Clubhouse, Guest Posts

Adventurous Poptropica Worlds House Tour: Invisible Ring 🏡

Slanted Fish

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

Hey everybody! Surprised to see me? After my complete collection of Poptropica clubhouse tours, I wasn’t sure I was going to post anything else here. But when I looked at the comments section of my last tour, I was suggested to try Poptropica Worlds next, so here I am! 

Like with Poptropica Original, I gave my Worlds clubhouse a recent makeover. I made a video of what my Worlds house looked like before I changed it, so it can be compared with my tours. What do you think?

It’s time for me to get down from this swingset and get into my clubhouse!

So this is what my clubhouse on Poptropica Worlds looks like, huh? Hmmm… I like the lighthouse painting and aquarium, but I wonder about that map. I can’t quite put my finger on it…but I think it looks just like the map of Skullduggery Island!

Speaking of skullduggery, I think I want to watch a pirate movie!

…oh no, not again! Do I not have a remote for this TV either?? I have a bone to pick with whoever is in charge of all the clubhouse TVs. If we don’t get remotes, there should at least be an on/off button on our TVs. Otherwise, how the heck are we supposed to watch ‘em?!

Oh, well. Moving up to the second floor… hey, it’s dark up here! …wait a minute, it’s dark out there, too! This place is REALLY giving me the creeps…

Oh, look, a door. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice about going in that door and seeing what’s inside, but not this time! I’m NOT looking for trouble around here. I’ll use the rope over there and move up to the third floor instead.

Holy smokes! Is this the top floor of my clubhouse? It’s incredible! It looks just like an ancient fortress or the inside of a warship or… something that’s mysterious and awesome. It feels like I just traveled back in time!

I like how that Athena statue is pointing right at that map! I can almost hear her tell me, “Go forth, young warrior!”

Ok, I’m ready to go forth and open this door — Aw, snap, it’s locked! Open Sesame! …Doggone it, it won’t open! Maybe these musical instruments will help… no? Too bad I don’t have my reed pipe with me, I bet that would’ve opened the door!

And on this side of the museum… it doesn’t feel like that adventure hallway over there.

I think this feels more like a warrior hallway. There sure is a lot of Viking stuff on the walls, and it looks like this knight won’t let me through that door. Not that it matters, though, it’s locked anyway. Perhaps I’ll just sit here for a minute and finish sightseeing. Then I’ll keep exploring!

I’ll just drop down like a ninja and… GERONIMO! Woohoo! Perfect landing right on the bouncy chair! WHEEEE!

That was fun. Hey, wow! Look at that! This is COMPLETELY different than that dark hallway over there. I bet whatever is behind that door is gonna be just as great as what’s out here! But I’ll have to come back to it later. I’m not quite done with my tour yet.

Another garden? Cool! If I buy more plants and trees, I can make another indoor jungle to explore! It seems sort of controversial to pair it with the skyline painting and rocket lantern up there, but then again, I can pretend I’m on a cross-country adventure! Yeah!

…This could make a great movie. I should’ve taken the movie director from my first clubhouse tour with me.

I’m back where I started already? Wow. That was quick. But why am I surprised? I know for a fact that Poptropica Worlds’ clubhouses are years older than the Poptropica Original clubhouses. I bet that’s why these Worlds clubhouses are that much smaller.

What am I going to do with my two bonus rooms on the second floor? I’d better root through my closet and think of something quick! …um…

Thanks for joining me, hope you enjoyed my tour, and I’ll be back soon to share the other two parts of my Worlds clubhouse tour! See ya!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Invisible Ring. If you did, you might also enjoy her many other Poptropica clubhouse tours, such as this dreamy one!

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! 📰✨

Candy Crazed, Fan Art Features

Portraits from a Candy Crazed palace 🍭🎩

Slanted Fish

Happy weekend, Poptropicans! We’ve got a few fun updates in this post: a video and more behind-the-scenes from the Candy Crazed Mini Quest as well as some fan art features. Let’s pop into it!

First, a small nod to the LGBTQ+ came through in the latest Creators’ Blog post, which begins, “HELLOOOOO all you guys, gals, and non-binary pals!” 🏳️‍🌈 The post includes a playthrough video of the Candy Crazed Mini Quest from Silent Frog, Poptropica’s social media voice:

“Do you think Hansel and Gretel are the villains of the story?” Silent Frog asks. As the video is part of YouTube Kids, comments are turned off there, but you can share your take in the Creators’ Blog comments!

The blog also shared some BTS (not a K-Poptropican group, but behind-the-scenes) of the making of the mini quest’s decadent designs. 🍫 Take a look at the candy palace pics below and read more about this tasty treat tower with juicy puns and alliterations on the official blog:

  • Treat tower
  • Colorful cast
  • Portraits of Little Witchy, Nanny, and Gumdrop Pup

In other news, earlier this week, the Pop Creators shared some fan art features on their Instagram stories! Check out these peachy portraits:

That’s all for this update! Be sure to catch up below on more news, including the brand new character screen and insight into Poptropica’s origins. Keep on popping on, Poptropicans! ✌️

~🐠

PHB Specials

The ABCs of LGBT with the PHB 🏳️‍🌈

Spotted Dragon

Our header features artwork from Criaha.

Happy Pride Month, Poptropicans! 🏳️‍🌈

June is a month of celebration for the LGBTQ+ community, and the PHB is bringing that celebration to Poptropica. But we recognize that not everyone is familiar with what this is all about, so we wanted to make this post to explain the ABCs of LGBT in a kid-friendly way (with brief mentions of mature forms of attraction).

This post will be using the terms “LGBTQ+,” “LGBT,” and “queer” interchangeably, though it’s worth noting that “queer” has historically been used as an insult and only recently been reclaimed as a positive catch-all term. We’ll be going over some basic concepts and common LGBT identities — and tying them to the world of Poptropica!

Please remember that everyone is different, and identities are complicated, but we are all deserving of acceptance, love, and support. If you feel uneasy about the topic of LGBTQ+ identities, I encourage you to be open-minded and patient. Though you may not currently understand the perspective of a queer individual, they are important people nonetheless. And if you are LGBTQ+ and feeling misunderstood by people who don’t quite get it, I encourage you to demonstrate patience even when it is challenging, because the PHB aims to be an accepting place for all viewers. All that being said, let’s unpack this!

Continue reading “The ABCs of LGBT with the PHB 🏳️‍🌈” →
Island Flash-backs

Island Flash-backs: 🌳 Twisted Thicket and Skullduggery 🏴‍☠️

Agent Bubbles

I ought to explain myself, shouldn’t I?

As some of you have noticed, there was no Island Flash-back in May. Mostly because of IRL things getting in the way and my poor planning. I’m sorry, as I did say this would be a monthly thing, and I’ll try to be more consistent in the future! To make up for this, TWO islands will be announced, one for May and one for June…

Twisted Thicket and Skullduggery!

While not the most popular, both of these islands have their fans! Skullduggery (2010) is known for its iconic villain, Captain Crawfish, as well as its focus on trading and travelling over action and boss fights. On the other hand, Twisted Thicket (2012) is most remembered for its references to Norse mythology and its beautiful scenery and designs!

  • Twisted Thicket Island
  • Skullduggery Island

🌳 Twisted Thicket was very much a story about environmentalism, though the fantasy elements helped the point feel more natural rather than forced (as is common in children’s media with moral messaging).

The island is on a medium difficulty level, balancing the twisted and dangerous forest with fun puzzles and, once again, amazing scenery. The Poptropica Creators have consistently gone above and beyond with their art design, even with such a simple art style!

  • Rare Bog: But will it be a rattlin’ bog?
  • Wicked Woods: Don’t get off the beaten path here.

🏴‍☠️ Skullduggery revolved heavily around an archipelago map, where you could travel to other mini-islands within the island’s storyline using a boat. (The same feature was later to get around Hemlock Harbor in Ghost Story Island.)

While Skullduggery’s main plot is about the evil pirate Captain Crawfish threatening the peaceful islands, the focus of the gameplay is on trading goods and basic economics of saving for bigger and better ships, until you can finally buy the beautiful Phoenix Warbird. The Creators’ Blog has an interesting series of articles on the design process for this ship! Though some players found the cycle of trading and buying and selling tedious, others found it to be an educational experience, unique from that of previous islands.

  • Sea Power: The stormy seas of Skullduggery Island began as a simple sketch.
  • An early sketch of the Phoenix Warbird, dated from April 2010.

To wrap up, I’m going to showcase some awesome past fan art for these two islands that are no longer in the official game. And let’s encourage the Creators to preserve these stories with more!

Until July (hopefully 😅)!

Castori honorem ~ Maryann/Smart Bubbles

Creators, Social Media

Pop Creator Jess Brallier spills on “storytelling, games, and Poptropica”

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, we’re getting right to the heart of Poptropica with OG Poptropica CEO/publisher Jess Brallier! We’ve shared his vision for Pop and even interviewed him here on the PHB before, but there’s more…

  • from JessBrallier.com
  • Jess identifies as Zeus in Poptropica

Jess recently shared a personal blog post titled “Storytelling, games, and Poptropica,” discussing how it all began with our favorite virtual world—and it’s well worth the read. (Thanks to Brave Tomato, former PHB staffer, for bringing it to our attention!)

The post starts off affirming the success of Poptropica co-creator Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Jess ponders further potential…

What I really wanted (as I always did) was to publish stories for kids.  What was different this time, was that those kids were now intensely engaged in games.

Hmm.  There’s gotta be a gaming literacy with which to tell stories.

…considering that print, film, and theater all have their ways to tell stories. Jess goes on to share how, throughout his career, people didn’t take seriously his ideas for using gaming to tell stories to kids. That is, until he began collaborating with Jeff Kinney to create Poptropica.

Jess captions this photo: “Top row, second one in, is actually me. Makes sense, the old guy, with a worried look on his face, “How am I going to sell this up to ownership?””

The characters in the stories would be avatars.  The user would be the story’s protagonist.  So this avatar had to be human-like.  Able to fashionably dress in any historical or imagined time or place (just like stories!).  They would move—jump, slide, flip.  And express—facial emotions.  Just like humans.  This would not be a virtual world of cute little animals moving stiffly around getting rewards of bananas and apples. The art and design would be second to none.

Jess Brallier

Jess even quotes from an old PHB post, though without naming us. The commentary from “one critic,” about the scene of bubbles in Realms, comes from our post Pop 5: Most Beautiful Scenes in Poptropica, by Happy Lobster. Jess writes, “Good stuff! Our fans “got it.””

The PHB described this scene: “Based on Yggdrasil from Norse mythology, the tree containing all worlds, this scene may seem simple, but really, it is quite captivating. The minimal sky background, the way the colossal tree’s branches twist, and the shining bubbles containing enigmatic pinpricks of light all add up to its enthralling aesthetic.”

Jess continues his story of how Poptropica got started by describing the scramble to find room in the budget for two positions, a front-end and a back-end developer. They eventually track down Pearson’s CEO, Marjorie Scardino, who gives them ten minutes of her valuable time—and the green light to hire the people they need.

That wraps up Jess’s post, which you can read in full on his blog! The PHB reached out on Twitter to ask if he’d be sharing his thoughts on where Poptropica is at today, and he wrote back that he would. Considering how much the game has changed since his days as CEO, we’re definitely keen to hear what he has to say. Stay tuned with us!

The cool thing about all of this, which we thought about from day one, is if we did it right, we’d also be developing a next generation of storytellers, artists, and designers. Cool!

Jess Brallier

~🐠