Category: Twisted Thicket Island

A quiet seaside village has been attacked by mysterious beings that dwell nearby. You are chosen to enter the dark woods and confront the creatures. But beyond the forest’s edge lies a world of magic and danger, where the only thing more twisted than the tree trunks is the truth.

Guest Posts, Reviews, Twisted Thicket Island

Ramble Review: Twisted Thicket Island 🌳

Slanted Fish

Welcome to a new PHB series called Ramble Reviews! This will be a collection of thoughts and opinions from rambling Poptropicans from our PHC Discord community taking a look back at past islands. We hope these posts (and more are coming!) can be a space for fellow fans to read and discuss.

Please welcome the first writer for the series, Purple Paw.

I’ll start by saying, Twisted Thicket is one of the most important islands Poptropica has ever made. It’s not often you see environmentalism portrayed in a kid’s’ game, especially not in this setting, where the message is clear, and yet it is incredibly fun and enjoyable all the same, without being too harsh. I knew right from the start I had to talk about it!

Twisted Thicket is one of the shorter islands, although most times, it’ll take one longer to complete, due to all of the slightly more challenging puzzles hidden within. Your task appears simple at first: rid the forest of the horrible creatures that are terrorizing the town, and help Burt Diamond and his Lumberjerks destroy the magical terrain and build his casino. But the story of the forest goes deeper than that!

The first time I played this, I hoped very much that the island would not end with the forest being bulldozed and the magic destroyed. And as soon as I reached the Sacred Tree Hollow, I saw how kind and innocent these animals actually were, and that they had only acted hostile in defense of their home. What a twist, right?

Twisted Thicket is simply enchanting in every way possible, from the glowing blue mushrooms to the lit-up flowers to the tangled clusters of dark green leaves. And yes, the Tree Hollow is one of my absolute favorite places in all of Poptropica. The Creators aced the setting, characters, and plot, and I will never tire of replaying this island.

The story highlights the misunderstanding between nature and human settlements, and shines an entirely new light on how to fix it. But that certainly doesn’t mean it’s a solemn island; there’s the perfect amount of tension, action, beauty, and storytelling to keep you engaged and having fun the entire time.

This island is a perfect example of the Creators’ old heart and caring, an island that showed they cared about making a true story, and sending a real message (unlike the nonsensical fetch quests we’ve been seeing more recently…).

Troll, from Twisted Thicket

Because of this, Twisted Thicket has got true potential, a meaningful plot line, and is a real gem on the map. I don’t believe the Creators would let something like this go so easily, and if they’ve got half the heart they used to, they’d be working as hard to preserve the Twisted Thicket like we did all those years ago when we first played.

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Purple Paw. If you did, be sure to check out the PHB’s own quickie review of Twisted Thicket by Lucky Joker! Stay tuned for more Ramble Reviews from Purple Paw, Incredible Fire, Magic Flipper, MaryannTheConqueror… and maybe more! And of course, join in on the rambling fun on the PHC Discord.

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our page on how to Write for the PHB, and share blog posts on the PHC.

📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨

PHB Quickie, Reviews, Twisted Thicket Island

PHB Quickie: Twisted Thicket Island

LJ

Velkomin, Poptropican folk! (That’s Old Norse for ‘welcome’ 🤓)

It’s Lucky Joker popping in today with a truncated review of one of Poptropica’s recently withdrawn classic capers, Twisted Thicket Island — an early favorite of mine from 2012. Let’s flutter into it, shall we? (note: spoilers ahead)

Your initial task arriving on the island is to aide the construction crew in clearing the forest by ridding the “hindering creatures” occupying it in order to make room for their new developments.

In the end of it all though, it’s revealed that the developer, Burt Diamond, and the rest of the lumberjerks are in fact the villainous ones — not the inhabiting forest creatures. You realize the action of forcefully ejecting innocent beings from their sacred home is reprehensible, and that the critters were only acting hostile in self-defense. (What a concept, right?) And so of course, like the heroic Samaritan we are, we eventually save the day and the forest’s magic is restored in all its glory.

As an environmentalist and someone who deeply cares about animal welfare, I really like that Poptropica shed some light on this important real-life issue (even more so with the surprising plot twist).

And including Scandinavian folklore along with the bewitching landscape makes the whole adventure more enticing while still fostering the same core idea. The game-like stages are diverting and the final intervention sure is climactic. I find it satisfying when we end up utilizing the very powers of the creatures in peril to drive the pesky bullies away. Oh sweet poetic justice!

So with all that said, I give Twisted Thicket Island a rating of 4/5 rune stones! It’s the decent storytelling, fun and challenging obstacles, and stunning scenery that grant the island perfect score potential. However, I do feel that the gameplay was just a tad rushed and blandly straightforward compared to other islands. I would’ve appreciated a bit more depth and length, so to me a B grade seems reasonable. 🙂

And that concludes my analysis of Twisted Thicket Island! It’s fairy unfortunate it’s no longer playable on the official game, but thankfully we can still access the island here (courtesy of our resident glitcher, idk). I’m not trolling!

What are your opinions on this mystical quest? Share below in the comments!

Also, don’t forget to participate in our readers’ survey if you haven’t already. (It closes on the 18th.) Thank you for reading, and I’ll talk to you all soon.

– Lucky Joker 🍀

Daily Pop, Daily Pop Sneak Peeks, Glitches, Twisted Thicket Island, Web Development

Jungle mysteries, monkeys, elves, and more!

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans!

Poptropica’s been a bit quiet lately, and even the Daily Pop has less sneak peeks this month than usual. Still, there are some pretty interesting pics hinting at what’s to come:

That’s quite a bit to take in! Are the monkeys and jungle scenes related, and if so, might they be part of the new tutorial island the Creators are working on? At least we think the hot air balloon is.

Also, looks like a Photo Booth is coming to Mystery of the Map (MotM) Island – presumably with the release of the print version of the graphic novel, expected this March! And what’s with the MotM fort with dodos? Plus, why does the left character in “Terra Firma” look suspiciously similar to an original character design by Poptropica player Bony Hopper?? The mysteries are many.

Check out the PHB’s Daily Pop Sneak Peek Archive for more sneak peeks!

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Earlier this week, the Creators also tweeted out these planning sketches from the Twisted Thicket Island files. Check out all those fancy curls and leafy bits. Which elf design is your favorite?

twistedthicket

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On a different note, we have a new page on the PHB under the Cool Stuff tab: Overview of Poptropica Glitching! Whether you consider yourself an experienced glitcher or have no idea what that means, this article will give you an overview of what exactly goes on in the underground world of Poptropica glitching for awesome account alterations. Check it out!

glitchpop

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Curious about PHB authors Giant Hawk and Ultimate iPad Expert? Check out the latest Community Celebrities post on Slippery Raptor’s Blog, where fellow PHB author Slip interviews the twin bros on all things Poptropica (plus some questions about their lives offline)! Read it here.

commcelebs

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Also, hang on for the results of the 2016 PHB Readers’ Survey! We were hoping to have the results up by now, but due to delay, they will be coming later this week. 🙂

Stay popping, Poptropicans! 🐠🐠

Contests, Reality TV Island, Twisted Thicket Island

That’s the Ticket! (Round 1 of Sweepstakes winners)

Ultimate iPad Expert

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert here with another post! Sure, maybe I posted yesterday, but whatever. Right, guys?

screen_shot_2015_12_01_at_7_06_53_pm

Yeh, okay. You can’t tell me what to do Picard! Anyways…

Not too long ago, the Creators announced their Island Hopper Sweepstakes. Along with the overall prizes (which you can check out by clicking the link above), the Creators are giving away 1 month memberships to five lucky Poptropicans. Today, the Creators released the first week’s winners. Here they are: congrats to Comical Pear, Magic Burger, Striped Whale, Tough Flame, and White Grape!

The Creators have added their memberships, and mentioned that they’d get to enjoy Escape from Pelican Rock Island (which is coming out in December for members)!

If you’re a winner this week, congrats! But otherwise, you’ll have more chances, because the Creators are going to be giving away 5 memberships once a week throughout December. Plus, you could also have a chance to win one of the main prizes – see this post for all the details!

Segway

Let’s move on to a few little gems from Twitter!

The Creators tweeted out some concept art from the Creators’ files. One, seen below, is of characters from Reality TV:

And check out this concept art of the Nokken from Twisted Thicket:

Both of these are really cool to see. The progression of each character is really great and I enjoy getting a look into the Creators’ process. 😀

So, that about wraps it up for this post! Are you excited to see each weeks’ winners for the Island Hopper Sweepstakes? What do you think about this concept art from the Creators? Comment below.

•Ultimate iPad Expert•

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

Slanted Fish

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! 😀