Like all good things, the Games are coming to an end. But the fun isn’t over: it’s time for the 2020 PHB Tribal Tournament to go out with a bang! 💥 Join us at our closing ceremony, where we’ll be announcing LIVE the winners of our three rounds (and overall) as well as partying in Poptropica common rooms.
Here are all the details you need to know:
🕗 When:Saturday, August 29 @ 8 pm Eastern / 7 pm Central / 6 pm Mountain / 5 pm Pacific (for all other time zones, check this time converter). In some parts of the world, it may be Sunday morning, August 30.
📍 Where: On our Discord server,the PHC — a safe chat space where PHB staff and other Poptropicans regularly hang out. It’s open anytime, so come on in!
🎉 Why: To find out which tribe reigns supreme! And to have fun while cheering on your tribe, of course.
🏃♂️ Remember, you still have till next Tuesday, the 25th, to compete in the current Gamers’ Gauntlet and send in some more Poptropica fan art for the Creative Competitors round to earn points for your tribe.
Mark your calendars for the party, too! We’ll meet you at the finish line. ✊
Welcome back to “Pop Places IRL,” Poptropicans! Miss the series? I know I did! This time around, we’ll be traveling to Arabian Nights Island! Like this series? Be sure to check out other Pop Places IRL posts.
As you might already know, Arabian Nights was the winning idea from Poptropica’s “Create Your Dream Island” contest back in 2013. The pitch? “On Arabian Nights Island, Poptropicans go on a quest across the desert to rescue a sultan’s genie from the Forty Thieves.” And it turned out to be quite the tale!
The adventure, like Disney’s “Aladdin,” takes place in Arabia (hence the name). This Middle Eastern peninsula is certainly a distinct location, and it definitely shines through in the island! Don’t believe me? Let’s take a closer look.
Right away on our Poptropicans’ adventure, we are greeted with “Episode 1: How Bazaar.” The title itself is a pun, playing off the term “bazaar” to sound like “how bizarre.” A bazaar, if you were unaware, is a type of Middle Eastern marketplace, which (not coincidentally) is a prominent location on the island.
photo: The Souk – A Middle Eastern Bazaar (zoharproductions)
Pretty cool, right? The colorful fabrics, clothing, and items for sale certainly catch the eye. But perhaps even more impressive, we have the palace to visit!
photo: Arabian Palace (werxj’s flickr)
I personally find the architecture of the Middle East to be a particularly remarkable characteristic of the area, but maybe that’s just my inner art history nerd coming out? Either way, the design in Poptropica seems to match up pretty well to its inspiration, so let’s take a look on the inside as well!
Poptropica’s palace atrium (left) is busier than our reference photo (right), but it sure does add interest to the adventure! I think that the game really did stay true to its inspiration, even with their color/detail additions. What do you think?
Stepping further away from the bustling market, however, we could also take a look at the less populated areas of the island. Even if a huge Lair of Thieves is tough to find IRL, there are definitely still cave systems we could investigate. And, like in Poptropica, maybe we can find some salt and other minerals to trade!
photo: Caving Vacations in Africa & the Middle East (iexplore)
Why don’t we take a camel and keep traveling away from the market, further into the desert next? And now we happen upon an oasis!
photo: Oasis (wikipedia)
Even in this largely desert landscape, it’s cool to see the pops of color that show up. The Poptropica Creators really took advantage of their inspiration when designing this island, huh?
But what do you guys think? Have you ever been to the Middle East? Does the comparison match up to your expectations? What other islands do you want to see in this series? Be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts below!
The time has come, Poptropicans… welcome to the final round of the 2020 PHB Tribal Tournament. Allow us to introduce the Gamers’ Gauntlet!
In this round, you’ll need to put your Olympic energy to the ultimate test, and you’ll be doing it in the most competitive Poptropica way: completing islands. But not just any islands! For these Games, the challenge is to beat Poptropolis Games, Reality TV, and/or Reality TV: Wild SafariIsland. As much as you can.
Once you’ve finished one of the aforementioned islands, take a screenshot of the result and make sure to include the date and time in the corner of your screen. Then, share the screenshots with us either on your tribe’s channel on the PHC or by sending us an email. Let us know which tribe you’re repping!
Here’s an example of a screenshot with the time and date included to help us verify that the island was completed during the time of this round.Your computer may display the time in a different corner of the screen.
Every island completion earns 10 points for your tribe. You can replay any of the islands as many times as you want — and the more you do, the more points you’ll earn for your tribe. And a few other notes…
For Poptropolis Games, you are only eligible for points in the tournament if you place in the top 3.
Poptropolis Games is only on the Flash version of Poptropica, not Haxe. You can use the Format Loader to switch from one to the other.
The original Reality TV Island is currently officially available to members only, but non-members can try accessing it via the Old Island Directory.
Out of the 3 islands, only Reality TV: Wild Safari is available on mobile, but your device may not show the time when in the game app. However, your progress will sync to your computer, so you can log in on your computer and take a screenshot there if you’re playing on mobile.
By the way, it’s more fun on Discord. Join us on the PHC to play alongside other Poptropicans and share your victories with your team! 😄🏅
For anyone curious, here are the answers to last week’s tricky games. How many were you able to get?
Tricky Trivia: Answer Key
Who created Poptropica? Jeff Kinney
What was the 32nd island released? Zomberry Island
Poptropica’s in-game currency is called what? Credits
What year was the Friends feature implemented? 2012
How many islands have a bonus quest? 14
When was Early Poptropica (the pilgrims’ settlement) founded? 1982
Who was CJ’s role model on Shrink Ray Island? Marie Curie
Why is Crusher wanted in prison? For smashing bugs
What are the nine flavor variations of PopGum that exist? Classic, Cinnamon Fire, Spooktacular, Grape, Vampire Bat, Lucky Shamrock, Winter Blast, Helio, and Psychedelic
Which iconic character had their name changed due to legal issues? Shark Boy/Guy (check out our article on the Mystery of Shark Boy!)
What event, on Mystery Train Island, is the train headed to? 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
Where did Flambe, the prison chef, receive his/her culinary training? Le Cordon Bleu
What weight does the weight guesser incorrectly predict your Poptropican to be on Monster Carnival Island? 115 pounds
On Counterfeit Island, how long was the museum security guard’s break from his Monday night shift? 12 minutes
How much does an ECO-Bike cost at Twin Palms Mall? $3599.99
How could one originally gain access to play the Blimp Adventure mini-quest? By purchasing the blimp toy and using the code that comes with it to unlock it
Who is buried in the plot A42 at Hemlock cemetery? Humility Goodman or Percy Brewster
What are Zeke Weke’s three favorite musical artists? The Banana Heads, Popzart, and The Roaches
On which island is the Grease Monkey building located? Spy Island
How many islands has Smokey Chinchilla completed? 18
Trace That Place: Answer Key (see labels)
Mission Atlantis Ep. 2
Reality TV
Snagglemast
Skullduggery
Game Show
Time Tangled
Mythology
Early Poptropica
Survival
Super Power
PoptropiCon Ep.3
Arabian Nights Ep. 2
Vampire’s Curse
Red Dragon
Mystery of the Map
Nabooti
Presenting the Genius Games MVP
It’s time to crown another MVP (Most Valuable Poptropican)! This person swarmed in with an immense amount of team spirit by taking on almost every possible method of earning points. Congratulations to Celeste (Purple Paw) of the Nightcrawlers — you’ve done your tribe proud!
Will you be the next MVP? Are you willing to accept the challenge and contend for victory in the medallion marathon of the Gamers’ Gauntlet? This round ends next Tuesday, August 25, so get going!
Good day, Poptropicans! It’s LJ here coming at you with another Pop Fan Artist Spotlight. I’ll be featuring the works of AdventurersNHunters, a relatively new artist to pop up in the DeviantArt community. Ready, set, action!
“Main Infamous Villains Battle Attire”
AdventurersNHunters says her favorite characters to draw, for the most part, include Princess Elyana, the main four super villains, and the prisoners from Super Power Island. She also strives to tell stories through her drawings, and she likes to create unique designs for the characters she puts into them.
It’s evident just how true that is when you take a look at this gallery I’ve put together — which includes the piece she’s proudest of, “Game Show Island.” (It took her a month to complete it! Talk about determination.)
“Elyana, Future Queen Of Arturus”
“Wild West Ready For The Showdown”
“Main Infamous Villains Battle Attire”
“Studying”
“Dr. Hare Doodles”
“Game Show Island”
“Four Infamous Villains”
“Chess Playing”
“Middle of the Night”
“Baby Hare is back”
I find her art style so cute, don’t you? No wonder “Studying” was nominated for the Best Fan Art award last month during the Poppies (which I ultimately voted for, by the way!).
This gallery shows a mere 10 illustrations; there’s plenty more where that came from. She’s very active and has over five times of this in her DeviantArt gallery.
Now as the spotlight dims and the artist takes her bow, I thank you all for reading once again.
Wanna see more amazing artwork like this? Check out some of the other artists I’ve featured here on the blog. Wanna be the next Pop fan artist spotlight? Shoot me a message on DeviantArt and we’ll see what we can do.
And finally, don’t forget to take part in our Tribal Tournament as well as this month’s Community Creations — the more art, the better! I’ll talk to you guys in the next one. Pop on!
Hey Poptropicans! In a stunning turn of events, Poptropica has suddenly, somehow managed to do the unexpected: shared actual sneak peek images of something they’re working on, and post a controversial tweet.
Let’s fly into the first thing: sneak peeks! Over on the Creators’ Blog, they shared a post teasing “new stuff” they’re working on. As is the case with their communications these days, the writing is sparse, leaving much to the imagination. But whatever Poptropica Airways is, it’s about to make a landing.
Could planes be the new blimps? That might explain the recent disappearance of the beloved, Poppies-award-winning blimp decor in clubhouses, even while blimps continue to be our Poptropicans’ mode of inter-island travel. But if that’s the case—even conceding that planes might be a more modern form of travel—Poptropica would certainly be losing a very iconic part of its identity! Even the Creators’ Blog uses the blimp in their branding.
And what to make of the blimp photo on the clerk’s desk? Is it a tribute to a soon-to-be past, or will blimps be relegated to being the beat-up rafts to the Phoenix Warbirds of the air? (That’s a Skullduggery Island metaphor, btw.)
Or is this part of a new island adventure? The post does also say they’re working on converting islands, with Time Tangled and Mythology in progress right now—which seems to leave little room for the planning and developing of an entirely new island. But who knows?
Now onto the next juicy news: yes, for the second time in 2020, Poptropica managed to tweet something controversial. (In case you missed it, Poptropica briefly endorsed Joe Biden for US president on Twitter.)
It all started when thePoptropica app reached #1 somewhere in Apple’s App Store, knocking out Fortnite for the top spot. Of course, this called for a celebratory post (and story) on Instagram that started innocently enough, mentioning how they’d outlasted games like Club Penguin and Animal Jam.
But Poptropica’s tone was a little more over-the-top with the gloating on Twitter. In addition to a similar post sharing the same news, Poptropica also responded to a Twitter thread from Animal Jam co-founder Clark Stacey by saying, “First #clubpenguin and now #animaljam too? It’s lonely at the top. #poptropicaforever.”Poptropica’s tweet was pulled in less than a day, but we saved some pics, plus Mr. Stacey’s unamused response, which remains.
Mr. Stacey’s original Twitter commentary had been about the struggles of kids’ game developers being incentivised to create their games for a general audience rather than specifically for the kids category of game lists, as well as Apple’s ambiguity about why they were rejecting game updates to Animal Jam and other kids’ games. And instead of offering sympathy from a fellow kids’ game developer, Poptropica decided to gloat.
The Animal Jam co-founder swiftly called them out for being “childish” and “sloppyheaded,” adding that “the Poptropica I know was above this sort of thing.” Which brings us to the question, what’s up with Poptropica’s lackluster communications to players lately? Since Skinny Moon left in 2017, the years of general silence (with occasional vague updates) that followed were unimpressive enough, but this year’s (albeit deleted) Twitter blunders are bewildering. We sure do miss the days when Poptropica had a dedicated social media manager who took the time of day to respond to players’ questions!
By the way, Fortnite’s fall from the top spot is likely related to the game recently being pulled from both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play store for trying to circumvent the stores’ 30% “tax” on in-app purchases by offering a direct-payment option away from the app stores.
In-app purchases give a cut of the cost to the app stores.
But Poptropica does the exact same thing: even though you can buy a Pop membership through an in-app purchase (which gives a cut of the costs to the app store), you can also buy a membership directly on Poptropica’s website, which would allow Pop to keep 100% of the earnings. No matter where you buy the membership, it gets applied to your account on the app (as well as on the computer). So perhaps some sympathy for the predicaments of games like Fortnite is in order. After all, Poptropica could very well be at the same risk.
You can buy a membership on the app and directly from Poptropica’s website.
That wraps up these peculiar updates! What do you think Poptropica Airways will be? Thoughts on Poptropica’s Twitter habits? Hoorays for the app’s achievement? Sound off in the comments below!
🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺 