Hey, everyone! The Pop Creators are continuing to thank their members during the “12 Days of Member Gifts” event. We already saw the first set of December gifts, so now let’s take a look at the new stuff so far!
On the second day of December, Poptropica gave members a gift fitting of 2020: Winter Masks. These festive face masks let players be fashionable in the game as well as remind them to stay safe IRL.
On the third day, members received the ultra cool Snowmobile, which can travel on any island whether or not it’s snowing. And most recently, on the fourth day, members met the short and stout Snowman Follower. Great additions to Pop’s collection of member gifts.
Moving on from member gifts, let’s take a look at some sneak peeks and shout-outs. Over on Instagram, Poptropica shared a new sneak peek for the near-complete Dr. Hare minigame. The video clip below shows some gameplay accompanied by a jazzy upbeat tune. In regards to the game’s title, the Creators have narrowed the list down to two names and will reveal the official title next week.
But enough about Dr. Hare. Let’s talk about Dr. Beev! The latest entry in the “Video of the Week” series is a speedpaint video by Pop fan artist Birdie Bea. Watch her draw this cool poster based on the fandom’s favorite animal-themed scientist.
That’s all for now. What do you think of the December gifts so far? What do you think the new Dr. Hare minigame will be called? Would you be interested in a Dr. Beev minigame in the future? Let us know in the comments below.
Hey, Poptropicans! Yesterday, the Creators posted a teaser image for a new Dr. Hare-themed minigame and offered a way for fans to help make it! Let’s take a look!
The game has a cute retro art style and stars a Dr. Hare who has nearly gone full rabbit. As for gameplay, it seems that you would need to jump up the platforms and reach a checkpoint before time runs out. There are also items like clocks that give extra time, stars that likely give extra points, and spikes that thwart Dr. Hare’s escapades.
This minigame already has a lot going for it; however, it is missing one crucial thing: a name. The Creators are asking fans to come up with a unique title for this new game. Do you have any cool or punny game names? You can send them to the Creators on the Creators’ Blog or on Instagram, The game will be releasing very soon, so hop to it!
With the release of Arabian Nights: How Bazaar on Haxe, Poptropica made four Arabian Nights-themed coloring pages to “keep the sense of adventure alive”. The first page is an elaborately decorated frame, and the other three are characters from Arabian Nights. You can save the pages from the Creators’ Blog to your computer so you can print them or color them digitally.
When you’re done, you can send your newly colored masterpiece (or any Poptropica-related art) to the Creators via the Submissions page. Your art could be featured on the Creators’ Blog or even in Poptropica’s video player! While you’re there, you can also submit an entry for the Create Your Dream Island contest. Who knows? Your dream island might become a reality just like Arabian Nights did.
Hey Poptropicans! Something new is coming to town…
On Instagram, the Pop Creators recently shared two sneak peeks of a Fall Festival, which is going to be a limited time event… and it’s dropping by starting tomorrow! 🎟🎡🍭
The first pic shows a “snack shack” with cotton candy, with elements of the art reminiscent of the carnival fun of Monster Carnival Island. What’s also intriguing is the caption, hinting about getting to “join your friends”… could this mean more features coming to the Friends Beta currently on Haxe?
The other sneak peek is a gif of a Poptropican holding up and squeezing a big, pink, fluffy toy bear, perhaps a prize for winning a carnival game.
Based on the surrounding grass, this extravaganza looks like it could be taking place on Home Island (which has been known to get makeovers from time to time). Or perhaps it’ll get its own little limited time island? Whatever the case, we’ll be here to join in the autumnal festivities! 🍂
Though the Fall Festival hasn’t arrived yet, perhaps a hint of it has already poked through in-game: if you head over to the Poptropica map, you’ll see an envelope sticking out of the Poptropica logo.
Clicking on it doesn’t do anything, at least not yet. But maybe it’s a sign of an oncoming mail feature, like what we saw with Paradise Island?
Have we got mail?
Also, oddly enough, the Zomberry Hero event is still on the map and playable even though it’s the second week of November! Perhaps it’ll soon be replaced by the next limited time carnival event, though…
In less exciting news, the ad attacks continue. Logging into the game the other day, PHB staffer Gentle Dolphin discovered a pop-up video ad in the bottom corner. It goes away if you either scroll down to the video player below the game screen, or zoom out to where both the game screen and video player are both viewable.
That’s not all, though: even the billboard has been infected! Take a look at this Grammarly ad embedded in Home Island:
Poptropica recently shared that they’re experimenting more with ads because of greater demand from advertisers in the current pandemic. Rather disruptive for players, tbh, but the hope is they’re temporary!
For more insights from Pop HQ, check out the recent Q&A they did with the PHB, where they shared about what 2021 holds for Poptropica, whether certain beloved old features will return, and more. Definitely worth a read! 📰 Catch you all at the carnival coming up! 🎡
Hey, friends! Gentle Dolphin here with the latest Poptropica news! Today, we’ll be taking a look behind the curtains and seeing some future updates as well as what goes into the making of an island experience.
Back in May 2019, the Creators asked players for feedback on how to improve Poptropica’s friends feature. Now, in October 2020, we finally get a sneak peek of the new friends feature coming soon to Haxe!
The one feature fans requested the most was the ability to find and add their friends via usernames, which was part of the original friends feature back in 2012. It looks like the Creators will be implementing this small but handy feature back to the Poptropica Friends experience. One interesting thing to note is that it looks like you can either accept or deny friend requests from other players, similar to Facebook.
Seeing the username feature return makes us wonder if any other old features such as pop quizzes and medallions will also return to Poptropica Friends, whether immediately with the update or later down the line. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case.
Hopping over to Instagram, the Creators posted another sneak peek. This one is a short video showing a few kids inside a large spinning device, and the caption doesn’t give any more information. The design reminds me of a nut and bolt, so maybe it’s a hardware-themed fair attraction or observation tower? Judging by how fast it’s going, something may have gone wrong. What do you guys think?
With the Zomberry Hero special event going strong, the Creators posted a special behind-the-scenes look at the making of this event. We’ll only be covering the bare essentials, but you can read the original post for a more in-depth look of their creative process.
First, the Creators shared some concept art for the opening comic page. The artists start with a rough storyboard, then create a formal sketch closer to the game’s art style. Once the sketch is approved, the artists can then create the final piece.
Several artists also help design the various levels that players will explore, following a similar process to the comic artists. They also play a role in helping the developers understand how certain elements will work in the game.
After the art is complete, the developers can move on to animation and coding! As you can see below, the game’s assets are animated in Adobe Animate, and everything is coded in Haxe Javascript (the game’s current engine).
Last but not least, there’s the factor of sound. Not only is Jeff Heim’s music a big part of the experience, there are also the sound effects, such as the eerie moaning of the zombies. This audio sample here was made by an anonymous Pop Creator with the help of blankets!
What do you guys think of these sneak peeks? What other fan-favorite features do you wish to see return in the future, and what do you think that Instagram video is about?
There’s one week left to enter our annual PHB Halloween costume contest so make sure to submit your entries before October 30! Also, don’t forget about Poptober and Community Creations, which are ongoing until the end of this month. We love what you guys have been sharing so far, and we can’t wait so see what else you have in store!
Hello, ghouls and ghosts! Halloween is fast approaching, and everyone is gearing up for some spoopy fun. The hype is so infectious that the Poptropica Creators couldn’t avoid it. Yesterday, they announced a new limited time event coming to Poptropica maps near you.
Everyone, brace yourselves because the zomberries will be returning for an upcoming Zomberry Special Event!!!
The original Creators’ Blog post also featured two Zomberry-themed sketches— possibly concept art for the event’s map icon— to go along with the announcement. You can see them below.
If you go to Instagram, you can see what’s presumably the final icon design, which borrows elements from both sketches. The caption on the Instagram teaser simply reads, “Something is happening VERY SOON. And then more is happening after that.”
Man, there’s a lot to look forward to! Judging from the announcement, it’s likely not the Zomberry Island remaster that was teased last year. Since it will a limited time event, it may be a special minigame similar to D.C. Diner or a quest like the Haunted House.
This event could be borrowing elements from previously scrapped Zomberry minigames, which we covered in our “PHB Sneak Peeks” series. Maybe it has something to do with that 8-bit minigame that was teased for the Zomberry Island remaster? Who knows? We’ll have to wait and see.
Players participating in this limited time event will be awarded special perks, so who knows what new prizes could be in store. Keep an eye out for upcoming sneak peeks, and be prepared for the return of the fruity undead.
While we’re waiting for this event, why not buy some costumes to dress up your Poptropican? The Poptropica store added some new items for players to buy, so it’s a great chance to get in the Halloween spirit. Plus, it gives you more to work with for the PHB’s Halloween costume contest. 😉
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