Of course, here at the PHB, we couldn’t just let that happen without a proper goodbye! So, we’ve been working up a little something to pay homage to the many great classic islands that have gone before us, and now we’re ready to reveal this thing. What is it, you ask? We call it: the PHB Flash Experience.
Warning: The following experience contains bright, flashing imagery. It may cause discomfort for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.
Gahhh! What happened to the bridge on Red Dragon Island? That’s just a taste of the wreckage to come…
The PHB Flash Experience a sweet RPG adventure (kind of like Poptropica!) where you travel around through different dimensions—from the clouds of the purple giant in Early Poptropica to the distant planet of E. Vile’s Legendary Swords battles—all in a noble quest to save them from perhaps the most nefarious villain of them all: Mr. Addo B. Flash, vanquisher of a zillion islands.
The many sides of the devilish Addo B. Flash. He’s legit, y’all.
You can play this epic PHB Flash Experience right here, right now on this PHB post in the blue box below. Of course, as the name implies, you’re going to have to enable Flash. But you already know how to do that, don’t you? 😉
Have fun, and hey, when you’re done with the game, share your feedback with us in the comments. 😜
Howdy, Poptropicans! It’s Lucky Joker here, inviting you to fill out the 2020 PHB Readers’ Survey. Every year, we survey our readers to get a current picture of our community’s demographics and hear from all of you.
Your feedback helps determine the way we run things around here so that you get the best possible reading experience when you visit — and that is the primary goal for us. 🙂 We also like to get a better understanding of how our community and reader base has evolved since the last survey.
The survey will stay open until Saturday, April 18, and we’ll share the results here on the PHB sometime in May. With that said:
Note: Your identity will remain anonymous, unless you opt to include it in the comment box at the end.
Thanks for sticking with us, and thanks for your feedback! Stay tuned for the results in May, and feel free to check out survey results of previous years in the PHB archives. See you in the next one.
Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the February recap for Community Creations! February’s theme was Memes and the featured work is not in any particular order. Be sure to check out all the featured artists!
Man, already starting out with a classic format, huh? This idea was simple, but creative and very appropriate for our theme! Just goes to show you that ideas can pop out of now where, no matter how much your inspiration may seem to be blocked at first. That’s the whole point of this series, right? Anyway, the layout is perfect and the emotion of the original meme is definitely captured well here. Very funny! Find her DeviantArt here.
Yall Remember Poptropica by ray-of-flight
Ah yes, a cat meme. The internet’s favorite meme format. And rightfully so a lot of the time! I love Black Widow’s coy expression in this design. She somehow perfectly matches the expression of that sly cat? Even in the face of a knife? Anyway, the lineart and coloring here is super clean and professional, with obviously some excellent humor backing up the work. Seriously, how amazingly fitting??? Find his DeviantArt here.
Cursed Image by Gentle Dolphin
Dang, another classic template! We’re really knocking this theme out of the park, huh guys? The reference to Amelia’s seemingly doppelganger in Poptropica is super relevant and funny. It perfectly fits the Spider Man meme format, both in subject matter and in art style! I must say, that 1960s TV vibe really shines through, and it makes for a simply excellent piece. The composition and the figures match the original super well, and the VHS style really shines through when combined with the style of the artist themselves! Find her DeviantArt here.
The Internet’s Slow in a Pocket Dimension by Magniventris
Okay, I know that pose anywhere, even if its in a Binary Bard guise. Another classic meme template! The top and bottom text are super reminiscent of some older meme layouts, and I must say that the Poptropican context is hilarious. The humor and emotion behind this is oddly fantastic, and I love the character design of Binary Bard here! The artist really let their own interpretation of the villain flair, putting in unique detail into his robotic half for sure. Seriously, great work in a simple layout! Find her DeviantArt here.
Jorge Dabs by ANNE14TCO
Pffft, okay, this is kinda silly but I love it. And it’s that what meme culture is all about? I love featuring characters from the Poptropica books, and the animation of this submission certainly makes it stand out from the rest. Dabbing is still cool……… right? *ahem* Stepping away from that, I think that the movement and random humor in this submission is perfect for our theme. Ridiculous, I love it! Find her DeviantArt here.
Honorable Mentions
Absolutely hilarious submissions this month guys! Really a theme to mark in the history books, so keep up the creative work!
March: 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 March’s theme? March’s theme is…
Hobbies!
Poptropica, for many of us, is a cherished lifestyle hobby. But it certainly isn’t the community’s only hobby! So why not showcase some of those other hobbies in our next theme, as much of the world moves towards spring?
Whatever you like to do, or whatever your Poptropican likes to do, is totally acceptable! Whether is be a sport, playing an instrument, theater, glass blowing, baking, ghost hunting, you name it! Maybe you just like, I don’t know, …trains? The limits are completely up to you, so be sure to show off your creativity, but more importantly, your passion!
Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, or Discord.
Results: I will feature 5 of the submissions as well as 3 honorable mentions.
Limitations: Nothing NSFW, and make sure you relate to the theme.
Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!
I will always be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. Bonus points if you make a compelling description for your piece! 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!
Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the January recap for Community Creations! January’s theme was Time Travel and the featured work is not in any particular order. Be sure to check out all the featured artists!
Very cool costume design! I could definitely see this character traveling through time. And in style, too! I’m a sucker for a nice steampunk outfit either way. The greens of this costume work well together, keeping in tune with the other neutral hues. He might get stopped by the time police, but certainly not the fashion police! Well done! Find them often in the comments section.
Perks of Being a Time Traveler by NineTenOnetyOne
Ah, the struggles of being a time demon. I’m sure we can all relate to that… right? Anyway, the humor in this comic is fantastic, present in the dialog, expressions, and even the details of the newspaper. The panels really do tell a short story, and they wonderfully feature a great set of historical figures. The character design is great! Find her DeviantArt here.
The End of Time by iLeeFont
Oooh, a cool take on our theme! Though most of us jump to Time Tangled Island when we hear of Poptropica being paired with time travel, that’s not the only place you can find Poptropicans messing with history! Featuring the beloved characters of the Poptropica graphic novel series, this piece displays fantastic emotion and composition. The artist’s style is very recognizable, and colors are certainly used to their advantage in this one. I especially love the harsh geometric background contrasting the more organic figures. Excellent! Find their DeviantArt here.
The Future by BlazingAngel123
Aye, a throwback piece! Both in when it was drawn and what it’s about, huh? Time Tangled Island is obviously a classic for time travel within Poptropica, and rightfully so. It was always fascinating to see our Poptropican grow old in the future, both in the good and not-so-good settings. These panels perfectly capture the emotion of both timelines, and was originally posted in a gif form on the artist’s profile (not shown here for eye-strain). I even love how the backgrounds for each scene are simple, but easily recognizable. Wonderful character design! Find her DeviantArt here.
Time Tangled by LilPoptrystalTemp
Another classic Time Tangled design! On the island, our Poptropicans travel to many different historical periods. And that’s difficult to capture in one design, not to mention one outfit! Now that I’m thinking about it, I probably looked really out of place in Ancient Rome in my blue hoodie… Anyway, this piece is able to capture exactly that: the various outfits of the time periods on a single figure! I love that the circular division of the composition mimics that of the watch we use on the island as well. Super cool! Find her DeviantArt here.
Honorable Mentions
No honorable mentions this month guys, sorry! Keep those submissions coming next month. 😉 To make it up to you, have an old drawing of mine featuring Spotted Dragon’s own Time Tangled mishaps:
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…
Memes!
February marks the 2 year anniversary of this series, can you believe it? It’s crazy that we’ve been doing this for so long, and your talent never gives up! So, to celebrate that milestone, I thought it would be perfect to bring back memories of another beloved PHB series… Poptropican Meme Face Mondays!
Now, your submissions certainly do not have to be constrained to meme faces. They are free to reference any meme you want! Just remain appropriate for those younger Poptropicans, and make sure you tie it into Poptorpica, of course! There are a ton of possibilities, so let’s see what you guys can do to make me laugh! 🙂
Spotted Dragon
Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, or Discord.
Results: I will feature 5 of the submissions as well as 3 honorable mentions.
Limitations: Nothing NSFW, and make sure you relate to the theme.
Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!
I will always be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. Bonus points if you make a compelling description for your piece! 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!
Hey, Poptropicans—welcome to 2020. As you may have heard, this year will bring about the end of Adobe Flash, the engine that much of Poptropica runs on. The implications are huge for this game, and we’ve already seen it affecting 30 of the oldest islands and many more features.
Here on the PHB, we’ve mentioned the Flash issue here and there, but now we’re taking the opportunity to make a whole post hashing out what’s happening, what it means, and where it’s all going. So let’s get started!
1. Where are the old islands?
In July 2019, Poptropica removed 30 islands from the map. They were all considered “old school islands”: Poptropica’s earliest islands, created and released from 2007–2013, which were built using ActionScript 2 (AS2), a programming language primarily used for the Adobe Flash Player platform.
The good news is, you can still play the old school islands using the Old Island Directory created by the glitcheridk. Although they’re currently inaccessible from the game itself, it’s possible that the old islands will return. Poptropica’s reason for taking them down, for the time being, was because they were “causing a lot of problems for players.”
We love those islands too, but need to update the technology. They were made in Action Script 2 and were causing a lot of problems for players. We're hoping to bring them back once the game is no longer in flash!
On the first day of the new year, Poptropica posted the following on Instagram: “2020 is going to great [sic] — a non-Flash version of the game, new islands, the return of some old islands, and so much more!!!” (Our emphasis added.) So, there’s hope yet that the old islands will return—but as the Instagram post indicates, it may not be all of them.
A fan-made Poptropica map with most of the islands, created by idk.
We’re not sure which ones are coming back and which ones might not make it, nor do we know why, but perhaps there’s only so much they can work with. Still, in addition to directly playing them via theOld Island Directory, you can also relive their memories with the PHB’s collection of Island Guides.
Adobe Flash Player was an instrumental engine for a lot of the early internet, particularly for games, video, and animations. Poptropica is among the many websites that used Flash, just like other popular game sites of the 2000s and 2010s, like Club Penguin and Neopets. For those of us who’ve grown up playing these games, losing Flash is not just saying goodbye to outdated technology, but watching whole worlds from our childhoods crumble away. RIP. 😢
And yet, Flash is going away simply because tech has evolved for the better—modern web browsers have adapted to HTML5, and the end of Flash also means better security and battery life. So, if Poptropica is to continue, they’ll need to keep up with the tech and move off of Flash… which is what they’ve been working on for the past few years, even though this has meant fewer islands and more cosmetic changes—and yes, even the seemingly odd creation of Poptropica Worlds, built with Unity and launched in 2017.
We're working on making sure that Poptropica stays around long past 2020! The amazing Poptropica creators are hard at work on new updates to the technology and the game for all our loyal fans! #PoptropicaForever
Newer islands, which have a larger screen and ambient music, were built with ActionScript 3 (AS3), which is more compatible with current desktop standards as well as the rise of mobile applications. We started calling these islands SUIs, which stands for Sound-Updated Islands.
In 2013, Poptropica launched a beta version of 24 Carrot as an SUI called BETA Carrotene, and after fixing up some bugs, they were ready to roll out Virus Hunter, the first official SUI. From then on, all islands were released as SUIs, and sometimes the Creators even went back and re-made a former island, like Time Tangled or Mythology, into an SUI. Unlike older islands, these newer SUIs are able to survive without Flash, which is why islands now come as SUIs.
4. Poptropica’s Progress
Poptropica Worlds was intended to be Poptropica’s solution to the post-Flash dilemma, but for some reason, things didn’t quite pan out. By 2019, it wasn’t being updated anymore and was even actively hidden from the homepage. Instead, many of Worlds’ standout features have since been integrated into the original Poptropica, like device syncing and player clubhouses.
Poptropica even wrote in their recap of 2019 that many of that year’s updates were “a really important part of the conversion process for getting the game off of Flash” suggesting that their post-Flash solution will focus not on Worlds, but on the original Poptropica. Some more of these updates over the past year include a new layout for friends and the store, SUI-ified common rooms, and plus, who could forget the adorable pets?
However, the shiny new things are eclipsed by the loss of many beloved classic features that may or may not be compatible with the future of technology—such as the old school islands.
We’ve also lost a lot of old costumes and items, mostly from the store, though some are gradually coming back through each new monthly rotation of store items. We’ve lost friend features like the ability to add by username, viewing medallions, and even the Multiverse (and tribe!) party rooms. Island photos were replaced by Photo Booth pics, but even the Photo Booth is currently down, with no word on when it may return.
Still, if Poptropica’s previous statements are worth their salt, perhaps there’s still hope yet for a brighter Poptropica post-Flash…
5. Poptropica’s Future
As Poptropica has stated here and there, they are working on porting the game over to newer technology, so that it can live on even after the plug is pulled on Flash. Poptropica Original is here to stay, continuing its legacy both in the web browser and now on mobile devices.
We’re likely to see at least some of the old islands return, based on Poptropica’s Instagram post mentioned above. And they’ve mentioned working on “new islands” as well, including, most recently, the announcement that Zomberry Island will be back—with a new level!
Also, though Poptropica hasn’t confirmed anything specific, perhaps we can still hold out some hope for the return of some of the beloved features we’ve lost, or at least see them morph into viable alternatives.
After all, even Realms disappeared for over a year before it finally returned in late 2018. Meanwhile, Multiverse may be gone, but now we have player clubhouses (introduced in late 2018) to meet up with friends. While they’ve still got some work to do to really make clubhouses as big of a hit as Multiverse was (namely, being able to easily find specific friends whose houses you want to pop into), it’s a promising start to a new era for Poptropica.
Whatever happens, we’ll be here to watch it all go down.
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