Category: YouTubers

YouTubers

Poptropica is a Fan-Favorite MMO? It’s Not Just a Theory! 💙🎮🏆

Gentle Dolphin

Hello, Poptropicans! Welcome to the Poptropica Help Blog, the blog where childhood game nostalgia is 24/7!

Back in June, we covered a post by Team Theorist that features Poptropica in a carousel of classic virtual worlds. Now, Team Theorist has referenced Poptropica again, this time on the YouTube channel that started it all: The Game Theorists! 🎮💚

This community poll which gained 100K+ votes asks viewers, “From these options, which of these childhood MMOs were your FAVORITE growing up?” Club Penguin is the obvious winner here on Massively Multiplayer Online games, but our beloved Poptropica firmly stands in second place, beating Webkinz and Neopets. Way to go, Pop!!! 💙🎉

Some people in the post’s comment section have shared their fond memories of Poptropica, and a couple of these comments were liked the The Game Theorists themselves! Here are some of our favorites:

It’s true that Poptropica is a classic in the kids virtual world scene, but does it deserve to be called a true MMO? On our Discord server, the PHC, BlueShade pointed out how Pop is grouped with other browser MMOs despite not primarily being an MMO. Sure, common rooms and friend pages are part of the game, but Pop is better known for its story-rich islands than its multiplayer features. 🤔

On that note, great stories inspire great theories! (You see where I’m going with this?)

Dear Team Theorist, we would love to see an official Game Theory episode about Poptropica! We believe that a Poptropica Game Theory episode would be a fun nostalgia trip for fans as well as a great way to revive discussion surrounding the game. Matpat already covered the Coolmath Games ARG, so please give Tom a chance to cover another game hosted on CMG. Plus, like FNAF and Hangman, Poptropica has its own Balloon Boy! 🎈👦

There are plenty of interesting topics to cover in an episode such as hidden lore, character motivations, islands disappearing and reappearing, and even Poptropican anatomy. We in the Pop community have made our fair share of conspiracy theories, and we’d love to have you throw your hat in the ring! Please consider making a Poptropica theory because it would be a fascinatingly pop-tastic trip down memory lane. But hey, that’s just a theory… a PHB theory!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

Fanfiction, Guest Posts, YouTubers

Fan Comic: PoptropiCon Saga, Part 5/5 💥

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Invisible Ring. Enjoy!

Attention, Poptropicans!

The moment you’ve all been waiting for: After four long years of artistic struggle and self-discovery, my PoptropiCon Saga is finally complete!

Yes, it’s been forever since my Dream Island comics and the rest of my PoptropiCon comics, but it goes to show that you can’t rush art! (Catch up on the PoptropiCon Saga with Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 here.)

Like other comics, the last two books are extra thick — which means more gut-busting comics to enjoy, and a mind-blowing grand finale that brings the whole series to a complete circle! And with the final saga chapter comes one final exciting blurb to get you going:

The ultimate warlord, E. Vile, has finally reared his ugly head and is ready to destroy the last heroes that still stand in his way. The final battle has arrived, and with it, the last chance to stand up and prove oneself as a true hero… But at what cost? Through blood, sweat, and tears, a power is rising beyond control. Will that power be the difference between victory and defeat, or will it serve to destroy everything; good and evil alike? And what will become of PoptropiCon, the place where it all began?

Power up for a Mighty Action Grand Finale you’ll never forget… RIGHT here in book 13, and the MEGA-books 14 and 15.

Issue #13: The Rise of Chaos

Issue #14: Fight to the Finish!

Issue #15 — FINALE: Last Day of the Con

…And that concludes my PoptropiCon comic book saga. But if you’re sad that it’s over and you want more comics, then don’t fret! For like many comic sagas, an epilogue follows, like a glass of milk to go with your complete set of cookies. So stay tuned! This PoptropiCon epilogue is sure to come a lot faster than my other comics… hopefully.  Until then!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Invisible Ring. If you did, you might also enjoy other posts of hers, including her PHB interview about her Poptropica fan movie, Battle Morale!

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!

Blast from the Past, YouTubers

The Rise and Fall of Poptropica: A Video Essay by Dream Jelly 🎥🪼

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! This game has been such a cultural cornerstone for many Gen Z kids growing up—it’s definitely worth a closer look.

Mid-twenties YouTuber Dream Jelly, known for her video essays on childhood nostalgia from the 2000s–2010s, recently shared a deep dive into “The Rise and Fall of Poptropica” that has already gained 80K+ views within a week of posting. Check it out:

From the single island of Early Poptropica the game began with in 2007, to the massive growth it’s experienced through expansions with creative sponsored ads, monetization models like memberships, and the now-defunct Poptropica Worlds, Dream Jelly takes us on a journey through Pop’s history, intermingled with her thoughtful commentary.

Some interesting highlights she shares about Poptropica’s rise in the late 2000s–early 2010s are the quirky videos kids shared for fun on YouTube before influencer culture took over, and the uniqueness of Poptropica’s storytelling in a sea of sandbox-style kids’ virtual worlds.

Look Out Below: Wait for the drop…

As for its fall, Dream Jelly questions whether all the game’s side features like store items, merch, mobile apps, and even Realms, was worth the vibe shift from its simpler times, recalling founder Jeff Kinney’s original vision of focusing on the player as the main character.

Poptropica fell further, she observes, as the game continued on in directions no one asked for, from branding-confused Roblox games to the Steam release without the oldest islands.

The overall critique boils down to prioritizing revenue over players. Would listening to players have made Poptropica live forever…? Probably not, but I still believe that a little additional integrity when it came to monetization and transparency when it came to keeping fans in the loop towards the end would have gone a long way for its image.

Still, Dream Jelly wraps up on this positive note:

Poptropica had a great run overall… I think that in the time that it had, Poptropica did tell original stories with humor, creativity, and a clearly passionate team, giving millions of players an experience that they’ll look back on fondly, no matter how it ended.

Thanks for the retrospective analysis, Dream Jelly! For another take on Poptropica’s history, check out this video essay by Lulaloopsey. And for more Pop memories, check out our Poptropica Yearbook! 💙

Keep on poppin’ on,

~🐠

Pranks, YouTubers

Epic Foolish Flirting with Zeus 📺🔱

Gentle Dolphin

Hey, Poptropicans! Are you ready for some shenanigans?

For the holiday of jokes and fun, enjoy this video I posted of an epic battle between myself and Zeus, set to the song “Six Hundred Strike” from Epic: The Musical. Check it out! 🌩️🔱

And that’s not all! We hope you all enjoyed our riveting interview yesterday with Pop Creator John Jameson, aka Bucky Lucas. But as we confessed in that very post: There is no John Jameson, there is no Princess Elyana movie career, and there is no flirting between El Mustachio Grande and Zeus! Sorry to disappoint.

APRIL FOOLS!!!

We didn’t try to hide our foolish intentions this year, but even still, some people fell for the words from our fictional horse’s mouth. The idea of a El Mustachio Grande x Zeus ship in Super Villain Island was so out there that some of you from the PHC community thought that it had to be real. We hope it gave you a good laugh! 😜

Between the fake interview and silly video, we hope you enjoyed this year’s April Fools offerings! We now return to (slightly more serious) business as usual. Stay tuned for Poptropica news, fan work showcases, and much more!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

Blast from the Past, YouTubers

Poptropica Lore with Lulaloopsey 🎥💙

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! We know the game’s gone through a lot over the years… so why not take a pop down memory lane?

Young adult nostalgia YouTuber Lulaloopsey just dropped a video essay delving into Poptropica’s 17-year history, already amassing 20K+ views within the first day of posting. Check it out (mild language warning):

While a lot of the content she covers is documented here on the PHB (thanks for the shout-out 🩵), Lulaloopsey also brings her own perspective and experiences of playing the game as a kid in her deep dive into Poptropica’s lore, which makes this all the more engaging.

Some of the throwback topics she covers include the Mystery of Monster Carnival Island, Mystery of Shark Boy, and how Nickelodeon’s virtual world shaped Pop’s identity. And for more year-by-year explorations, we recommend checking out our Poptropica Yearbook pages.

Thanks for the nostalgia trip, Lulaloopsey!

Keep on poppin’ on,

~🐠