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! 🎁
You might recognize April’s winner as he frequently guest posts and comments on the PHB: it’s Dangerous Dragon! Congrats, DD—enjoy the shiny world of member gifts, special store items, and Haxe’s one exclusive island, Time Tangled. You’ll have new things to write about!
Perks of membership include extra store items and monthly gifts.
If you’re not a member, you still have the chance (or many chances, in fact): the PHB is hosting a giveaway every month, and it’s easy to enter! Just comment on the 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 DD, and as always, keep on popping on! 🐉
Howdy doodly Poptropicans, it’s LJ with the latest Pop Fan Artist Spotlight! Today’s artist I want to showcase is Gear. Gear often shares her illustrations (and more recently, mood boards) on the PHC and even illustrates for Maryann’s The Villain Saga series. How cool is that?
According to her, she thinks it’s thrilling that her art reaches a wide audience; in fact, she wants to become a Poptropica creator one day! Storyboarding and character design are two of her most favorite things and you can really see that passion manifest itself into her work. I find that each piece tells its own story (figuratively and literally) and that’s something I really appreciate when it comes to art. Check out this very diverse gallery (you can click the images to see them in their full glory):
Seriously, I think the various styles Gear’s able to produce really speaks to the talent she has as an artist. You have a more professional style that almost looks identical to the game, a chibi kind of style that reminds me of an old arcade game, and some semi realism thrown in there as well. I love it! What do you think? You can follow her on Instagram to see more @capax_infini.
And with that concludes this showcase! I hope you enjoyed this look into a Poptropica fan’s artwork. If you’ve made any Poptropica fan art of your own, we’d love for you to share it on our We-Love-Poptropica DeviantArt gallery. Also, don’t forget to check out all the other artists we’ve featured on the PHB. It’s a sight for sore eyes, for sure.
Thanks for reading as always and I’ll talk to you soon. Pop on!
Howdy Poptropicans, it’s LJ with the second installment of our Popular Poptropican staff writer lineup! Last time I was interviewed, but today we’ll be getting to know a bit more about Spotted Dragon — longtime Poptropica blogger and host of the greatly admired Community Creations series.
1. What do you enjoy about blogging with the PHB?
Poptropica has been such a big part of my childhood, and so blogging with the PHB has really been a childhood dream come true. I remember being ecstatic when I got asked to join the team many years ago! It was a fantastic outlet for my passion for writing growing up, and I’m glad that my posts can still reach a wonderful audience. And through all the ups and downs of Poptropica, it has been a blast being a part of such a fun, creative community.
2. What advice would you give to aspiring bloggers or writers in general that you wish you had starting out?
Writing for a blog is definitely much different than writing a novel. In blogging, you really get the chance to connect more with your readers and have fun with your posts. So don’t be afraid to really let your personality shine through! And for improving your writing in general, reading is a big helper. Read lots of different things and you’ll naturally start to pick up on different writing styles and techniques.
3. What is your favorite island and villain?
Oh boy, I’ve never been great at answering this question. I have so many favorites! For top favorite… I think I’m between Cryptids Island and Counterfeit Island. Gosh, there are so many fun villains too. I do love Gretchen GrimlockandBlack Widow from those aforementioned islands, but I’m also a sucker for Daphne Dreadnaught’s character design.
4. What challenge in the game has been the hardest to complete in your opinion?
Growing up, I had a REALLY hard time with building up my boat in Skullduggery. I didn’t fully trust the loaning system, so it took me a really long time to get a strong enough ship to beat Captain Crawfish.
5. What is your favorite feature (still here or gone) from the many years of Poptropica?
Hmm, I really do love the art that goes into Poptropica, including the character design, so I might have to say that the Costumizer is my favorite feature. I have always loved making different costumes, and I especially loved when I got to save those costumes.
6. What is your favorite Poptropica item?
Back to my love for costumes, I gotta say that I love the Colorizer as well as the OG Costume Collector. I just love the versatility of customization in games! And some of my favorite costume items growing up were definitely the Vampire Girl outfits.
7. What is your favorite Poptropica Easter egg/secret/reference?
This is another tough question! I think the first easter eggs that really got me excited as a kid were the Hypnotic Costume and the Viking Suit. I felt really clever when I found those! But these days, one of my favorite easter eggs might be the PHB License Plate, because it really feels like a personal shoutout in some ways.
(LJ: You can friend her on Poptropica with the username ooolala13!)
🌟 Would you like to be the next Popular Poptropican? 🌟
To nominate yourself or someone you know, send me an email at [email protected] or a private messageon Discord with the following:
the name of your nominee (a Poptropica name or other screen name)
a reason why your nomination should be the next Popular Poptropican
Thanks for reading, and see you in the next one! Pop on!
Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by White Fox. Enjoy!
Hi, guys! Today I want to talk about the ads in Poptropica.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that Poptropica isn’t making as much money as it used to, and advertisements bring in tons of cash, but things have been getting out of hand.
Remember Survival Island? The creators didn’t put a lot of ads there, because they wanted you to feel like you are stranded, and you don’t usually find advertisements for Rolex watches in the middle of the woods. Not having ads helped set the mood of the place.
Now, I find ads everywhere, and I don’t feel that stranded-in-the-forest vibe at all. Then there’s the matter of all the ads in your inventory.
I didn’t even watch the ad videos for these items! I just logged on one day, and I got a ton of stuff that I didn’t want. And it really fills up your inventory space! I wish Poptropica didn’t give you ad items without a choice, because it makes you scroll through a bunch of stuff just to get something you need for an island, and sometimes, you might not even like the stuff you get.
Even for people who do like the advertisement prizes, not keeping it separate from the items you need on an island is maddening. I can’t speak for everyone, but I really wish the creators would give you a choice, instead of stuffing random ad prizes into your inventory, where it takes up space and pushes your important items to the back.
Mega Fighting Bots took over on Mocktropica Island
As Slanted Fish noted in the 2019 PHB post “Is Poptropica turning into Mocktropica Island?,” the game has been falling into the traps of user-unfriendliness the island warned about in its cautionary tale. In Mocktropica, ads for Mega Fighting Bots popped up everywhere, and recently, when I was playing through 24 Carrot Island, Dr. Hare’s face was covered by an ad.
It’s upsetting that such an important part of the story — one of the most famous villains in Poptropica — was hidden because an advertisement for clothing had popped up. This could really make it hard to win islands, because I couldn’t see what he was saying. Even though I’d played the island before and knew what to do, it was still annoying.
At one point, Poptropica was wrapped in banner ads on all sides—promoting Poptropica!
Anyway, that just about wraps up this post! I hope the creators were reading this, because all this advertising stuff is really getting overwhelming. Thanks for reading!
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! 📰✨
Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Smart Icicle. Enjoy!
Hello! Smart Icicle here, and I would like to introduce my dream island. I already know a few of you wanted to see my dream island when I shared a bit about it in my “My Place In Poptropica” story. Now just sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy my dream island: Cherryfall Island.
This story dates back to ancient China. When I first saw Poptropica release Red Dragon Island, which took place in ancient Japan, I just had to create a story in ancient China. At the time, I would go China almost every year to visit my grandparents. As for the name Cherryfall, it’s inspired by the cherry blossom tree, common in Japan and China.
Train Station: For training, that is.
Characters
In the island, you will meet a monk, shopkeepers, an empress, two imperial guards, and four prisoners. The monk is going to help the player, while the prisoners are the villains of the island. The empress is going to send the player to jail. The shopkeepers are minor characters (but will give the player a dress, watch, and any jewelry they like). The four prisoners are going to be key to the plot of the island.
Plot
During a time travel accident, the player gets stuck in ancient China. While trying to figure out what happened, a monk approaches the player and acts as their guide. The monk tells the player that prisoners have been escaping from their prison, and that they need to bring them back to jail.
The monk decides to take the player to the empress of China and tell them about the situation. Unfortunately, the empress was in a bad mood, so she decided to send the player to jail for bothering her. Will the player escape and gather the escaped prisoners? Or will the prisoners get to you first?
Nested: I know why the caged bird sings.
As for a plot twist… that will be at the very end. When the player and the monk finally find the escaped prisoners, they turn out to be familiar faces! You’ll come face-to-face with the fantastic four super villains: Dr. Hare, Captain Crawfish, Black Widow, and Binary Bard.
Inspirations behind the island
As I mentioned, I was inspired by my family’s travels to China. In particular, the dresses, earrings, and watches that our grandparents send to us every Christmas and birthday were in my mind as I thought up this island.
For the jail scene, I decided to add a bit of twist inspired by the Henry Stickmin games. For those who don’t know these games, you play as criminal mastermind and you have to make choices along the way to complete the game. This game is hilarious because of all the choices that don’t work, and that’s something I wanted to include in my island.
Cuckoo Birds: Don’t be a dodo.
Anyway, what did you think of my dream island? Also, be sure to vote in my poll, “Who is your favorite Poptropica creature?” The poll closes at the end of the month, which is coming up soon.
Lastly, check out my blog! I write about my fandoms, including Poptropica. That’s it for me now, Smart Icicle out! 📚❄️
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! 📰✨
🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺 