🏝️ Poptropica Help Blog 🗺️

Fan Art Features, Member Gifts, Social Media, Store, Video of the Week

Stylish packs and spider pranks 🐻🕷

January 9, 2021June 6, 2021 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, new member gifts are here, and they come in packs of three! First up is the Furry Purse Pack, with variants of a cute brown bear, happy pink bunny (not at all like the evil Dr. Hare), and a sleepy gray kitty. It’s an overshirt item, so it can’t go with jackets.

Then there’s the Snowboard Pack, which has a version with stripes of different colors, another that says “Powder” (interesting brand name?), and one with rounded lines and shades of purple.

The last batch of bonus goods are the RC Cars, or remote controlled cars, although you can’t see the remote. They come in blue (with flames), red (with lightning), or green (truck style), and pressing space bar will make the car drive around a couple times on the ground.

All in all, that’s 9 new member gifts to kick off the new year! But if you don’t have a membership yet, why not enter our giveaways for Free Poptropica Membership? That’s right, this newly launched feature on the PHB gives away free membership to a lucky Poptropican every month, and entering is as easy as 1-2-3. Get started »

While that’s happening, there’s plenty of new stuff for all players over at the store. In addition to some classics, the latest update includes 7 new items: the Floral Tee, Camo Kid, and Record Spinner in costumes, plus a Spider Prank, Jetpack, Baby Penguin Follower, and White Combat Boots. Check out the full stock in the gallery below (thanks, Gentle Dolphin):

Take a look at a couple of these new items in action below. They sure look like they could become fun common room classics in the Haxe era!

The RC Car, one of the member gifts, in action — driving around.

In other news, here’s what the Pop Creators have been featuring this week on social media. On their Instagram story this Friday, they shared two pieces of fan art as well as a snap of Binary Bard socks from the Poptropica merch store. Have you gotten your Pop swag yet?

Pop characters as humans by @hfevra (link)

On the Creators’ Blog, they shared a Video of the Week from Shade-e’s 101, who recorded himself exploring his friend’s clubhouse. The Creators mentioned how they loved seeing the Poptropica community be supportive of one another, and that you can tag your videos with “Poptropica” for a chance to have them featured!

There’s a lot more going on in Poptropica and the fandom than we can fit in this post! Catch up on other news below, like the new Legendary Swords: Match 3 mini-game, and stay tuned for further commentary about the reveal of the second winner of the Design Your Dream Island Contest: Goofball Island. 🤔⚔️🤪

By the way, if you’re a Poptropica fan who’s eager to hear about the latest news as soon as it drops, consider joining the PHC, our Discord server! On the PHC, fans can share and respond to things more immediately than we can blog about them, though of course, we’re still committed to maintaining quality records and commentary here on the blog — it just takes a bit of time. Thanks for sticking with us, and pop on!

~🐠

Legendary Swords

Swords up for a legendary new mini-game ⚔️

January 8, 2021January 9, 2021 Purple Paw

Hi there, Poptropicans! As was hinted at recently, a new mini-game—inspired by the long-lost Legendary Swords action quest—is here!

Though it’s quite different from the original action quest itself, it’s fun and addicting nonetheless. To access the new Legendary Swords: Match 3 game, go to your messages or find it on the map. Plus, read on for a full guide on how to beat it below!

When you start, you’ll be faced with a large board filled with different types of robot heads, the villain E. Vile, and other items from the original Legendary Swords, as well as some new bug-eyed creatures.

The objective of the game is to match three or more of the same item in a row as many times as you can to gain points throughout three rounds. You’ll see a time bar up in the corner. Each round gives you 60 seconds to gain as many points as you can, so move quickly!

To gain points, swipe an item so that it matches up in a row with two or more of the same items. For an example, take a look at this vertical row of one-eyed robots:

Three robots are stacked in a row. One robot, however, is sitting next to the row instead of in it. Swiping the odd robot into the empty space in the row next to it will award a good number of points. The more items collected in a row, the more points will be earned!

But creating rows of items isn’t the only way to gain points. As you match more rows and score more points, a small blue bar in the upper left alongside an image of your Poptropican will fill up, and the picture will start to pulse. When you see your picture pulsing, click on it for a surge of extra points, as well as an extra ten seconds on the clock!

Once you’ve clicked on it, the blue bar will empty and the Poptropican will stop pulsing. Keep matching rows and gaining points to fill the bar up again as many times as you can!

Another good way to gain more points and time is using swords. There are two types of swords that sometimes come up: the Rusty Relic, which will give you at least a few extra seconds and points, and the Bolt, which is even stronger than the Relic and will give you even more time and points. These swords don’t need to be matched up in a row like normal items, so swipe them any which way to collect your points and time.

At the end of the three rounds, you’ll be shown a list of the top three ranking scores, along with your own score!

Now you’re ready to get out there and master this mini-game! What did you all think of Legendary Swords: Match 3? Was it the fun challenge you’d been hoping for, or was it too poor of a representation of the original mini-quest to please you?

And, if you did try it out, what final score did you achieve? Share with us in the comments down below!

~💜

Free Membership Giveaways

Introducing the PHB’s FREE Poptropica Monthly Membership Giveaways! 🎁

January 8, 2021January 1, 2021 Slanted Fish

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! 🥳

Keep on popping on,
~the PHB 💙

Uncategorized

Pop 5: Best-Dressed Characters in Poptropica II

January 6, 2021 Purple Paw

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!

~Purple Paw 💜

Reviews

PHB Review: Grapple-Gift Side Quest 🎁❄️

January 5, 2021January 5, 2021 Gentle Dolphin

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!