Hey Poptropicans, news from the hive coming at you live! Sort of, anyway. Pop in for sneak peeks, costumes, member gifts, and fan art!
The Pop Creators have dropped one last sneak peek for the upcoming Goofball Island side quest, as well as the bomb that it’ll be for members only, like bonus quests of old Pop islands. Meet the Hive News van:
Could Bee Bot from previous peeks be a tool, or even a sentient employee, of this buzzing news organization? We’ll find out soon when this sequel side quest drops! 🐝🎤
Over at Adventure Outfitters, tons of PoptropiCon-themed outfits and clubhouse decor have hit the racks! Among the new outfits are characters from Mighty Action Force, the card game from PoptropiCon Island, Ep. 2: Spoiler Alert. Seems like a hint for the next possible rerelease, as Poptropica has mentioned bringing back more episodes.
The start of a new month also brings two familiar traditions: Member gifts for January are the Apple Cider Bottle, Fun Fireworks, and Sparkler accessories. Plus, the call is already out to begin sending in designs for the monthly costume contest, which ends in two weeks on Mon, January 17 at 8 p.m. PST. Keep your spark going! 🌠
Get your inspiration going with the latest fan art features from Pop’s Instagram stories. Maybe even join our Community Creations!
Poptropicans, brace yourselves for a rocky start to the new year — we just lost a bunch of islands from the Poptropica mobile app. 😔
The Pop app now resembles the computer version of the game, meaning new islands and loss of old ones. Here’s what you’ll find now:
On the plus side, the new update shows an intention to sync the mobile and computer experience, which had been a goal when the app first launched but had been inconsistent in recent times while Haxe was being developed. Now the app seems to have caught up, adding new islands like Fairytale, Goofball, the latest Home Island with its shop, the current character customizer, and daily credits without the spin wheel.
The downside of this matching, though, is the loss of many classic islands which had previously been playable on the app even after the end of Flash. Those now-missing islands are the complete sets of episodes for Survival, Mission Atlantis, PoptropiCon, and Arabian Nights, as well as standalone islands Reality TV: Wild Safari, Mystery of the Map, Shrink Ray, Galactic Hot Dogs, and the original Mythology Island. (Thanks to Steel for the tip.)
RIP to episodic and newer islands once playable on the app.
Doubtless this update (or should we say downgrade?) is a blow to all Poptropicans, whose access to old islands had already been limited by the end of Flash in 2020. It’s not clear why the Pop Creators decided to remove so many islands, and this time the culprit isn’t Flash, since the app uses a different technology that showed these newer (AS3) islands could still stick around after Flash.
Our best guess is that since Mission Atlantis, Ep. 1 and Arabian Nights, Ep. 2 are members only on the computer, the Creators would have wanted to keep things consistent on the app (whereas before, anyone could play all the episodes on the app). That still doesn’t quite excuse the deletion of so many other islands, but we can only hope that they plan to bring them back to both computer and app eventually. However, they did mention that they’re planning to bring back more episodes, and promised more news of rereleases in the coming weeks.
In Too Deep: There’s deep undercover and there’s which way is up.
It’s disappointing to see these disappearances, and the new additions to the app don’t quite make up for what was so suddenly lost without any good reason given. Still, earlier promises of more rereleases may yet pave the way for their eventual return on both computer and app.
Let’s hope the rest of this year delivers more than it deducts. We’ll say it again and again: bring the old islands back!
Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the December recap for Community Creations. December’s theme was Goofball, so be sure to check out all the featured artists!
Wow, wow, wow! Now these are some great, goofy outfits! I love the unique approach to this submission, since the IRL clothing stands out against drawings. And, of course, both sides of Goofball Island are wonderfully represented here. Very creative! Which outfit would you wear? Find his Instagram here and check out his PHB posts right here.
Balanced Ending by ice cream
This submission also captures both Dullsville and Goofside quite well. It’s great to see them balanced together here and the fractured composition makes the design really captivating. Gotta love that contrast between the color and the black and white! Which ending did you guys choose? Find the artist often on Discord.
Detective Duo by Midnightoilstudio
Another fractured sort of composition! I dig it! I think we can all admit that it’s a really visually appealing way to showcase two sides of one character. With this one, I especially love how the black and white detective is actually seen on a colored background, and vice versa with the popsona, Vi. It shows excellent contrast and balance! Find her DeviantArt here.
Friendly Feather as Blandston by Friendly Feather
This piece focuses more on the Dullsville side of things, which is ironically refreshing, huh? The black and white pencil is obviously quite appropriate, but I especially love that pop of red in the eyes. I love seeing all these OCs put into the environment of Goofball Island! Not dull art in the least! Find the artist often on Discord.
Mel O’Dee by Barefoot Knuckle
Speaking of OCs, this Goofball specific OC is super cool. According to the artist, Mel O’Dee (a Dullsville singer at the Crazy Club) was “inspired by old detective movies and a certain Disney film.” Talk about a great drag name too! Love the creativity in this character. Can anyone guess the original song that this pop version is referencing? Find the artist often in the comments section.
Honorable Mentions
Am I a Villain? by BrittScarlet
Great work as usual, everyone! Some goofy art, some dull art, but ironically nothing bland or boring to see here! Keep it up! 😀
January: How Do I Participate?
Community Creations is a cool series for anyone in the Poptropica community to join in on. To sum up what it’s about, it’s basically a chance to show off your artwork, creepy fan-fics, Pop clubhouses, costumes, and anything else that pops into your mind.
If we really like the piece you submit, we will feature it here on the PHB! As long as it relates to that month’s theme. So what is January’s theme? January’s theme is…
Arabian Nights!
Episode 2 of Arabian Nights was recently added to the Poptropica map, though for members only, so it’s definitely been on my mind. Perhaps this will lead to more beloved islands returning? Hopefully episode 2 will be available to all soon enough.
In the meantime, there’s nothing stopping the rest of us from enjoying the island through art! And writing! And costumes! And- well, you get the rest.
Submit: Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created, email it to the PHB team on our Contact page, OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, or Discord.
Results: Next month, I will feature 5 submissions that stood out to me the most as well as some honorable mentions.
Limitations: Just make sure you relate to both the theme and Poptropica (and nothing NSFW or otherwise inappropriate).
Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!
I will be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. While quality counts, I’m mainly looking for something to simply catch my eye, so don’t be afraid to join in!
So what are you waiting for? Go make something awesome!
Before popping off into 2022, Poptropica popped down memory lane with a blog reflection of the past year, highlighting all the new quests from 2021 — the “Year of Stories,” as they had called it.
Most notably, the blog post shares a little update about the state of the old islands, with a reassurance that our cries have not fallen on deaf ears:
As for a current update, there are more episodes in the process of conversion at this very moment! It’s worthwhile to note that we recognize and share your frustrations. Although the act of converting the older islands is long and difficult, we’d like to thank you for your patience, Poptropicans. Your understanding is greatly appreciated! If you’re hoping for hints about the next rerelease, there will be much more news to share in the coming weeks!
We’ll have to wait and see what 2022 brings, but it sounds like the next conversions will continue to be for episodic islands, like with 2021’s rereleases for Mission Atlantis and Arabian Nights. Stay tuned!
Besides the Creators’ wrap-up, you might also enjoy the PHB’s 2021 Poptropica Rewind, which highlights not only the Pop drops, but also other noteworthy happenings from around the fandom.
One of our throwbacks was to our mini-series featuring insights from former Poptropica head Jess Brallier. His first tweet for the new year shared a “wonderful, heart-warming” testimonial to Poptropica from a college-aged kid, who praised the game’s value of cultural literacy:
It’s the end of the year, and we have two islands to mark it (totally not because I got so lost in the holidays that I forgot to make November’s post!). I’ll be highlighting both islands selected for the past couple months, which are…
While not often listed among the most favorite classic islands, many fans have good memories of Game Show Island, and it has a particularly unique design and setting! It takes the futuristic aspects of Astro-Knights and the apocalyptic ones of Steamworks, and fuses them together in an A.I.-takes-over-humanity story. Also includes the fun and games style of Reality TV, this time with more danger!
More Robots: It’s like they’ve taken over or something.
But unlike Sprocket and Merlin, these robots are not so friendly, all culminating to an epic battle against the evil supercomputer Holmes… who you defeat with a flash drive. Ahem. Definitely a brains-over-brawn island!
Deep Thought: Putting processing power to good use.
All jokes aside, this island does have a lot of fun puzzles, at times requiring players to test their real-world knowledge with fun facts! It also features several IRL locations, including Istanbul, Miami, and Buenos Aires.
Operating System: When technology meets talent, anything is possible.
For our second and final feature, Mocktropica Island is a special one that is not remembered so much for storytelling, worldbuilding, or puzzles, but for its humor that pokes fun at the game itself, and all the negative directions the game and its developers could turn… some of which are hitting a little too close to home now.
Also, the theme music is severely underrated.
Strap In: Concussion prevention starts with sensible headgear.
Mocktropica is definitely a cult classic. But will the devs ever re-release an island that would be even more self-deprecating now (especially considering the references to former employees)? Only time will tell. And let’s not forget the official Mega Fighting Bots website!
Let’s remind the Pop Creators why these islands became so memorable, and why the efforts that went to create them should not go to waste. Encourage them to preserve their past stories and their potential!
🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺 