HELLO THERE EVERYONE. CAPTAIN CRAWFISH HERE. MY RABBIT… ACQUAINTANCE? I CAN’T QUITE CALL HIM A FRIEND. HE SAID THAT TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY, WHICH I FIND ABSOLUTELY ABSURD. YOU REALLY NEED DAYS FOR EVERYTHING?
ANYWAY. I WANTED TO CLEAR UP SOME THINGS, BECAUSE SOME OF YOU ARE TRULY BECOMING AN EMBARRASSMENT TO US VILLAINS.
FIRST. I BEG–NO, I NEVER BEG! I DEMAND THAT YOU STOP WITH THIS WHOLE “ARRR ME HEARTIES” STUFF! EVEN IF WE HAVE OUR WAY OF SPEAKIN’, WE DON’T HAVE MAGGOTS FOR BRAINS! MOST PIRATES COME FROM AROUND THE WORLD, MANY OF US FROM EUROPE OR ASIA. ME PERSONALLY, I’M FROM BRITAIN.
I CAN’T REMEMBER EVER SAYING “ARRRR” EITHER. THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING SOMEONE MADE UP IN FICTION TO MAKE US SEEM AS STRANGE AS THOSE ALIENS MORDRED TALKS ABOUT.
EITHER WAY, I JUST WANTED TO CLEAR THAT UP SO YOU KIDS COULD STOP MAKIN’ FOOLS OF US.
YO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF ROOT BEER BECAUSE THERE’S NO GOOD STUFF HERE
– CAPTAIN CRAWFISH 🦞
The Big Sleep: A pirate just can’t get any rest around here.
Aye, so it appears Crawfish somehow bent the rules o’ time ‘n space t’ access me account. He also appears t’ nah understand wha’ the CAPS LOCK be. Me deepest apologies fer any confusion, but ahoy, nah me fault!
This is a guest post from Silver Shell sharing her My Place in Poptropica story, which is all about one’s Poptropica journey.Enjoy!
Hi! I’m Silver Shell, and this is my first post on the PHB. I’m going to show you my MPIP, My Place in Poptropica.
The Great Discovery
The year was… actually, I don’t know when the year was. I must’ve forgotten. Huh. Sorry if any of you wanted the year.
It was the middle of summer. I had nothing else to do, so I was on my computer, playing a bunch of uncool math games on Cool Math Games. I was scrolling, and I saw a picture of some lady with aviator’s goggles, a hat, and a jacket. She looked kind of like Amelia Earhart, actually — just missing some key ingredients like, I don’t know, a nose and ears. Since I was fascinated by aviation back then, I thought the game looked cool.
The Flying Ace Race — scene from Monkey Wrench Island
Then there was the name. Poptropica. How do you pronounce it? I had no idea. For a few days, I walked around calling it “pop-TROPE-ee-kay”.
Anyway, I Googled the game to see if search engines thought it was any good. Fun? Okay. Communicating safely? Why not? Educational…Oh. No. That ain’t gonna work. See, I was kind of sick of games where they’re all like “What’s 5 times 5? Good job! You’ve unlocked a pet!” and stuff like that. Regardless of that, I was curious, so I clicked.
And behold, the beginning of an era.
Playing the Game
I was welcomed by some pink rabbit with goggles standing on a floating island (little did I know I would see stranger things than that!) with a bunch of stuff flying around in the background. After spending maybe twenty minutes just staring at the screen to see what would fly around in the background, I finally clicked “new player.”
After creating my avatar to look as much like me as possible, and talking to the girl in the goggles and jacket (who was actually named Amelia, after the aviator!), I went on my first quest, to a creepy-looking, kind of run-down island called 24 Carrot.
I’ll admit, back then I didn’t quite understand how the islands worked. I thought if I refused the quest, there would have to be something else to do. I thought I was really on a time limit.
I thought hiding behind flowers would conceal me from Dr. Hare.
After winning, I received something I would never forget. It was such an important symbol of my achievement and duty as a Poptropican…
My first medallion. *cue the hallelujah chorus*
The Old New Poptropica
I played Poptropica almost every day for a long time, but after a while, I realized that things weren’t changing. I wished for something new every day. I was coming to a scary suspicion that the creators were giving up on their own game. I checked the Pop Creators’ Blog nonstop, but nothing. I stopped playing for a while. I had to focus on school, anyway.
That all changed one day in 2020, when I decided to check the Creators’ Blog again for the first time in months, and I saw something amazing, something mysterious, something I had never seen before, and it was titled:Classic Islands are Baaaaaacccckkkk!
I immediately bought a membership, sailed through islands I had never before seen, met characters, defeated villains, saved innocents, and my medallions were piling up. I never felt happier!
Then I read the post again. They were here until the end of Flash. What? The end of Flash? Poptropica’s life force is shutting down?!
I Googled it to see if it was true. Sure enough, Flash was going away, but Poptropica’s here to stay! I played the old islands for as long as I could, as many times as I could, and tried to make the best of it while I had it. I was sad when the old islands left, but I was proud of myself for bringing peace to so many islands.
I kicked their bots.
The Beginning of the End
At first, I thought it wasn’t too bad. Flash had just been taken away, and Poptropica wasn’t too different. In fact, some improvements even came out! I liked how NPCs walked across Home Island. The removal of the movie theater wasn’t a big deal. I thought it would be fine!
Later, a mini-quest of one of my favorite islands came out: the Zomberry Hero Special Event! For a while, there was peace in Poptropica.
And that became a problem. Sure, there was the occasional mini-quest, but without new islands, there wasn’t much left to do. Little did I know I would be wishing for things to stay the same in the future.
Home Island before (top pic) it was remodeled in 2021 (bottom pic)
It all kind of collapsed for me when Home Island was remade for Haxe. I loved it the way it was, but now too much is changing. Every single part of Poptropica I loved was either taken away or changed. The changes were always glitchy and annoying in my opinion. The characters became bouncy and peppy and unnatural. No matter how much I petitioned, the creators wouldn’t bring back what I had come to love: Old Poptropica. I couldn’t rely on anything.
Bunk: Perhaps you, too, will love the 90s.
Or so I thought.
Meeting the Community
I was searching “Poptropica Help” one day just because I was bored and I wanted to see what came up. A Poptropica Help Blog?! This was just what I needed to keep myself distracted!
Life Jackets On: The lucky few who made it to the lifeboats.
I found a huge blog with thousands of readers who love Poptropica as much as I do, a place that keeps me informed about new stuff, one where people all around the world can share their ideas.
That led me to even more fansites: the Poptropica Wiki, We-Love-Poptropica on DeviantArt, and so much more. I finally found a part of Poptropica I could rely on: the community! This was what I could trust!
Now, I’m a part of the community, and guest-writing here on this blog, too. So there you go! My Place in Poptropica!
I think all of you deserve a medallion for reading this entire thing. It’s pretty long. Thanks for reading!
Don’t stop popping, Silver Shell
Hope you enjoyed this “My Place in Poptropica” story! If you did, you’ll probably enjoy our other MPIP stories here on the PHB.
If you haven’t already shared your story, we invite you to send in your own. Interested in writing for the PHB under a different Pop-topic? Take a look at our Write for the PHB page for ideas, guidelines, and more! 📰✨
Hear ye, hear ye! We will soon be returning to the fantastical world of Fairytale Island in the upcoming side quest: Rumpel’s Challenge!
The Creators’ announcement goes on to explain that the quest will continue the island’s story and answer some of our burning questions. The promise of tying loose ends reminds us of the Fairytale Fanfic Contest, in which fans wrote their own endings to Fairytale Island. How closely will the official tale match fanfiction? We’ll have to wait and see.
However, this story has a dark twist: only members can take on Rumpel’s challenge. This news may remind some players of Poptropica’s members-only bonus quests, which were extra quests added to the endings of islands during the early 2010s. It’s disappointing that not everyone will be able to end Fairytale Island on a satisfying note. We can only wish that the Creators will eventually give every player the chance to finish the tale…
To tide us over until the release, the Creators graced us with some concept sketches for a new character! The image name is Queen Ideas_2, so it looks like we’ll be meeting the queen of Fairytale Island! Judging by the art shown below, she appears to be regal ruler who loves cats and knows how to use a sword. She also has a curly updo similar to Cinderella, so could they be related? Where was she during the main story? Theorize away, Poptropicans!
But wait! We have more news for you, though prepare to feel some déjà vu.
Some of you may have already played the ad game for My Little Pony: A New Generation. In a surprising development, there is now a second My Little Pony ad on Poptropica! It’s not often that Poptropica hosts two separate ads for the same product at the same time. There is no game in this particular ad, though. All you need to do is watch the trailer to win two new pony prizes: the Zipp Outfit and the Hitch Outfit.
Here’s a neat tidbit about these prizes: if you press the spacebar while equipping one of the prizes, that respective pony’s cutie mark will pop up on screen for a second. Stop by both ad spots and win all five prizes, one for each of Gen 5’s Mane 5. Gotta befriend em’ all! 💫🧶🛡️🎤⚡️
The official Poptropica Instagram account shared eight pieces of fan art in yesterday’s stories. Among them were spooky and silly entries for the now closed costume contest, and they all look like they could be great additions to the game. There is also art of original characters and airships, as well as some Rumpelstiltskin fan art just in time for the announcement of Rumpel’s challenge.
That’s all for now! Are you looking forward to the follow-up to Fairytale Island? How do you think the tale will end? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Good day Poptropicans! I’ve got some uplifting news that’ll make you jump for joy! So without further ado, let’s hop to it, shall we?
Poptropica is celebrating its 14th birthday all month long, and with celebrations come surprises. Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised to see the return of the colorful, arcade-style minigame, Hoptropica!
Hoptropica first hopped onto the scene for a limited time back in December of 2020, and now it’s back and birthday-ified for players to relive or play for the first time! Either way, this version is still out for only a LIMITED TIME so hop now or forever hold your piece… of cake. 🍰
Cake now provides you with a huge time boost!
Last week, the Pop Creators hinted at minigame re-releases, free store items, and easy opportunities to earn credits — I just didn’t know we would be getting all at once! Right now, you’ll win14 credits (for Poptropica’s 14th birthday) every time you play Hoptropica!
But wait, there’s more. After you hop, pop into the store and acquire your FREE birthday Bit-Beev and Bit-Hare followers!
I personally am really hyped to see Hoptropica return — and have the swag to show for it. Thanks to the Pop Creators’ gift card to the PHB, Slanted Fish even hooked me up (no pun intended) with the 8-bit Hare & Beev stickers from Poptropica’s merch store.
SB, and more importantly, cat approved 😸
That’s all from me. Be sure to hop to celebrate Pop and take advantage of the bound-iful rewards available! I’ll see you next time, this Boa’s gotta bounce!
What’s popping, Poptropicans? We’ve got flannel flair, mummy madness, and sidebar snippets to see. Let’s pop right in!
A new week brings another refresh to Adventure Outfitters, and this time, Amelia’s brought out a new Flannel Tank (200 credits) for the fall vibes. We also have the return of the classic Fairy Queen costume (350 credits, members only). See the full stock on the Creators’ Blog »
Flannel Tank
Fairy Queen
But wait, there’s more! *inhale* The clubhouse store is also stocking some new gear, and don’t blink, ’cause we got pink.
New decor includes the Daisy Printed Tapestry (100 credits), Rocking Gamer Chair (150), Square Storage Ottoman (75), Pink School Backpack (75), Inhale & Exhale Wall Prints (100), and a College-Style Electric Scooter (100). Whatchu think? *exhale*
On the subject of store stuff, don’t forget that today’s the deadline for the Baron’s Red October costume design contest! You have until Tuesday, September 14th at 8pm PST/11 pm EST to submit your creation(s) for a chance to get your design in the game. Good luck!
In other news, there’s a new video ad with prizes from Disney Channel’s new movie, Under Wraps! To watch it, click on its icon on the map or hop on over to 24 Carrot Island. After the viewing, you’ll get an I’m A Mummy costume and the Dancing Mummy Follower!
Thanks to Gentle Dolphin for the pics!
Pressing the spacebar makes two different things happen. Wearing the costume allows you to dance, and using the follower allows Harold the mummy to dance. Use both prizes simultaneously for best results. 🕺🕺
Speaking of video, over on the Pop Creators’ Blog, there’s a new sidebar section dedicated to Poptropica videos! Like the video at the bottom corner of the game screen, this little area loops short clips of scenes from the game that you might also find on their YouTube channel.
It’s certainly an interesting addition, and one that makes more sense being placed here than on the game screen, where there’s already plenty of movement going on. What with TikTok virality and now this, it looks like Poptropica’s popping off with the vids!
One last thing to note: the Creators’ Blog has been dropping some hints about birthday celebrations coming up, including something that involves us, the players. What might it be? We’ll have to see…
Keep an eye out for upcoming news about special events celebrating Poptropica’s 14th birthday and most importantly, YOU!
That’s a wrap for this post. What do you think of the store stuff, birthday surprises, and more? Share your thoughts in the comments, and see you next time, Poptropicans!
🏝️ Poptropica Help Blog 🗺️ 