many islands have been released in the last half year? None? Okay, so I haven’t missed anything. Speaking of islands, lately I’ve been reminiscing back to when they were actually good, ahem ahem. So today I’d like y’all to accompany me in this ride of nostalgia as I rank the islands that first popped up on the map nearly 15 years ago – the five islands of 2008. If you don’t know, this includes Time Tangled, 24 Carrot, Super Power, Spy, and Nabooti. Do you feel old yet?

Disclaimer: This is not a full review for each island, so each analysis will be kept brief.

#5: 24 Carrot Island 🥕

At the unfortunate placement of 5th, we have 24 Carrot Island – originally released on June 6, 2008. Not at all do I think this island is bad on its own, but I don’t think it’s up to par when compared to the other islands from this year. Being one of the first islands in the game, it is noticeably simpler than most. However, we must remember that simple does not necessarily mean low-quality.

It’s no secret this island debuted the single most iconic character of the entire game, Dr. Hare, so we have that to thank it for. Another thing about 24 Carrot island I love is that it feels so quintessentially “Poptropica” (if that makes sense). Obviously it’s held up after all this time since it’s one of the only old islands that’s still playable from the map.

#4: Time Tangled Island ⏱️

In 4th place, originally released on April 15, 2008, is the transtemporal quest Time Tangled Island! I like that this island is very educational in an organic way, which at its core is what Poptropica is all about. I enjoy not only traveling to different parts of the world, but in different time periods as well. It really serves to amp up the satisfaction factor.

It’s not the most original concept, nor does it feature any memorable characters, but it’s definitely fun to play through. There is also something to be said for the amount of brain power needed to complete it which is something that today’s islands seem to lack in my opinion.

#3: Nabooti Island 💎

Next is none other than Nabooti Island, which was released at the very end of the year on December 11. At one point, this was actually one of my all-time favorites, and for good reason. The adventurous nature of this island is exhilarating and the scenery is quite beautiful for this time in Poptropica (when most scenes were a bit bland in my view). Another fun tidbit about this island that I’m not sure many newer players are aware of is the cool cell phone trick used to get various costume parts by dialing specific numbers. (refer to the trivia section in our island guide)

What this island is missing, though, is an array of interesting characters – or even at least one or two for that matter. So for all of these reasons considered, Nabooti sits smack dab in the middle of this ranking at 3rd place.

#2: Super Power Island 💥

Where do I even begin with Super Power Island? I can almost say for certain that everybody likes this island to some capacity. What kid wouldn’t want to become a superhero and defeat bad guys for a day? This island, albeit uncomplicated, is a super entertaining classic. If you don’t agree, I’ll have to respect your ~~incorrect~~ opinion.

Super Power (released on July 24, 2008 – just two days before the PHB was born!) manages to find a perfect balance of being tough to beat while still remaining enjoyable and not too stressful. (I’m looking at you Virus Hunter…) The amount of creativity spawned from this island (i.e. fanart) alone is a testament to how good it really was while it was around. Characters like Betty Jetty and Ned Noodlehead remain popular to this day and the rest of the villains get their fair share in the spotlight as well.

It was a super close call to determine which island deserved to be crowned my top island of 2008, but in the end the coronation goes to…

#1: Spy Island 🔍

Released on September 9, 2008 was Poptropica’s 6th quest to grace the map, Spy Island. Like time travel and superheroism, espionage is another perfect theme for an island, and it was done very well! All of the gadgets were really fun to utilize (my favorite being the chameleon suit), and although the grappling bowtie could be a little frustrating, it was fun to just monkey around with whenever you needed a little break from the actual island.

Moments like sneaking around the dogs, memorizing the ingredients to become a chef, and the snatching of Director D’s wig have lived in my head rent-free for the past decade and a half. And overall, the story and plot of this island was *chef’s kiss*. At the time of its release, Spy Island definitely had the most complex story and the most challenging tasks. This island was surely a pioneer for the many exciting islands yet to come and it certainly made its mark on the game. There’s even a printable sheet for the decoder kit used in the island, which is rare for any item in the game! How cool is that?

Ah, sweet sweet memories. 2008 was a pretty good year for island releases, and it was a pleasure to talk about them for a little bit. Most of them are gone, but they will never be forgotten.

Did you get a chance to play any of these islands? Which one was your favorite and least favorite? Leave your rankings and any other thoughts in the comments section below.

I’ll hopefully talk to all of you soon. Pop on!

–LJ 🍀

Category: PHB Series

Community Creations: January 2023