Hey, Poptropicans! We had a lot of fun watching your Poptropica Month videos this year — and even highlighted some of our favorites.
Of course, we didn’t want to feel left out of the fun, so we’ve been working on something too… Without further ado, we at the Poptropica Help Blog present our first hit single: “Backspace”!
A few months ago, Slanted Fish had the idea to write a Poptropica parody of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” for Poptropica Month 2021. While the original “Blank Space” satirizes media’s obsession with Swift’s love life, “Backspace” expresses fans’ grievances with modern-day Poptropica. The end product was a fun and (unfortunately) relatable glimpse into being a Poptropica fan in 2021.
Every lyrical masterpiece needs a singer, so imagine my surprise when Slanted Fish asked me to provide vocals! Why me? Well, it might have had something to do with me mentioning that I like to sing WAY back in my introduction to the PHB post. I wonder what 2018 me would have thought if she knew what including that little detail would lead to? Just don’t ask me to dance, though.
Recording audio was easier said than done. I own a Blue Snowball microphone, an omnidirectional microphone that picks up every little sound in the room. On top of that, it was difficult finding a good time and place to record amid conflicting work schedules, Florida’s summer storms, and noisy chickens. Don’t believe me on that last one? Here’s an exclusive behind-the-scenes listen at me dealing with four rambunctious roosters. 🐓🐓🐓🐓
Recording was only half the battle. For mixing, I used a free program called Audacity, which is also called Audiotonic in the Microsoft Store. After sorting through multiple takes and playing with the volume, I finally exported the track and sent it Fishy’s way. Finally, she created the accompanying music video using various Poptropica island trailers from over the years.
We hope you all liked our little pop song! Will we make another music video like this in the future? Eh, we’ll see… Anyway, be sure to also check out the Poptropica Month 2021 playlist for more awesome Pop-related videos. It’s a fun way to celebrate Poptropica’s birthday— err, funeral as the Dimension Bros would say.
Howdy Poptropicans! About an eternity ago I posted 5 pairs of Poptropica images to see who could find all of the differences in them — where the quickest person would receive a drawing of their Poptropican by me.
It’s been about four months since that post went up and in all honesty, I completely forgot about it. I’m super sorry for keeping anybody waiting! Anyway – without further ado, let’s pop right into the answer reveals. Frankly, there’s no more time to waste. 😅
1) Shark Tooth Seek
Missing coconut
Pink skirt/blue skirt
Blimp silhouette
Monkey’s gaze
Shark Boy Guy
2) Fairytale Fish-Around
No troll/troll
Missing words on sign
Extra shimmer
Additional window
Colors of dragon tail
3) Bazaar Bewilderment
Tarp color
Missing thief
Extra window
Running thief
Genie
4) Comb the Crowd
Purple lipstick/pink lipstick
Girl’s stare
Third light on helmet
Hue of lenses
Missing skull & crossbones
5) Scour the Staff
Different colors on Slanted Fish’s hoodie
Gentle Dolphin’s missing glasses
Sporty Boa’s half-closed eye
Missing lightning bolt in between Sporty Boa and Fierce Flyer
Lightning bolt/star
In the time the game was open, I got a ton of entries for about two weeks straight – so I wanna thank you for the participation! There were a few who were able to spot all of them, but there was one person who was faster than the rest…
Congratulations Dangerous Shadow for winning my game! I hope you like your portrait. Once again, I’m sorry for the wait. Also, I need help with hands 🤨
Dangerous Shadow
So what other kind of games would you like to see? Let me know in the comments or by messaging me on Discord.
Anyway, I’m glad I finally got this out. Thanks for your patience with me and thank you for reading. Talk to you guys in the next one. Pop on!
HELLO THERE EVERYONE. CAPTAIN CRAWFISH HERE. MY RABBIT… ACQUAINTANCE? I CAN’T QUITE CALL HIM A FRIEND. HE SAID THAT TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY, WHICH I FIND ABSOLUTELY ABSURD. YOU REALLY NEED DAYS FOR EVERYTHING?
ANYWAY. I WANTED TO CLEAR UP SOME THINGS, BECAUSE SOME OF YOU ARE TRULY BECOMING AN EMBARRASSMENT TO US VILLAINS.
FIRST. I BEG–NO, I NEVER BEG! I DEMAND THAT YOU STOP WITH THIS WHOLE “ARRR ME HEARTIES” STUFF! EVEN IF WE HAVE OUR WAY OF SPEAKIN’, WE DON’T HAVE MAGGOTS FOR BRAINS! MOST PIRATES COME FROM AROUND THE WORLD, MANY OF US FROM EUROPE OR ASIA. ME PERSONALLY, I’M FROM BRITAIN.
I CAN’T REMEMBER EVER SAYING “ARRRR” EITHER. THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING SOMEONE MADE UP IN FICTION TO MAKE US SEEM AS STRANGE AS THOSE ALIENS MORDRED TALKS ABOUT.
EITHER WAY, I JUST WANTED TO CLEAR THAT UP SO YOU KIDS COULD STOP MAKIN’ FOOLS OF US.
YO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF ROOT BEER BECAUSE THERE’S NO GOOD STUFF HERE
– CAPTAIN CRAWFISH 🦞
The Big Sleep: A pirate just can’t get any rest around here.
Aye, so it appears Crawfish somehow bent the rules o’ time ‘n space t’ access me account. He also appears t’ nah understand wha’ the CAPS LOCK be. Me deepest apologies fer any confusion, but ahoy, nah me fault!
June is a month of celebration for the LGBTQ+ community, and the PHB is bringing that celebration to Poptropica. But we recognize that not everyone is familiar with what this is all about, so we wanted to make this post to explain the ABCs of LGBT in a kid-friendly way (with brief mentions of mature forms of attraction).
This post will be using the terms “LGBTQ+,” “LGBT,” and “queer” interchangeably, though it’s worth noting that “queer” has historically been used as an insult and only recently been reclaimed as a positive catch-all term. We’ll be going over some basic concepts and common LGBT identities — and tying them to the world of Poptropica!
Please remember that everyone is different, and identities are complicated, but we are all deserving of acceptance, love, and support. If you feel uneasy about the topic of LGBTQ+ identities, I encourage you to be open-minded and patient. Though you may not currently understand the perspective of a queer individual, they are important people nonetheless. And if you are LGBTQ+ and feeling misunderstood by people who don’t quite get it, I encourage you to demonstrate patience even when it is challenging, because the PHB aims to be an accepting place for all viewers. All that being said, let’s unpack this!
It’s a familiar cry. Bring the old islands back to Poptropica! Ever since a huge chunk of islands went off the map due to technical incompatibility, Poptropicans everywhere have been calling for their return, including here on the PHB. But it’s been years, and gone they continue to be.
So let’s talk about that. The Poptropica Creators have no doubt heard the cries and have even promised to find ways to bring back the classics. But as time goes by, with few of the originals to show for it, players are getting restless. From the PHB, here’s our call to the Pop Creators, on behalf of nostalgic fans everywhere: here’s what it takes to keep the spirit of Poptropica alive and well.
🏝 Know and celebrate the old islands
The Poptropica map filled with islands (image: idk)
Poptropica used to have over 40 original islands, each a world filled with stories to explore. With the Flash-to-Haxe transition, we’re now down to about 10, and several are incomplete episodic adventures.
And the islands that Poptropica has put out in the past several years have shifted in style of gameplay — there’s a lot more handholding and a lot less exploring. So first things first, Poptropica needs to remember what made the old islands so special to so many of our childhoods.
Old Poptropica islands used the medium of interactive gaming to tell compellingstories to the kids who played them. But the newer islands seem to have one without the other: Reality TV: Wild Safari was all games, no story; while Fairytale Island gave us fun tales but without much participation in them from the player. A really successful island, like Mystery Train, manages to do both: puzzles and narrative together.
The Poptropica of the past several years have shown us that the Creators are straying further away from this vision of what made Poptropica so loved before. Players have compared this worrying trend to Mocktropica Island, the parody turned reality. More recently, a Creator’s clueless comment on Instagram revealed a lack of knowledge about Betty Jetty, a beloved character from an old island, which ultimately speaks to a lack of awareness for iconic parts of their own game.
So please, Poptropica Creators, revisit those old islands and experience their magic. Know the lore of the Poptropica worlds we grew up with, and let that intoxicating blend of gaming and storytelling guide you into making the next great island adventure.
While Poptropica hasn’t been pushing out their A-game in islands lately, we have been getting a lot of funky new features (and losing quite a few others, but we digress). Part of that is keeping up with today’s gaming tech needs with the Flash-to-Haxe transition, but all this focus on new, not-island stuff has made Poptropicans wonder what it’s all for.
Sure, it’s fun to see Home Island get a seasonal makeover or try on a new costume from the store. But why are the Creators so obsessed with redesigning Home Island? What’s with all the pop-up screens telling you what to do, or the remaking of features like the menu that were fine the way they were? Even assuming that these updates are well received, they should not be the main focus—they’re secondary aspects.
All the efforts spent in making these updates is time taken away from preserving the spirit of Poptropica through the old islands. Every inconsequential makeover or new pet item feels, to the nostalgic player, like valuable time that could have gone towards getting closer to bringing the old islands back. Which brings us to the last point…
⏩ Port the old islands to Haxe
Sounds obvious and probably easier said than done, but that’s really what a lot of players are looking for right now. Poptropica owns all that content, and the fanbase is eager to play them, so what’s the holdup?
When asked in late 2020 about whether 2021 holds new islands or the return of old ones, the Poptropica CEO answered:
We’re working on a mix of both, plus some remasters of the old islands. We’re also looking at ways to allow players to access the old islands once Flash isn’t widely supported anymore.
Abhi Arya, Poptropica CEO
Remasters are all well and good (well, unless they turn out watered-down like the remastered Mythology Island), but this reinventing could be one reason things are taking a while. But while we wait for those, what about giving us the old islands in their original form? That still takes work, but presumably less work than rewriting old islands.
Hut and Stuff: Quit your jibber jabber.
From that same Q&A:
We know how much the Poptropica you grew up with means to you and want to make sure you can always play that version.
Natalie Shahmiri, Poptropica general manager
Poptropica has heard and promised, but we’ve been waiting a while. It’s been 7 months since that promise in our Q&A with them, nearly 2 years since the old islands vanished from the map, and coming up on 5 years if we’re counting from Poptropica’s first attempts at rebuilding itself for an era without Flash via the now-defunct Poptropica Worlds. An update would be nice. More old islands would be even better. 💙
What say you, Poptropicans? Whether you’re a new or old player, share your thoughts in the comments so the Creators can hear more voices on how fans feel about the state of the game today!
🏝️ Poptropica Help Blog 🗺️ 