Hey Poptropicans, you read that right: the Poptropica Help Blog is starting a new initiative of giving away free Poptropica memberships!
We know how hard it can be to miss out on the special perks that members get, and we want to give you all a chance to get in on that fun. By the way, if you need a refresher on what membership has to offer, check out our Membership Tour page, updated for 2021!
All the details about the giveaways can be found on our new Free Poptropica Membership page, which you can find under the Community tab in our site menu. Here are the basics:
To enter for your chance to win, comment on the Free Poptropica Membership page and leave at least two other comments around the PHB within the month to be entered into that month’s giveaway.
We’ll announce a winner sometime in the final week of each month. If you don’t win, you can always try again for the next month!
For the full details, including all caveats and the philosophies behind these giveaways, head on over to the PHB’s Free Poptropica Membership page. That’s also where you get started on entering the monthly raffles!
We’re excited to bring you these opportunities for hopefully a long time to come. With both the thrill of a lucky draw as well as the encouragement to get involved with the Poptropica community, what are you waiting for? We’ll meet you in the PHB comments! 🥳
Heyo everybody! You may remember a post I wrote for the PHB back in September, highlighting my top favorite character outfits in Poptropica. Well, since then, after several more extensive tours of Poptropican fashion, I’ve realized that the five lucky characters I showcased last time barely scraped the surface!
There are over fifty islands on Poptropica’s map, and each of them displays equally unique and appealing style; so it seemed unfair that only five should be given a chance to shine! That’s why I decided to continue the fashion show with five more spotlight-worthy characters from across the islands. From the glamorous to the rugged, the old-fashioned to the outrageous, and everything in between, this new show’s sure to have something for everybody!
5: Mordred
Starting off the show, we have a taste of centuries-old apparel from the kingdom of Arturus! It’s clear that pre-robotized Mordred had an excellent sense of dress; right off the bat, the main purple-and-yellow color scheme is perfectly eye-catching, and the lace neck ruff, gleaming amulet, and neatly styled hair and beard add to the medieval aesthetics. The plume on top of the hat gives a satisfying flourish, making him an easy head to spot in the crowd! There’s no better example of old-fashioned yet likable style than from the genius Mordred himself!
4: Captain Slarx
Up next, let’s skip ahead a few hundred years to the much more modernized world of PoptropiCon! Captain Slarx, the master of Fremulon, doesn’t often receive a whole lot of attention, but I thought such an out-of-this-world costume definitely deserved a spotlight! The star of this style is, naturally, the purple alien mask, complete with shining red eyes and wildly waving tentacles; it’s no wonder that Poptropican in the bathroom line wanted one so badly. The red cropped top and skirt, with their sharp shoulder shapes (try saying that five times fast) and metal belt, add to the futuristic fashion look as well. May this fine Poptropican’s Zazzleblax be ever abundant.
3: Master of Ceremonies
In third place, we hop on over to Poptropolis Games Island, where the wonderfully dressed Master of Ceremonies waits to announce the Tribes! There are multiple pieces of this outfit that convinced me to award him a place on this list. Firstly, the blue-and-white toga echoes the styles of Ancient Greece, a place well-known for its competitive Olympic Games (which Poptropolis is based off of) and is therefore perfect for the Master of Ceremonies’ job. The microphone accessory is also another reminder of this Poptropican’s important position, as it’s not everybody who gets to announce the centennial Poptropolis Games! The green leaf crown follows the tropical rainforest scheme shown throughout the island, and also serves a double purpose to keep the neatly styled hair propped up! Once the Tribes have finished competing, it’s only fair to give our Master of Ceremonies a round of applause as well.
2: Persian Dancer(s)
Coming in second, here’s another Poptropican (or three, to be accurate) who deserve plenty more recognition than they got. These beautiful dancers from the Chicago World’s Fair were the very first Poptropicans to spin a full 360 degrees! Quite an accomplishment indeed. But, as this list isn’t about great Poptropican feats, we’ll skim over their physical abilities and take a look at those gorgeous outfits! Each dancer sports a semi-see-through sash of orange and pink colors; sashes that, in fact, twirl with them when they spin, creating a most beautiful effect. The striped, rustic colored skirts also show off splendid motion, and the gold band on their thick curly hair is echoed in the beaded necklaces. Overall, the color schemes, hairdos, and silk accessories combined create what (should have been) some of Poptropica’s most unforgettable looks!
1: Daphne Dreadnaught
And here is our first place winner…the little-known but extremely fashionable ghost-hunter, Daphne Dreadnaught! I’m not going to deny being a bit biased on this one, as she is one of my very top favorite characters. But I hope we can all agree that this is a spectacular style that deserved much more showtime than it got in the Spook Central mini quest alone! I’ll do my best not to rant about all that, though, so let’s dive on in to just why I love this outfit so much! The short black hair and its streaks of shocking white create an awesome hairstyle whose colors are copied nicely throughout the rest of the outfit, including in the black pants and white undershirt. The leather brown and shiny silver of the ghost-hunting goggles are also shown in other places, mainly on that fabulous vest and clasped collar, but also in the handheld hammer accessory! All in all, I’ll never get tired of looking at this one. 🖤
Well Poptropicans, that’s all this show’s got today! I hope you enjoyed examining some of these lesser-known fashionistas in the second part of my Poptropica-wide fashion tour. There are still many more amazing styles that I did not feature on this list, so let’s have one final round of applause for all those well-dressed Poptropicans who failed to make it into this post; and feel free to let us know down in the comments who you would choose for your own Poptropica fashion tour!
Belated season’s greetings, Poptropicans! Though the major winter holidays have passed, we thought it would be “cool” to gift you all a review of Poptropica’s holiday-themed side quest: “The Grapple-Gift.”
This side quest is set during a fictional holiday called Grapple-Pap, which is Poptropica’s version of Christmas. The holiday is named after a Krampus-like figure who delivers gifts and takes away people who don’t spread cheer. Much like other fictional holidays such as Merry Walrus or Life Day, Grapple-Pap gives us a look at some of Poptropica’s history and traditions. It’s a nice touch and makes me want to see more Poptropican holidays.
The story is very simple, but it has a strong hook: you help an old man deliver a small wooden horse to his sister Clareta. However, Clareta hasn’t been seen in years, and the villagers believe that Grapple-Pap took her away because she became “mean.” Now, you have to travel the frigid Cold Cliff Pass and find out what happened to Clareta.
When you travel up the pass and enter a rundown cottage, you are greeted by Clareta (now a mean old hag) frantically shouting at you to get out. How did she become so mean and reclusive? What caused the rift between her and her brother? What will it take to show her the true spirit of Grapple-Pap?
To answer your questions: we don’t know, we don’t know, and destroy her cottage with a giant Grapple-Pap statue. …Yup.
The story started so well but ended way too quickly. It’s ironic that a side-quest with the tagline “solve the mystery” left some of its biggest questions unanswered. It feels like the quest didn’t have enough time to explore all of its ideas, possibly due to being rushed in time for the holidays. We know very little about Clareta and her unnamed brother aside from small clues in her cottage. Also, there’s some evidence that Grapple-Pap himself could have had some role to play in the story other than as a holiday mascot.
All of the Grapple-Pap iconography in the locales, the large hoofprints on Clareta’s roof, and his silhouette on the start screen may have been foreshadowing his appearance in the game, but he was cut for whatever reason. But what if he did appear? Imagine an alternate ending in which the real Grapple-Pap kidnapped Clareta and you had to save her and show her the true spirit of the holiday. That would have had a much better payoff than scaring her with a statue.
I feel bad for ragging on the ending, so let’s spread some cheer by talking about the presentation. This side quest is like hot cocoa and sugar cookies for the eyes and ears! The locations are beautifully designed and expansive, the NPCs look festive in their traditional Grapple-Pap attire (or rags in Clareta’s case), new NPC animations add more life to the scenes, and Jeff Heim’s music never fails to immerse the player in their adventure.
I give “The Grapple-Gift” a solid 3.5/5 Grapple-Pops. It’s a fun holiday side quest with an intriguing plotline, even if the ending left some people out in the cold. Make sure to play this quest before Grapple-Pap takes it away for one whole year. What did you guys think of this little holiday special? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Hey Poptropicans, pop quiz incoming! Head over to Escape From Pelican Rock Island and you’ll find a new pop-up stand right in front of Bay City Bank on Main Street asking: Good vs Evil — Which are you?
Click to “Take Quiz” and you’ll get five fun questions to determine just how malicious of a person you are. The quiz is hosted on Interact Quiz Maker, so you can also visit its direct link here to take this pop quiz!
(Spoiler) If you answered like you’re an angel, your result is that “You’re a good one! Phew! You’re certainly not evil. High-five!” But if you pick even one of any of the guilty responses, you’ll get “Evil Villain! You’re a regular human who does questionable stuff sometimes. Unless you answered yes to the last question. You may be an evil mastermind!”
Thanks, BrittScarlet, for letting us know about the quiz update — as well as this next one. If you check your Poptropica messages, you might find a new one that promises new games starting in January!
Also in your messages, you may find a notification about the announcement of the Design Your Dream Island Contest winner. In case you missed it, Fairy Tale Island is only the first of a few winners — we’re still waiting to hear about the rest, which were supposed to be announced last week!
If you’ve been traveling around Poptropica lately, you may have noticed the recent ad for The Croods popping up at inopportune moments, as its own ad scene with an incongruent background: the hand-drawn streets of Timmy Failure Island. You might come across it while entering and exiting buildings on Home Island, for example.
But recently, it’s gotten more ridiculous, even appearing right as you jump in your blimp. Tell me, Poptropica, why I’m having to cross the street before flying off to a new island? The game world might defy logic from time to time, but this much? What do you think?
Speaking of ads, there’s another one on the map: American Girl has returned, but this time as a bit of an Australian Girl. Check out our deep dive into American Girl: Kira’s Island, with all its authenticities and oddities, in the post below! See ya later, mate. 🦘
Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by jaekelopterus3 (Perfect Fish), who’ll be reporting on the latest advertisement island to hit the map. Let’s pop in!
Kira’s Island is the latest American Girl ad to rise from the seas of Poptropica. It’s on the first page of the map and stands apart from its predecessors for its setting: we’ve left America for Australia!
For one thing, America has a distinct lack of wild koalas and kangaroos. The dry ground and vegetation resemble Australia’s different climates, and the presence of a koala and male Australian king parrot (red with green wings) on the map icon indicate that we’re entering Australia’s eastern coast, as that is where those species dwell.
We land right in the middle of the Bailey Wildlife Sanctuary, with several buildings to enter, prizes to collect, the star of the show (Kira), and a few other characters to talk to. Unlike with Courtney’s Island, this place is dubbed not with original music but the clubhouse music.
Let’s grab the first prize we see: the Dodger Follower. Like the Australian king parrot from the map image, Dodger is an exact match for a real animal: an Australian magpie. While wild magpies have a reputation for aggressively defending their nests when their young are being raised, Dodger is content to follow you around, flapping like the Blue Woodpecker Follower from Quippy’s store in Survival Island: Ep. 1.
As you can see from the signs on the right, a few facts are given about some of Australia’s most iconic animals. The animals hanging out at this end of Main Street are just as interesting as the rest. The emu has a thicker and more luxurious ‘do than the bristly head feathers of the real thing, but otherwise it’s pretty accurate, and the kookaburra’s distinct cyan wing stripe led me to research its species: the blue-winged kookaburra of northern Australia, consistent with the location of this island being near Townsville.
The Wombat Pair prize, which is a handheld item with male and female variants, can be picked up right in front of the wildlife rescue clinic. Just click on the crate and they’ll come with you.
On Main Street you’ll also find Aunt Mamie and Alexis, whose dialogues add a bit of Australian culture to the scene: “arvo” being Australian slang for “afternoon,” and “g’day” for “good day.” Looks like this wildlife rescue camp is not just located in Australia, but run by Australians who care about their biodiversity.
Step inside the wildlife rescue clinic for two prizes and a minigame! Inside, click on the koala on the table and it will hold you, leaving your hands free and granting you the Bean Piggyback Rider. Considering that Dodger can be seen in a kennel on the left of this screen, I assume that Bean is the same full-size koala we saw drinking milk outside. (Aren’t you a little old to still be nursing, Bean? Maybe Bean is still a juvenile koala and the adults are supposed to be bigger in this universe.)
You can trigger the minigame by talking to Kira or clicking on the card deck. It’s a card-matching game that starts with the cards face-up then shuffled around, like the mahjong tiles from Time Tangled Island. Pair together the kookaburra, wombat, emu, and other animals within the time limit of 3 minutes to win!
Your prize is Blossom in a Satchel, the baby kangaroo hanging on the wall. Blossom looks like an Eastern gray kangaroo, unlike the other two we’ve seen so far. At least the satchel serves well as a makeshift pouch. (Hey Bean, do you mind leaving some milk for Blossom? The ‘roo joey probably needs it more than you do…)
Blossom in a Satchel prize
Eastern gray kangaroo
In the middle of Main Street is the American Girl Store, which doesn’t offer prizes, but offers a peek into the American Girl doll line. Inside, you’ll find Kira’s predecessors, Joss and Courtney. A few items on either end can be interacted with: on the left, the boombox plays music, the care-bear jumps, and the phone rings.
On the right, you can eat damper bread (a traditional Australian soda bread) at the Brekky Cafe (though it’s traditionally cooked in the ashes of a campfire rather than in a cafe).
Heading next door, the movie theater (both inside and out) lets us know that there will be new videos every week (unlike with the previous American Girl ads, which released a bunch of videos all at once). For now, there’s only one — a music video — but it seems that this island will be updating with new clips for at least eight weeks.
Moving to the other end of Main Street, there’s another area with a minigame. This Wallaroo Tent doesn’t house wallaroos (macropods in between the size of a kangaroo and a wallaby) though: it’s the makeshift base of Kira herself. From the middle poster, we see that Kira calls Michigan home, making her an American girl by nationality, even though this is Australia. You can also grab two glittering prizes here: Kira’s Outdoor Outfit (left) and Kira’s Hiking Boots (right).
Talk to Kira to start the minigame. Similar to the recent Wolfwalkers ad minigame, the goal is to search high and low through a forest setting to find objects. The path varies, so I will not be posting a walkthrough, and in fact would advise against playing this, as it caused my web browser (Chrome) to crash. Anyway, there are four clues to look for.
At the end of the game, you find the Paradise Parrot, a creature whose name belongs to a real but sadly extinct bird. Normally I don’t enjoy looking at taxidermy, but only from it can we see that Poptropica’s Paradise Parrot here is supposed to be the male of the real animal.
The real Paradise Parrot is thought to have been driven out of existence by a double threat from cattle ranchers, who exposed the parrots to egg predation by rats and competition for food with cattle. However, even though the Paradise Parrot has not been seen alive since 1927, Kira seems to have evidence that in her universe, it still hides in the Australian bush. Maybe it’s out there laying low, but that seems unlikely.
Winning the Paradise Parrot in Poptropica
Taxidermy of real-life extinct Paradise Parrot
Going back to the prize from the minigame, the Tropical Bird Power is a pair of earrings that can summon a flock of three species, the Australian king parrot and two others I can’t confidently identify.
The parrots with blue heads may be rainbow lorikeets or red-collared lorikeets, but the coloration is not an exact match. However, out of all parrots including the rest of the lorikeets, they are the closest candidate. And again with only partial confidence, I identified the non-parrot as the black-headed variant of the gouldian finch. They do look similar to the “Paradise Parrot” tropical birds from the minigame.
Rainbow Lorikeet
Red-Collared Lorikeet
Gouldian Finch
Poptropica’s Paradise Parrots
That’s the end of our tour of Kira’s Island! As time goes on, maybe the upcoming theater videos will offer a deeper message about conservation and the biodiversity of Australia, or it may just expand on Kira’s story and promote the merchandise. We will see. In any case, this island is fairly well-researched, if lacking in original music. 2021 brings a different kind of American Girl ad to the table, that’s for sure.
Hope you enjoyed this guest post by jaekelopterus3 (Perfect Fish). If you did, you might also enjoy our other deep dives into Poptropica’s American Girl Islands for Joss and Courtney, two ad-ventures released last year.
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