Hey Poptropicans! Sometimes good things come in small packages, and I’ll be sharing about one that I got: the Dr. Hare button!
The Dr. Hare button is available from Poptropica’s Zazzle merch store for US$2.25 and comes in various sizes (ranging from 1 ¼ to 6 inches) and shapes (round or square). I went for a classic round shape with a small diameter of 1 ¼ inch. Here’s the packaging it arrived in:
For its small size, the button sure came in a large packet. Cactus not included.
And here’s Dr. Hare with Dr. Hare to show off the front and back of the button. The way the distinct goggles and teeth are surrounded by lots of negative space gives the design a nice minimalist feel. Overall, it’s definitely a cute pin of Poptropica’s pinkest punk!
Front
Back
You can stick this button anywhere that the pin can poke through, like your backpack, denim jacket, lanyards, or more. As for me, my Dr. Hare button has found a home among my pin collection.
Can you spot the carrot thief?
Thanks to the Poptropica Creators for sponsoring this post! The Creators kindly hooked up the PHB with a generous Zazzle gift card, so we’ll be sharing more merch reviews here soon. Stay tuned! 👀
For more about all the Poptropica merch that exists, from Zazzle to beyond with toys and more, check out the PHB’s Merchandise Guide. ✨
Gather round, Poptropicans, and let’s recall the tale of Fairytale Island…
Once upon a time (or actually, twice), the overlords at Poptropica held a Design Your Dream Island Contest. One of the winning ideas was Fairytale Island by Perfect Crab, and as promised for the prize, the island would be made into the game. Now, in April 2021, it’s here!
It’s been a hot minute year or so since the last real island (and even longer if you’re not counting the decided disappointment of Reality TV: Wild Safari), so when we heard about this one, we were pretty excited. Fairytale is the first of the 2020 Dream Island winners and the first original island on Haxe. Does it live up to the hype?
Now that we’ve had a chance to play it (and if you haven’t yet, play it before reading this!), we’re here to share our impressions. Turn the page with us, and let’s get into it! Be warned: This review contains spoilers.
Storyline & Characters
The tale goes like this: you arrive on the island to find out the fairytales have had their happy endings stolen, and it’s up to you to recover them. Fairytale Island takes three classic stories—Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood—and brings some delightful twists to each one through both plot and characters.
One of the most iconic characters from the island has to be Cinderella. While taking inspiration from the original story, Poptropica also makes this character their own in her surprising switch from dainty damsel in distress to flaming punk rock Cinder, the star of the ball (and what a fitting nickname!). And, in a win for more minority representation, Poptropica has also taken a character traditionally depicted as white and created her Black and beautiful.
Cinder’s stunning transformation
Another character who enchantingly subverts expectations in this island is Snow White. We’re tasked with finding her a true love’s kiss to wake her up—so far, classic fairytale concept—but it turns out her heart’s with animals, not Prince Charming! After a goat’s kiss rouses her, she goes off to pursue her dream career of becoming a veterinarian. We can even see her in vet scrubs at the island’s happily ever after.
Snow finds true love in a career, not a prince.
Fairytale Island plays host to various other interesting characters that we also have to mention here. We love Red Riding Hood for its fun twist on a girl in a red cap who doesn’t look traditionally feminine and works a thankless job in modern-style food delivery, the adorable little dwarves in a trench coat who just want to be taken seriously, and the snarky talking pig who mocks your Poptropican’s call to save the day.
But other characters are a little more strange. Perhaps the most cursed of them is the huntsman, who tried to lure the wolf into eating the grandma, all in a bid to, apparently, meet girls. (??!!!) But even he found a willing date in the end with Cinder. Sweet, or a total red flag?
Amelia from Home Island is also fairly involved in the story, which is interesting. But what in the world is she thinking, patting us on the back when there’s a creepy magic dude on the loose?? The dialogue seems to set the stage for future episodes in Fairytale Island, but nothing we’ve seen officially confirms this. If this is The End, it’s not very satisfying!
Which brings us to a major issue in this storyline: it ends on an odd cliffhanger. We’re not quite sure what Rumplestiltskin is up to, and then there’s the crying prince, who’s left without a happy ending.
Gameplay
The gameplay, unfortunately, is where this island shines least. Fairytale Island is basically comprised of a disjointed series of three mini-quests that didn’t really weave into each other. (They were literally labeled side-quests, despite each being required to fulfill the main storyline.)
There wasn’t much of a challenge offered throughout the island—it was fairly easy to click around for the right kiss for Snow White, and even the obstacle mountain we climbed with Cinderella on our backs didn’t have the same struggle of previous plays of Poptropica parkour, though at least it was fun. The most challenging aspect was the dark forest maze, and this at least provided a decent degree of difficulty—many players reported taking a while to find the real cabin! That sort of complexity could have been applied to the rest of the island, too.
The lack of challenge wasn’t the only thing that made Fairytale feel different from the classic Poptropica experience. As with other recent islands like Reality TV: Wild Safari, at no point in the quest did we collect items to add to our inventory to use later in the story. Not even the teased lipstick from Rumplestiltskin was used anywhere!
Fairytale could have brought on more exploratory elements like with the old islands, such as having the player participate more through dialogue options and allowing the player to click around more of the scenes instead of being teleported out of them as soon as each part was done. Maybe, for example, we would’ve liked to mingle with the guests at Cinderella’s ball instead of being whisked away almost immediately! And what about a boss battle when we finally face Rumple?
Audio & Visuals
When it comes to the sounds and sights, Fairytale makes the mark. The audio we hear as we play through this island is nothing new, but it all helps set the mood, from the walking stomps to the mighty slapping of the mountain saplings to the spooky background music of the woods.
As we make our way through the island, we get to enjoy some fun animations and clickable interactive parts, which does feel like classic Poptropica. Highlights include the unicorn that barfs purple, the strumming of the lyre, and the pig throwing bricks.
And as with many Poptropica islands, the scenery is stunning. Check out these postcard-perfect shots from all over the Fairytale kingdom:
Verdict
Considering all of the above, from storyline and characters, to gameplay, to audio and visuals, out of five we’d give Fairytale…
…3 out of 5 goat kisses. While the island’s lack of challenge felt almost like hand-holding the player more than allowing us to explore, Fairytale redeems itself with interesting new takes on classic tales that give the story some depth — it’s just unfortunately unclear how this fable ends.
The island’s also got some gorgeous graphics, including some amusing animations and fascinating character designs that are sure to be the subject of future fan art. In fact, it’s already inspired some on the PHC!
Red by Purple Paw
Happily Never After (Rumplestiltskin) by Lucky Joker
Rumplestiltskin by BrittScarlet
Rumplestiltskin by Gear
Guess it’s a semi-happy ending for Fairytale Island. Will there be more to come? Time will tell. In the meantime, we look forward to the other Dream Island winners, Goofball and Secret of the Jade Scarab!
Thanks for reading our review of Fairytale Island! Do you agree with our verdict? Share your opinions in the comments below!
Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Dangerous Dragon. Enjoy!
Hello, DD here. Today I am going to review an island which was good and almost perfect. It’s the amazing and sad Monster Carnival! *applause*
First, why do I like this Island? It’s because of the monsters. If you’ve played it then you would know that it’s spooky… horses going backwards?!! Oh no! I also like the twist. You work in the day, and just when night falls and you think you’ve saved the day, you see everyone has disappeared. Now, who did this? (Spoilers ahead.)
Pony Ride: Off into the sunset we go.
By following the trash trail, you find out the carnival people have all turned into monsters. Now comes the monster part and it’s really fun. Then after all this, we get to chase Ringmaster Raven (more on his story in my other post)!
Now this could have been my favourite island instead of Time Tangled, but the reason I say it was “almost perfect” was because of what happened to Ringmaster Raven. (This is getting tense. I can’t forget it! Raven always makes it in all my posts!) Yeah, everyone who’s played it knows what happened to him.
He just meant to take revenge on those bad townspeople for how they treated him. If they could’ve just helped him, this wouldn’t have happened. All he wanted was a place to belong, and to live together happily, but no! They couldn’t let them stay because he was a monster!! When Dr. Dan revealed himself as a monster too, they told him that they loved him, but if they had let Raven stay, both Dr. Dan and Ringmaster have had their happily ever after. I was really sad about this and I thought Raven should’ve taken revenge.
Dr. Dan the apothecary…
…was a monster too!
If only Raven was also loved.
Ok, that’s the end. I really like this island but the ending really depressed me. I would give it a 9/10. What do you think?
Before we close, just a quick reminder that I’m hosting a mini competition which is open till the end of April. Check the comments of the PHB’s Community page for the full details.
Also, quick question: when Monster Carnival was on the map, could we customize from Ringmaster Raven? I had tried it but I don’t remember.
Spread Your Wings: And fly on out of here, or you’ll be sorry.
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 White Fox. Enjoy!
Hi, Poptropicans! It’s White Fox again, here with a Ramble Review on the one and only Vampire’s Curse Island. First things first, I have to mention Christopher. The brave, loyal boyfriend.
Yeah, right. Moving on.
One of the reasons I liked this island because of all the references to Bram Stoker’s vampire story Dracula. For example, the villain’s name is Count Bram. Seriously, it is right there.
Also, one of the graves is dedicated to one of the Count’s victims, who was drained of her blood in the novel Dracula. There’s more trivia like this in the PHB’s Vampire’s Curse Island Guide!
Let’s be honest, this island was definitely creepy. I mean, graves. Old statues. Vampires. Spiders. Eek! At first, this island did not seem like something I would be interested in playing. Mythology? Sure! Spies? Fine! But I didn’t feel like I wanted to play an island based on vampires.
Personally, seeing blood makes me freak out, so there’s a problem. The dark sky, the small city, everything at the beginning of the island was not what I would call welcoming. In the end, however, it was one of my favorite islands!
If I could change one thing about this island, though, it has to be the part when you make the anti-vampire serum. Just the fact that it’s so random. I wish it had more reason to it, like you find something that gives you a clue to it. More of an explanation to why it is like that. Or maybe there was, and I didn’t see it.
Even if this island doesn’t get brought back, I hope that the dumbwaiter and the crossbow gets brought back. I loved that. I especially liked the part where you shot arrows at the side of the castle to get the mandrake root. That was hard, but fun and memorable.
I always wondered why tomatoes were in his lab. I mean, next to blood, I suppose tomatoes are a vampire’s favorite food? Or maybe he just had them for research?
I loved this island because of all the adventure. From using the crossbow, to firing the cannon, to growing a tomato head, to helping Katya escape Count Bram, the island is purely full of wonder and mystery.
I think that just about wraps up this post! Put your favorite part of the island in the comments below. 👇Thanks for reading!
Peace, White Fox
Hope you enjoyed this guest post by White Fox. If you did, you might also enjoy the PHB’s other Ramble Reviews of various islands, like this one about Lunar Colony by Purple Paw.
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! 📰✨
Heyo Poptropicans, and welcome to another long overdue Ramble Review! This time around, I’ll be exploring the high-tech outer space world of Lunar Colony. 🔭
When I played Lunar Colony for the very first time years ago, my first impression of it wasn’t exactly a good one. I remember feeling annoyed by all of the airlocks especially; I could never figure out how to enter one building or exit another, and for some reason, it took me a good deal of tries before I was even able to land the Lunar Lander. I remember I got so frustrated with this island that I eventually gave up trying to complete it at all, and moved on to something else. But if I’d just held on a little longer, and managed to reach the ending of Lunar Colony, my whole perspective on it would’ve changed at once…
More recently, I decided to give Lunar Colony another shot. This time around, I understood it better, and was able to finally reach the end of the island. And when I saw the ending, with Commander Salerno whisked through the portal to the alien realm, with the flight director on the radio, announcing that it was time to bring you back home, I was more surprised than I’ve ever been at the end of an island.
“I know you were supposed to bring me back to Earth, but I’m sorry, that’s not my mission. My mission is through here.”
The main reason Lunar Colony’s ending stood out so much from other islands is because it’s one of very few, if not the only, island where you fail your mission (in a sense). From the beginning, your mission was to find Salerno and bring her safely home. But when you activate the alien portal at the end, the tables are turned, and Salerno ends up escaping once and for all. It’s a sad day for everyone.
Of course, Salerno’s escape did do quite a bit of good for PASE. Now that alien life has been confirmed, people are starting to regain interest in outer space, and the president has promised whatever money PASE needs to keep their space program going! What Salerno did was a heroic move, but the truth still remains that your mission all along — to bring Salerno back to Earth — didn’t end quite as expected, and it’s those final parts of the island that really make Lunar Colony stand out in my eyes.
Believe it or not, I’m walking on air.
But enough rambling about Lunar Colony’s ending. Although that is the main reason I admire this island so much, it’s far from the only reason! Something else I thought was interesting about Lunar Colony is how it canonized the fact that Poptropicans’ eye colors can change. I’d wondered for awhile about Poptropicans’ eyes: why all Poptropicans’ eyes tend to stay the same, how there are hardly any customizable eye parts, and yes, whether or not they can change color. It was definitely a cool addition to see a Poptropican’s eyes turn purple!
It would be cool to see an option to change eye color added to the Colorizer someday 👀
Something else I found intriguing about this island is how it, similar to Astro-Knights, focuses on outer space — except the two islands couldn’t be more different. While Astro-Knights mainly features the clockpunk genre, Lunar Colony takes a scientific approach on the cosmos. Lunar Colony’s world seems to be in a much more modern, technological era, as opposed to Astro-Knights’ medieval theme.
Outer space is a vast place, and there have been an array of stories taking place beyond the stars. And in my opinion, Lunar Colony is definitely one of those stories that deserves more appreciation than it got. Even though the gameplay is admittedly frustrating at times, and even though not many people think of Lunar Colony when they think of Poptropica’s greatest islands, it’s the plot (combined with an assortment of beautiful outer space artwork!) that ties this whole adventure together and makes it one of the most intriguing Poptropica islands to ponder over. 🚀🧑🚀
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