If we thought 2023 was a quiet year for Poptropica, well, 2024 might just give it a run for its money. And a run out of money, too, as the game now hangs on life support. Still, the community won’t let it go so easily.
Run Aground: Whatever floats your boat.
(You might be interested in taking a look back on Poptropicaโs previous years, too. Weโve got just the thing over on our Yearbook page!) ๐
So let’s hit Rewind and see what 2024 had in store for Pop! โช
The move was made official in March, with the Poptropica.com website disappearing altogether and redirecting to its page on Coolmath Games, where the game can still be played. However, there were no new game updates all year, nor will there be for the foreseeable future.
In September, the writing was on the wall for Poptropica, with various staff departures announced on LinkedIn. There was even a post from an ex-staffer announcing the closure of the Poptropica company, which was further confirmed in another interview with Jon Pitcher. As Jon shared with us, “The decline in Poptropicaโs traffic made the company not able to secure clients for advertising to bring in enough revenue” โ but “the plan is for Poptropica to keep going on Cool Math Games.”
Despite the downer of Poptropica’s current state, here on the PHB we’ve tried to keep spirits up with lots of fun content throughout the year. ๐
While things may continue to be quiet on Poptropica’s end, the Poptropica fandom will still be around to make some noise for our favorite game. Join us on our PHC Discord server to find fellow Poptropicans, keep playing Poptropica on Flashpoint for more content, and of course, stay tuned to the PHB for the latest. ๐ซถ
Hey, Poptropicans! I want to give you guys a little gift this holiday season. Itโs a tale of three adventurers on the hunt for an elusive icon. I call it The Grapple-Pursuit. Enjoy! ๐
Blue skies cast over a bustling Home Island. Adventurers from all walks of life went about their day, purchasing gear and setting off for their next adventures. Only one spot on Home Island was spared from crowds: the backyard of a local cottage. Super Wing, accompanied by her dryad companion, Elin, sat by the yardโs crystal clear pond and cracked open a book called Firsthand Tellings of Fairytale Folk. She quickly became engrossed in the stories collected from Fairytale Islandโs denizens, though questioned stranger details like pizza-loving wolves and punk rock princesses.
Super’s concentration was briefly interrupted by the loud sound of rustling leaves. “Perhaps Elin wanted to explore the yard,” she reasoned with herself. She returned to her book but was quickly alerted to a loud thud. A quick glance at the yard revealed nothing amiss. “A branch probably fell,” she assumed with less confidence. She tried once more to finish her book, but hearing a loud groan convinced her otherwise. She quickly shut her book and came face to face withโ well, a face!
Super jumped back and yelped, โCRED! How long have you been here?!โ
Her friend, Incredible “Cred” Beetle, lied on the ground covered in leaves and twigs. Elin emerged from the trees and giggled over the fallen Cred. He didn’t care about his tiny saboteur laughing at his pain. Instead, his annoyance seemed to be directed at something else.
“Just dropped in,” he sullenly replied, “Sorry about the crash landing.”
“Are you hurt?” Super asked, concerned.
“No, just bored.” Cred answered. “Falling out of trees is probably the most exciting thing to do right now.”
Super’s concern slowly turned into disappointment. Cred could have been hurt and he’s more concerned about being bored? This behavior of his isn’t new to her, but it’s still annoying to deal with. She let out a long sigh and asked, “What’s going on?”
Cred picked himself up and began his complaints. โDecemberโs here, and there hasn’t been a single snowflake on Home Island!โ He was right; the literal floating island had been in a perpetual state of summer for what felt like a year. “We’re missing out on all kinds of winter fun! Sledding, skating, snowball fights, and more stuff that I can’t think of right now. If snow won’t fall on Home Island, then we’ll seek it out!”
Cred picked his notebook off of the ground and turned to a page titled “Winter Travel Destinations”, which contained rough diagrams of island maps and messy yet legible notes. “Our list of islands is limited, so we only have two real options. Survival Island can be a great camping spot when you have all of your gear, but there’s the risk of bears, cliffs, and human hunters.” Super and Elin squirmed at the idea of encountering a bloodthirsty hunter. “Okay, not your thing. How about Mt. Everest? Climbing to the top of it would be awesome, but you have to go back in time to get there. I think Gentle knows where we can get a time machine.”
“Cred,” Super said, “those are nice ideas, but we can’t just leave to do whatever we want. What if we get mauled by a wild animal or impaled by icicles? Remember when-.”
Cred let out an exasperated sigh and retorted, “What else are we supposed to do? It’s not like a winter adventure is gonna fall out of the sky!”
Just then, as if by magic, a large object fell from the sky and crashed into the pond with a giant splash! The kids and dryad were soaked from head to toe.
“I think that magic amulet of yours is starting to rub off on me,” Cred said to Super.
A pink haired woman wearing glasses burst out of the cottage and ran to the kids. “What’s going on?! Are you guys okay?!”
“We’re fine, Gentle!” Cred shouted back, “Check this out!”
The mysterious flying object was a merchant cart with added sails and propellers. It was painted blue and red with the image of a goblin-like creature on its sides. Colorful lanterns, garland, and gift boxes were scattered around the wreckage. Out of the festive flying machine emerged an elderly man and woman wearing blue garments with fur trim. Shaken yet undeterred, they cheered, “HAPPY GRAPPLE-PAP!!!”
Super and Cred were baffled by the sight of two cheery elders popping out of a flying cart, but Gentle immediately recognized the pair.
“Clareta! Baylor! How are you?”, greeted Gentle.
“Happy as a Grapple-Pop in a gift basket!” Clareta answered cheerfully.
Gentle helped the siblings out of their ride and onto whatever dry ground remained on the yard. The three exchanged hugs and greetings until Baylor noticed the two sopping wet kids watching them.
“Who are these young ones?” he asked.
Gentle replied, “Oh, meet In-“
Before Gentle finished speaking, Clareta dashed toward the kids and hugged them so tightly that their already huge eyes almost popped out of their heads. They looked to Gentle and Baylor with pleading faces. Elin stung Clareta in hopes of making her let go of Super, but Clareta was unphased by her attempts.
“Look at them! Aren’t they the cutest children you’ve ever seen?!” Clareta exclaimed. She whipped her head around to face Gentle, “Are these your kids?”
Gentle became flustered, “Uh, n-no. They aren’t my kids. I’m just looking after them. Anyway, meet Incredible Beetle, Super Wing, and Elin!” Cred smiled and tilted his cap, Super sheepishly waved, and Elin glared at the elderly humans.
“Nice to meet you,” said Baylor. “We flew to Home Island to invite everyone to this year’s Grapple-Pap festival on our very own Kraghorn Island.”
“I’m sorry for asking, but what’s Grapple-Pap?”, Super asked.
“The holiday or the creature?”
“…Both?”
“Grapple-Pap is a special time of year when everyone spreads cheer all around Poptropica. Grapple-Pap is also the one who delivers gifts to those who spread cheer, or else.”
“Or else what?”
“As the saying goes, ‘If you donโt spread cheer to all who are near, Grapple-Pap will get you for one whole year!’โ
A wave of dread washed over Super. Her chest grew tighter and her breathing more rapid. The possibility of being taken away by a monster was sending her into a spiral, which was interrupted by a sudden “LET’S GO!!!”.
“Cred! Are you serious?!”, Super shouted.
“Yeah! A winter festival in a faraway island where a creature gives gifts and kidnaps people? Sign me up!” Cred answered enthusiastically. Cred’s hunger for adventure was worse than she thought. How else could she explain why he included kidnapping to be part of a fun experience?
“Don’t you hear yourself?!” she shot back.
“Uh, please give us a moment!” Gentle requested from the siblings, to which they nodded. Gentle turned to the kids and called for a huddle. “Guys, this can be a fun trip for everyone. I’ve been to Kraghorn Island before, and I’ve never encountered Grapple-Pap. We’ll be fine as long as we stay in the village and have fun. Just remember to spread some cheer to be safe.” The kids looked to her, then to each other, then back to her. Cred toned down his excitement, and Super felt more assured. Gentle turned back to the siblings and said, “The festival sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for inviting us!”
“Wonderful! We would be happy to guide you there, but our aircraft needs a few repairs.” He gestured to the broken carriage, which was now totally submerged in the pond.
“Don’t worry,” Gentle assured, “Amelia can fix it for you. We’ll provide the transportation, and you’ll show us the way.”
Both parties left to prepare for their long trip. Gentle, Super, and Cred dressed in warm clothes and packed their gear, and Clareta and Baylor salvaged whatever goods survived the crash. After gathering their bearings, they hopped onto a yellow blimp and set off for Kraghorn Island.
I hope you liked Part 1 of The Grapple-Pursuit! I hope to finish this story by the end of December, but I can’t be too sure. The holidays are a hectic time, after all. Keep your eyes peeled for Part 2! ๐
Guess what? Recently I received an email from Lucky Joker asking if Iโd like to become an official writer for the Poptropica Help Blog!
Guys, Iโm going to be honest with yโall: I legit thought that the Halloween candy was making me hallucinate. ๐คฃ
After re-reading the email multiple times, exploding with unbridled joy, zooming to my bedroom, and screaming like a fangirl into my pillow (like the totally nonchalant person I am ๐), I wrote back to LJ. And now, here we are! ๐
Iโve been playing Poptropica for about 7-ish years. You can read my MPIP story to hear how I discovered Poptropica and then also when I realized a few years later that the fandom exists. My journey has definitely extended from that post but it might be fun to read โจThe Origin of Magic Kid in The Poptropica Worldโจ anyway.
My favorite island is Monster Carnival (how dare you suggest otherwise? ๐) but I also really like PoptropiCon, Survival, and Zomberry Island. Honestly though, I love pretty much all the islands Iโve played. My favorite character is most definitely Edgar because how could you NOT adore that little fried dough loving, friendly carnieโinโtraining? My favorite villain by far is (you guessed it!) Ringmaster Raven.
So some more things about me are: I really enjoy drawing and writing (check out my Poptropica fanfictions: Zombies, Zombies, ALWAYS ZOMBIES! and Murder at Myron’s). I also like animated movies, bright colors, anything with high amounts of sugar, music, theater, and daydreaming in the woods.
If youโd like to friend me, my Poptropica username is BravestChicken and Iโm always up for a game of Sky Dive. ๐
Thank you so much for reading, I am VERY happy to be here and I am SUPER excited to write some fun posts for yโall!
Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Invisible Ring. Enjoy!
To celebrate my first early snowfall of the season, I have a Pop Quiz for you: What’s your favorite winter activity?
A: Snowball fights? ๐ฅถ
Nothing like a battle with the Whirley Street Kids or a good game of Snowpocalypse as I always say…
B: Christmas Decorations? ๐
I know some people like to hang those up before it gets cold outside, but it certainly is a pleasure to have them up to see when the snow comes.
C: Skating? ๐ฟ
Ice skating, that isโnot roller skating. Don’t bring wheels to a frozen pond or rink! If skates aren’t for you, though, try sliding around in your shoes instead!
D: Staying indoors and relaxing by the fire ๐ฅ
Those are your four basic options, but depending on how much snow you get, there are also snowmen, snow angels, snow forts, and snow sculptures to make!
If that’s still not enough for you to do, don’t worry. The holiday season is upon us all, (right after Thanksgiving, that is…) so get out there and have some fun! I’m going out to go catch some snowflakes! โ๏ธ
Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Invisible Ring.
The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? Weโd love to hear from you!
Howdy, Poptropicanos! This is LJ coming back to reveal the answers for round 5 of Guess That Poptropican. Let us uncover who the mystery Poptropicans were this time around.
๐ขPoptropican 1๐ข
I have my own wagon
My merchandise gets you to your intended destination
How many did you manage to guess correctly? Thank you to all who participated and made an effort. The title of winner goes to Sleepy Biker, who managed to correctly guess all 6 Poptropicans the fastest. Congratulations! As promised, here is your portrait prize.
I hope it meets your satisfaction. ๐ Let me know in the comments if you’d like to have another round. Iโd be thrilled to make it happen. Until next time… pop on! ๐
๐ Poptropica Help Blog ๐บ 