Ghost Story Island, PHB Specials

PHB Special: Fiona’s Violin Song

Hey Poptropicans, and welcome to another PHB special.

If you’ve played Ghost Story Island – which recently won the title of Best Storyline in an Island in our Poppies Awards Show – you may recall the hauntingly beautiful tune that was Fiona’s violin song.

The music was so moving it even inspired an hour-long challenge of that song in a YouTube video by user Kaydorable1, with thousands of views. (Update: That video has disappeared. Instead try this video below from The Bruhtasticks!)

And this was before islands were released with ambient music!

Over on a sheet music website called MuseScore, a user called iwasborninjuly has uploaded sheet music for the popular Poptropica melody, which you can view and listen to at this link.

fiona's songGive this song a try on your musical instrument! Or, if you don’t play one, you can still play this song perfectly on Poptropica by moving the bowstrings of your violin on Ghost Story Island. If you don’t already have it, check out our Ghost Story Island Guide, our written walkthrough with pictures.

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To Fiona, the woman in the window.

PHB Specials

PHB Sunday Special: Villain Origin Stories

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Welcome to another PHB Special! “Villain Origin Stories” is a work of fiction based on certain Poptropica villains, and it was sent in by reader Persephone2117. Enjoy!

One October twentieth, in the dead of night, there was a young Poptropican girl born. The island? Art Island. You say there isn’t an Art Island? There was, and there still is, but you know it as Counterfeit. The reason? The girl.

The girl’s name was Penelope Anansi Webster, and she was, well… different. She didn’t like to play with dolls, or dance, or any of the nice things little girls usually like. Instead, she would sit and draw pictures on whatever she could reach. This habit aggravated her parents to no end, even though Penelope was quite good. Eventually, they got so fed up with her that when she was six, they just left her outside one day and didn’t let her back in. Penelope was not in the least bothered by this, since she knew exactly where she wanted to go.

The museum guard didn’t even notice the skinny little kid sneaking in through the window.

Continue reading “PHB Sunday Special: Villain Origin Stories” →

Guest Posts, PHB Specials

PHB Sunday Special: Tribute to Biome Hats

Hey Poptropicans! This Sunday, we have a special guest post from Beastking77 giving tribute to the Realms-inspired Biome Hats that recently hit the Store. First published on Super Thunder’s Blog, he has given us permission to re-post his review here on the PHB. Enjoy! 🙂

Ice Biome Hat

snowhatThe Ice Biome Hat is not only perfect for keeping you warm on those cold nights, it’s also a remarkable fashion statement. I love the way the hat attempts to capture the likeness of a wild Arctic beast, with the whisker furnishing, the white fur and the magnificent pointed ears. I especially love the fang-like protrusions on either side of the hat: they just really capitalize on the wild, untamed look this hat has. It’s that kind of attention to detail we just don’t get in hatters these days. Finally, the stitches on the side give it an appearance of barely being held together, as if it were hand-made by an Arctic explorer from the fur of an Arctic beast. A brilliant work.

Forest Biome Hat

foresthatWe often get so caught up in modern society and its beauties that we often forget about beauty’s roots. The Forest Biome Hat reminds us of the kind of beauty that can only be found in nature. The hatter responsible for this work of art has taken inspiration from a bird’s nest. The crisp green leaves complement the nice shade of purple in the sticks, which are both emphasized by the pale white eggs that sit atop this hat. But all appearances aside, I like to see this hat as a commentary on nature. The eggs in the hat seem to be a metaphor for the fragility and beauty of nature. The wearer of the hat is therefore the protector of nature, emphasizing that we must play a part in protecting and preserving the beauty that is nature. A beautiful hat with a beautiful meaning.

Desert Biome Hat

deserthatThe Desert Biome Hat is admittedly not one of my favourites. First of all it’s not a very attractive hat to look at. I mean, it’s pretty ugly and awkward looking. While the jagged edge is certainly a nice touch, the overall design is pretty underwhelming. Secondly, it has a rather boring colour scheme. Blue and grey aren’t exactly the most eye-catching of colours. But it is functional. In the hot dry heat of the unforgiving Desert Biome, you’re gonna need to keep cool. The Desert Biome hat is perfectly suited for that exact purpose! And the hinge lets you adjust the umbrella to shield you from the harsh sun. So while it’s not fashionable, it is functional.

Swamp Biome Hat

swamphatThe Swamp Biome Hat is a sight to behold. It’s basically a baby crocodile that lives on your head. Not only is it an interesting pet, it’s an attention-grabbing piece of headwear that never fails to impress. Observe the sly look in the crocodile’s eye, complemented by the faint, crafty, toothy smile. It just seems to give off a sort of charm you can’t find anywhere else. The crocodile is an animal renowned for lying in wait and springing to action when it needs to. This hat brings out the scheming, crafty demeanour often associated with crocodiles and adds on a bit of charm. This pays off greatly as the end result is a magnificent hat with the sort of charm that comes with any manipulative creature.

Lunar Biome Hat

lunarhatLooking for a futuristic headwear? Well, with the Lunar Biome Hat, you will never have to look ever again! Wait… no… whatever. This hat is certainly innovative. A clean wraparound blue hat topped off with a futuristic laser antenna. I have to say this has a rather simple design when compared to the others, but that’s really the point I suppose. This hat is meant to appear post-Earth, a time and place more advanced than what we have now, and it does its job well. I really appreciate the decor on this one. The single antenna with the glowy laser-ring things really capitalize on the whole future theme. In short: it’s simple, but effective.

Fire Biome Hat

firehatThe Fire Biome Hat is a tasteful piece of headwear. The geometry (and geography) of the entire thing is just stunning. I love the crater-like design and the pool of magma, but I especially love the winding streams of lava running down the sides. I also love the stark contrast between the dark earthy texture of the hat and the exquisite orange-red glow of the lava. But what I love most about this hat is how it captures the volatile, fiery nature of volcanoes. Volcanoes are essentially nature’s time bombs, they seem calm and then all of a sudden BOOM! You’re neck deep in molten lava. When you look at this hat, it seems serene and calm, but there’s a certain element of suspense in there as well. As if the hat could burst into flames at any moment. THAT is what volcanoes are all about, and this hat does a brilliant job at capturing it.

Crystal Biome Hat

crystalhatFirstly, I have to say the Crystal Biome Hat is beautiful. There’s something about it that just seems to radiate feminine grace. It almost seems like a crown for a royal princess. The slight glow from the crystal even gives it a magic-ish type feel. But unfortunately, while it is beautiful, it seems to lack originality. The other biome hats are all unique, and extremely original. It may be because the other hats set the bar too high, but in comparison, the Crystal Biome Hat seems rather bland and boring. Nonetheless, it does have its merits. The aforementioned feminine aura gives it a somewhat magical element, and the shades of pink and purple complement each other nicely. So all in all, the hat is beautiful, but it fails to measure up to the other hats in terms of originality.

So there you have it: all seven Realms-inspired biome hats reviewed and recognized for the fashion statements they are. Which one’s your favorite? 😀

Back Lot Island, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Island, Game Show Island, Ghost Story Island, Legendary Swords, Mocktropica Island, Monster Carnival Island, PHB Sneak Peeks, PHB Specials, Poptropica Portfolio, PoptropiCon Island, Survival Island, Twisted Thicket Island, Virus Hunter Island

Poptropica Portfolio: Chris Goodwin

Nate Greenwall isn’t the only one posting his Poptropica illustrations – I recently stumbled upon the site of Chris Goodwin, an illustrator/designer working for Poptropica, whose online portfolio can be found here. This post comes in three parts. As always, click to enlarge the pics!

Perhaps the most interesting section is character design: designs for E. Vile’s robots from Legendary Swords (as well as some props seen in P-Con: Ep. 2), a huge collection of characters (including several unreleased ones – some possibly for Ep. 3 of PoptropiCon!), unused flying ace designs (the corner suggests they were for the Virus Hunter minigame, Nano-Combat Training), ideas for Max McGullicutty’s look in Survival: Ep. 5, and finally, rough drafts of robots for Game Show Island.

The next section is concept art – ideas for various parts of the game. Here we see color plans for areas inside Joe’s body on Virus Hunter Island, shape ideas for “air creatures” in his lungs, a look at an extravagant (though unused) virus bug, several sketches of dark scenes, racer cars we’ve seen before as a scrapped idea, a Legendary Swords doodle, the Monster Carnival common room, and a sketch from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory Island.

Lastly, there’s a section devoted to scene illustrations – most of these are already in the game, though the one of the cabin is not (but it seems to belong to the unnamed geological park island).

The rest are: the tutorial island in the Poptropica app, Ephraim University (both exterior and interior) from Mocktropica, Soundstage #1 on Back Lot, the Hemlock Herald newspaper room on Ghost Story, a hallway door and post office common room on Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, and the bonus quest on Twisted Thicket. Seeing them each as one big scene makes it all the more awesome. ❤

Poptropica sure is beautiful, and Chris has made some really creative contributions to the game we know and love. Enjoy the Chris Goodwin collection, and stay popping, Poptropicans! 😀

PHB Specials

PHB Sunday Special: Poptropica vs. the Board of Education

Is your school one that doubts the educational merits of Poptropica? The Twitter-ers among us may have already seen this, but Poptropica recently tweeted a few infographics showing off the scholastic side of their game world in response to all the tweets about schools blocking the site.

If you want Poptropica un-blocked at your school, try showing these to someone in charge, and they might just change their mind. Poptropica may be game, but it’s also a world of learning opportunities! 😀

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Some of Poptropica’s best stories involve historical figures, real life locations, art history, and more – all with that unique Poptropica twist that makes it engaging, clever, and still accurate.

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And with all the branded books and interactive dialogue waiting to be discovered, it’s clear Poptropica encourages reading as well. Still in doubt? Check out the PHB’s Poptropica Game Review!

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With all that being said, Poptropica should fit right into any school environment, especially for the target audience of 6- to 15-year-olds – and kids will pick up all sorts of culturally and academically relevant information while being immersed in top-notch storytelling. And that means…

Let kids play Poptropica. 😀