🏝️ Poptropica Help Blog 🗺️

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the November recap for Community Creations! November’s theme was Pirates (and the featured work is not in any particular order). Be sure to check out all the featured artists!

No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.

Top 5 Picks

Skullduggery Island by MissEligon

Ahoy, Poptropicans! Right away, the energy in this submission is fantastic. The ships on either side of Captain Crawfish center him quite well, and the swinging rope shows a strong sense of movement. The colors and line work are beautiful, and I love the energy coming from all (but one?) of the characters. Excellent composition! Find her Twitter here.

The High Seas of Skullduggery by birdie-bea

Ooooh, quite the dramatic lighting in this piece! The deep shadows are lovely, especially when paired with that red glow from the ship and the light casting from the moon. I like that the juxtaposition of the vessels is really the star of the show here, instead of a specific character, because what’s a pirate’s life without a ship to captain? I’m taken back to my early days on Skullduggery, sailing that measly little raft for what felt like years against the grand Sea Chicken. Find his DeviantArt here.

It’s a Pirate’s Life for Me by Lucky Joker

Avast! What a mighty crew we have here! Aside from a captain’s ship, a captain’s trusty crew is also a major part of a pirate’s life. Without these fine fellas, I don’t think the Phoenix Warbird would be as mighty. But anyway, I love the proud, sturdy stances of the characters and the distinct, line-focused coloring style. Makes for a strong lineup! Find his DeviantArt here.

Pirate Confrontation by Midnightoilstudios

Yikes! Looks like we have a stand off! More than anything, the diagonal composition is quite nice. Such a line creates a strong sense of movement or energy, perfect for this battle scene. Yet these pointy lines reinforced by the sword and wooden post are well balanced by soft, ephemeral colors. I also like the simultaneous contrast (like in their color schemes) and unity (like in the detail of skulls) between the characters. Wonderful work! Find her DeviantArt here.

Busch Borrower: Pirate of the Forest by Sporty Boa

Ah, now here’s a unique a formidable foe of a pirate! If you recall the PHB’s Heroes & Villains themed Halloween Costume Contest this year, then you just might recognize this woodland adversary. Though not exactly a pirate of the seas, there are plenty of other characters who can live up to the title of pirate! The flat color blocking is quite sharp, and the green color scheme works perfectly with the characters. And those eyes are giving me chills! Aw, but just look at that bird. Find him on Discord and his posts here on the PHB.

Honorable Mentions

Farewell Formal Captain by AdventurersNHunters

Be sure to also read Magic Lizard’s I Sail the High Seas… on a Pile of Driftwood story! Here’s a short excerpt:

In case you’re a little out of the loop, I work for an adventure group called Poptropica. The majority of my adventures involve time travel, by which I am capable of with a small, bronze pocket watch; and all of them include my large, state-of-the-art yellow blimp with the word “Poptropica” inscribed all across. So everyone knew who I was with as soon as I landed (crashed.) Which isn’t always the best strategy… READ MORE

What a wonderful array of pirates we got this month! Arrrren’t you happy with this theme’s results? I know I am!

December: How Do I Participate?

Community Creations is a cool series for anyone in the Poptropica community to join in on. To sum up what it’s about, it’s basically a chance to show off your artwork, creepy fan-fics, Pop clubhouses, costumes, and anything else that pops into your mind.

If we really like the piece you submit, we will feature it here on the PHB! As long as it relates to that month’s theme. So what is December’s theme? December’s theme is…

Fire & Ice!

With the holiday season approaching, half of the world will soon be in the midst of cold winter weather, while the other half enters into a hot summer. So why not celebrate best of both worlds this month? The icey side of our theme is perfect for any winter wonderland type creations, which I’m sure many of you were already planning on making in December!

From the fire and ice planets of Astro-Knights Island, to the hot summer and cold winter of Wimpy Boardwalk Island and Wimpy Wonderland Island, these contrasting concepts of fire and ice pop up all over Poptropica! So, it’s up to you to pick one or the other (or both!) and get creating!

“Fire & Ice” by Quick Fang (CC Dec 2019: Opposites)

Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, or Discord.
Results: I will feature 5 of the submissions as well as some honorable mentions.
Limitations: Nothing NSFW, and make sure you relate to the theme.
Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!

I will be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. While quality counts, I’m mainly looking for something to simply catch my eye, so don’t be afraid to join in!

So what are you waiting for? Go make something awesome!

~SD

Uncategorized, Video of the Week

Gear up for a Christmas in Haxe 🎄

November 30, 2020January 9, 2021 Purple Paw

Heyo, Poptropicans! Yet another week has gone by, and that means another store rotation. The holidays have reached Poptropica in this latest store stash!

Many items have remained the same, although there is a good assortment of new apparel as well. Let’s take a look at the newest fashion in stock:

Costumes: Glam Gamer Girl*, Comfy Vibes*, Boss Babe, Neon Rockstar, Pretty Tough, Aqua Rebel, Boho Beauty, Coolin, Cozy Coca, Elf Costume*, Little Candy Cane*, Crazy Candy Cane*, Pop Star, Angel, Robin Hood, Holiday Ball
Followers: Dolphin*, Mini Dr. Hare*, Chick, Atlantis Drone, Dryad, Charlie the Choco-Monkey*, Elephant, Deer
Powers: Binary Rain*, Bobblehead*, Torch, Cinnamon Fire PopGum, Spark Shower Wand, Electrify
Pranks: Sticky Notes, Sneezing Powder, 8-Bit Birthday Pixel Pig Power, Inside-Out Power*, Octo-Prank, Jellyfish Prank, Spitball Shooter

11 items out of the entire store are members-only, with 5 member-exclusive costumes.

Most of the Christmas costumes are for members only, but there’s nothing wrong with sporting a glam pop star look instead! After all, the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. 🎶

Apart from the store festivities, here’s a little reminder of the little time we have left with Flash came very recently. PHB staffers Gentle Dolphin, Sporty Boa, and Spotted Dragon reported logging onto Poptropica on their Flash accounts and finding themselves in Haxe instead. I logged on and didn’t experience the same issue, as I was still in Flash. Perhaps it has something to do with logging in on the mobile app before I logged in on a computer? Who knows?

The good news, however, is that whether you show up on Haxe or Flash, the old islands (for members only) will still be available until the end of the year! (And will hopefully be open for non-members too in the future.) Make the most of Flash before it’s gone for good!

Maybe the good old classics will be in Haxe one day…

A final tidbit of news is that the Creators, true to their promise, recently shared a second Video of the Week! This one has been dug up from the archives of 2016, and highlights Pop founder Jeff Kinney showing how to draw a Poptropican on Fox & Friends. (Check out the clip in their post.)

That’s the scoop for today! Has your account been mysteriously converted to Haxe? And whichever format you’re in, is your Poptropican avatar dressed for the winter holidays? Tell us in the comments, and I’ll see you soon!

~Purple Paw 💜

Arabian Nights Island, Sneak Peeks

A new Dr. Hare minigame? Color me impressed!

November 27, 2020 Gentle Dolphin

Hey, Poptropicans! Yesterday, the Creators posted a teaser image for a new Dr. Hare-themed minigame and offered a way for fans to help make it! Let’s take a look!

The game has a cute retro art style and stars a Dr. Hare who has nearly gone full rabbit. As for gameplay, it seems that you would need to jump up the platforms and reach a checkpoint before time runs out. There are also items like clocks that give extra time, stars that likely give extra points, and spikes that thwart Dr. Hare’s escapades.

This minigame already has a lot going for it; however, it is missing one crucial thing: a name. The Creators are asking fans to come up with a unique title for this new game. Do you have any cool or punny game names? You can send them to the Creators on the Creators’ Blog or on Instagram, The game will be releasing very soon, so hop to it!

With the release of Arabian Nights: How Bazaar on Haxe, Poptropica made four Arabian Nights-themed coloring pages to “keep the sense of adventure alive”. The first page is an elaborately decorated frame, and the other three are characters from Arabian Nights. You can save the pages from the Creators’ Blog to your computer so you can print them or color them digitally.

When you’re done, you can send your newly colored masterpiece (or any Poptropica-related art) to the Creators via the Submissions page. Your art could be featured on the Creators’ Blog or even in Poptropica’s video player! While you’re there, you can also submit an entry for the Create Your Dream Island contest. Who knows? Your dream island might become a reality just like Arabian Nights did.

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

Arabian Nights Island, Haxe Javascript

Arabian Nights, popping onto Haxe 🏜

November 24, 2020November 25, 2020 Purple Paw

Hey everyone! After hardly six days since the Creators’ first announcement, Arabian Nights Episode 1: How Bazaar has appeared on the Haxe map! And, as promised, it’s open for members and non-members alike to play.

Arabian Nights, as shown on the Haxe map.

I’ve just run through the new How Bazaar, and here’s what’s I found to report: it seems that, unlike Mythology Island, the Creators made the decision to keep Arabian Nights the same as its Flash equivalent. Most of the scenes remained almost exactly as those in Flash, and the only differences I could spot in the entire island were minor dialogue changes.

Better yet, I experienced very little lag whilst playing. Despite the pop-up ads between scenes, the gameplay was quite smooth! I’d say that overall, Arabian Nights has given me fresh hope for what can be done on Haxe. If Arabian Nights can be executed so well, maybe the islands still waiting for a port will turn out awesome too.

By the way, bring along the PHB’s Arabian Nights Island Guide for handy help as you play through the episode!

A couple scenes from Arabian Nights on Haxe.

For the first time in a while, Quippy has appeared on time! You’ll find the little droid—sporting a cunning thief garb—in the Rumi’s Rugs common room, waiting to deliver his newest stash of Arabian Nights gear.

Did Quippy join the ranks of the Forty Thieves?

And speaking of the Arabian Nights gear pack, let’s see what’s in store! The four new items include: Arabian Style, Silent Thief, Desert Lizard Follower*, and Purple Smoke Bomb*. (Two of which are members-only.)

The Creators haven’t yet mentioned if the later episodes of Arabian Nights are planned to be released as well; although, in separate news, they did mention in their most recent post that they’ve already received hundreds of submissions in the Create Your Dream Island contest! Wow. Competition is getting real, and there’s still plenty of time left to submit your ideas! All this Arabian Nights stuff is sure to get creative juices flowing.

That’s all the news today! What are your opinions on the new Arabian Nights? What islands do you hope to see converted next? Share your thoughts in the comments!

~Purple Paw 💜

Pop Places IRL, Wild West Island

Pop Places IRL: Wild West 🏜

November 24, 2020November 25, 2020 Spotted Dragon

Welcome back to “Pop Places IRL,” Poptropicans! We’re gonna be moseying back in time today to visit Wild West Island! And if you like this series, sure to check out other Pop Places IRL posts.

Wild West Island quite obviously takes place in the western US during the American frontier period of the 19th century. The time period has been highly romanticized, especially in film, so there’s no wonder we have a Poptropica island themed around it!

Pretty much every building, character, and background matches this old western aesthetic. Details range from apparel, architecture, fonts, dialogue, and beyond! Sometimes the smallest changes can have a big impact on an island’s theme. The setting has this wide open feeling, and I think Poptropica was able to successfully portray that in their own style. Do you agree?

Rawhide: It’s a little wild, and a little strange, when you make your home out on the range.

One of the most iconic places in any old western town is, of course, the Saloon (in this case, found in Diamond Plains). And Poptropica did manage to make such a location kid-friendly enough to be included! Anyone care for a round of root beer? It’s on me!

Saloonatics: This Poptropican is a stand-in that you’ll never see on any Island.

Another noteworthy building would definitely be the Marshal’s Office or Jail (also in Diamond Plains). Whatever the law enforcement may be (sheriff, marshal, constable, you name it), even deputies seemed to be quite prevalent in a time rampant with outlaws, bounty hunters, and gangs. It was cowboys galore!

Marshal Law: Justice is black and white.

Since we mentioned the jail, we of course have to bring up the Bank, because the whole “outlaws robbing banks” trope just cannot be ignored. The bank we see in Poptropica is located in Rock Ridge. Stick ’em up!

photo: Pioneertown California (onlyinyourstate)

We could very well look at the Train Station as well, considering it does tie into the bank robbery within the story. Quite different than the train station we see in our Mystery Train comparison, huh?

Train in Vain: It doesn’t look like much is happening at this station.

After all that, I think we simply must talk about the Casino in Dos Cactos next. During such wild times, gambling tended to be a common occurrence. But yet again, Poptropica was able to fit it into its kid-friendly world! Looks like everything’s coming up aces for them!

Everbody Wins: Everything is coming up aces in this Wild West town.

If we stay in Dos Cactos, we can head on over to a sort of carnival, but more specifically a shooting gallery. Yes, traveling shows did date back to the wild west era—you simply had to travel between the far away towns for profit! And every good cowboy knew how to shoot a pistol.

photo: Early 1800s Midway (doc’smidwaycookhouse)

Curious about other displays of showmanship? Why, just take a look at the local Snake Oil Salesman in Rock Ridge of course! Traveling carts were quite the norm in the wild west, with salesmen often promising miracle cures and obscure tonics of all sorts. Maybe be careful about spending your money around here…

photo: Traveling Medicine Shows of the Old West (curioushistorian)

Another cart we get to see in Wild West is owned by a photographer (this one in Dusty Gulch), which could perhaps be considered more of a miracle than the tonics! The world’s first photograph was taken in 1826, perfectly fitting into the frontier era. That makes us pretty lucky to even have photos from around that time to compare with the island!

Pilot Error: Different parts of scenes are made at different times, so we use stand-in characters when necessary.

Dusty Gulch is also home to Rusty’s Ranch, as you may know (though this can also be compared to the ranch in Rock Ridge). Raising cattle and horses and such was so common in fact that it was actually one of the factors leading to the Dust Bowl. So maybe it was only a stable job in one sense of the word?

Cool Ranch: Giving you a new perspective on the next Poptropica Island.

Something else we can’t forget: the gold mines! The California Gold Rush of the 1800s was a huge population push to the west. Time and time again it seems like people yearned to move west! Though it didn’t guarantee fortune to all, that’s for sure.

Mind the Gap: Be careful not to get off-track here.

Bringing our adventure to an end, the Canyon Hideout feels like an appropriate grande finale. One of the most famous IRL hidey-holes for gangs and outlaws was the “Hole-In-The-Wall,” an isolated area in Wyoming.

Desert Inn Nothing: like a secluded hideaway for the discerning bandit.

Boy howdy, that was a lot of places, wasn’t it? And we didn’t even go into detail about the hotel, clock tower, or trading post! Just goes to show you how much detail goes into one setting/game design.

Do you think Poptropica successfully replicated the alluring aesthetic of the IRL wild west? Yay or neigh? What island would you like to see us compare next in this series? Be sure to leave your thoughts in a comment below!

So long, partners!

~SD