Pop 5

Pop 5: The Very Worst Poptropicans

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Heya there! It’s Happy Lobster, with yet another Pop 5!

So, Poptropica is full of brilliant and likable characters… but there are also a lot of Poptropicans who are more than a bit of a pain to be around. This post is all about the latter. Here’s a list of 5 characters who are out to ruin Poptropicans’ lives!

#5: The Warden (Escape From Pelican Rock Island)

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Well, this slightly pretentious warden from EFPR Island isn’t exactly the most likable person: he has no respect for any of his prisoners (which maybe isn’t a great surprise, being the warden of a prison), particularly you.

That’s to be expected, but still, he’s a little more cranky than your average prison warden.

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#4: Zeus (Mythology Island)

MythologyCharacterFor the king of the gods in Greek mythology, he definitely doesn’t make a great impression throughout Mythology Island. From sending you off to collect some sacred items in return for immortality to laughing in your face once you obtain them, he’s definitely not doing you any favors… just trying to dominate Poptropica.

Then [spoiler], when he re-appears in Super Villain, he asks you to fetch some more powerful objects, and once you get them, he laughs in your face and tries to take over Poptropica, again. Bit of a one-track mind, Zeus has.

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#3: Myron Van Buren (Survival Island)

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Over in Survival Island, MVB spies on you during three of its episodes, where you nearly freeze to death, nearly starve to death and nearly fall off a radio tower multiple times. Then, when you manage to get the radio tower working, he conveniently arrives to rescue you as if he only found you because of the radio.

Then he gives you a warm bed, a “kind” gesture only slightly ruined by giving you a poisoned meal to make you drowsy, locking your bedroom door, and then announcing that you get the honor of being the subject of his hunt, as if you were some prize animal. Well, at least he fills just about all villain conventions.

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#2: Kirk Strayer (Back Lot Island)

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Kirk Strayer is supposed to be one of the greatest and most famous actors of all time in Poptropica. (Well, I’d never heard of him till I set foot on Back Lot Island, but I digress.) Anyway, when you actually meet him in person… well, he turns out to be a bit of a disappointment.

He throws a temper tantrum when you interrupt his acting and storms away to his caravan, forcing you and the director Carson Willis to chase after him. He says he’ll only come out if you fetch him a “half-caf leviathan latte-espresso, on the double!” and throws a coffee cup out of the window. (Well, at least you learn some random coffee information no-one asked for.) Then, you find him arguing with Carson yet again about how he doesn’t want to act as a gorilla.

Well, at least he does a exceedingly superb job of acting a spoiled brat.

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#1: Samuel Brains (Zomberry Island)

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This guy was the whole reason the Zomberry epidemic began – it was all because of his infected blueberries – and, to make up for it, he gives out his deepest sympathies and apologies about it by… giving free certificates for his own smoothies?!

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Moreover, why does he look like he picked out his outfit while blindfolded? Maybe that’s one of the many reasons Sarah Snooty didn’t enjoy her birthday party so much. For someone with the name Brains, you’d think he’d have some, huh?

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And on that note, that concludes this post. Is there any other Poptropican who’s even more irritating and annoying who deserves to be on this list? Share your thoughts and loathing in the comments below!

Stay popping! ^^

Pop 5

Pop 5: Most Detestable Updates

This post originally appeared on Clawtropica as Pop 7: Poptropica’s Most Hated Updates. The PHB version has been made into a Pop 5, and we encourage you to see the original post for the last two items. This list represents only the opinions of the author, Purple Claw.

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Poptropica is a really interesting game, to say at least. Although it’s got an awesome community of fans, we’re sometimes left hoping for better. So let’s take a look at some of the most hated updates in Poptropica’s history!

Keep in mind that I don’t necessarily hate all these updates myself (hate is a really strong word, after all), but they are disliked by a majority of Poptropica fans.

#5: THE HOME ISLAND MOVIE THEATER

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When the Movie Theater first showed up, everyone was super pumped about what would be inside… but when it got released, everyone absolutely hated it.

The design of the building and the rich man outside the building talking about it made it look like it was going to be AMAZING, but it was… um… how do I put this up nicely… a pile of crap (I failed at being nice, oops).

Sorry, Poptropica, but if you want to appeal to the younger kids, you’ll have to try better than putting nursery rhymes and other cringe-y videos for kids under the age of 4. And think of all the older kids who were completely turned off by the juvenile videos!

Most disappointingly, these videos weren’t even made by Poptropica. Considering Poptropica’s animation and artistic quality, I’m sure they could’ve made a series of videos much better than what we got in the theater.

#4: THE REMOVAL OF IN-ISLAND MAPS

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Remember the in-island maps? No no, not the Islands Map that brings you to different islands; that still exists. I’m talking about the maps that could be found in each classic island. If you’re not aware, they were removed in 2015! Like, why would you wanna remove a really useful tool anyway? That doesn’t make any sense.

I mean, I get that some islands and pretty easy and you can complete them without a map (like Shark Tooth or 24 Carrot), but there are also some pretty difficult islands where you can easily get lost (such as Vampire’s Curse or Cryptids). Maybe they didn’t want to continue making them for newer islands (they stopped when SUIs came out) but they still could’ve kept the old ones.

By the way, if you really need a map, you can visit the PHB’s map page. There’s a map for every Poptropica original island, and we even made a few of our own for SUIs which didn’t come with their own maps.

#3: MEMBERSHIP

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Membership, which is paid subscription for extra benefits, is a way to keep Poptropica alive with financial support. Like it or not, it’s not going anywhere. It was first released in 2010, but a large population of players still prefer to play for free.

While membership does not affect actually playing through an island (that is, if you’re not playing a members-only island), a lot of other things require membership.

Membership has its own pros and cons. First of all, without the financial support that membership brings in, we wouldn’t have Poptropica or Pop Worlds. Poptropica needs to make money to pay its talented creators to keep making cool things.

While membership doesn’t interfere too much on Poptropica Original, it unfortunately took a turn for the worse with some recent updates on Poptropica Worlds. You can read more about it in this PHB analysis or this Clawtropica rant.

#2: SOUND-UPDATED ISLANDS (SUIs)

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Sound Updated Island aren’t considered that bad anymore. I mean, who doesn’t love Jeff Heim’s music? But when SUIs first came out, they were SUPER glitchy. Even now, they sometimes still are.

SUIs started with the announcement for Beta Carotene, where members got to beta test the SUI version of 24 Carrot Island. Since it was a beta test, it was almost guaranteed there would be some bugs.

However, when SUIs OFFICIALLY came out, they were still super glitchy. Some people hated SUIs but kept playing Poptropica. Others, however, were so disappointed that they quit the game altogether.

Fortunately, Sound Updated Islands have since improved and are now less glitchy, but most people still prefer classics over SUIs, including me. Even though I myself was never really affected by the SUIs’ initial glitchiness, since I started playing Poptropica in 2014 (a year after SUIs were introduced), I still prefer classic islands anyway.

#1: MAKING SEVEN SPONSORED ISLANDS MEMBERS ONLY

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I don’t know what got into the Creators, but this idea was a major blow. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. The idea of making 7 Islands members-only was hated so much, that it was voted “Worst Poptropica Update” in the Poppies Awards… twice!

I was really mad when that happened, since I hadn’t had the chance to beat one of those islands (Red Dragon Island) before it was locked to non-members.

Fortunately, the Creators made some amends by releasing one of the islands back to everyone during their March Madness contest, and I was able to play Red Dragon since that was the winning island.

You can also get the island medallions through the glitching tool iPop, but it’s not quite the same as actually playing the island. Besides, not everyone knows about glitching.

Making non-members play a new island a month later was one thing, but making seven islands members-only was a bit TOO mean, don’t you think?


Some of these updates may have ruined the whole game experience for some Poptropica players, but nothing’s perfect. At least Poptropica hasn’t flopped as badly as Club Penguin, which notoriously shut down to create a worser, mobile-only version of the game. (And Disney, if you ever buy Poptropica, I’m going to murder your CEO in your sleep.) Though Poptropica had its bad moments, it’s also been pretty awesome overall (and isn’t that why we’re still here?).

Anyway, thanks for reading this list! It took me a while to make, and if you enjoyed it, please show your support by checking out the original post and commenting below!

That’s PC, signing out ‘til my next post!

🐾 Purple Claw 🐾
:mrgreen: 🌊

Clubhouse, Cryptids Island, Social Media

Escape Cryptids with the #FreeThe15 Challenge

Hey there, good players of Poptropica!

It’s me, Purple Claw, with some interesting news — the unknown Creators are hosting another challenge that you should all know about! (There was also the visitors’ center challenge that we didn’t post about, but you can check it out here.)

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

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So basically, the Creators are releasing 15 new house decor items, and we have to be the ones that have make that happen, through the power of social media!

Random PHB reader: Um, Purple Claw, what do you mean by that? We’re just plain fans! And why don’t you post more often?!

I’m glad you asked! Well, the Creators are giving us an opportunity to release some new sweet house decor items, but what we have to do is… uh… post pictures of the Ice Cream Machine inside our houses for some reason, and with the hashtag #FreeThe15. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Poptropicans must post a picture of the Ice Cream Machine from the Home Decor Store placed into their Pop Worlds Home.

Step 2: Don’t forget to use the hashtag #FreeThe15 in your entries so we can find it.

Step 3: Tag your friends and get them to post! We only release the 15 items if we get enough people to share their Ice Cream Machine in their Home and tag with #FreeThe15. The more people who enter, the greater the chances of unlocking these items!

Remember, this is a race against the clock- we need enough people to post with the hashtag by Monday to unlock all 15 items. The more Ice Cream Machines you have & pictures you post, the better! These items would be available for ALL PLAYERS, and we need EVERYONE to participate! Good luck, Poptropicans!

There’s a positive and a negative side to this. First of all, it’s free items, baby! Everyone loves ’em! But on the other hand, this kinda popped out of nowhere, and there seems to be no real rhyme or reason to it…

Don’t get me wrong; I love Poptropica challenges. But this one just felt so… random. In my opinion, I think that they should’ve just added the 15 new items without making this contest, but maybe this was their way of trying to increase the activity on social media. Still, the way they’re going about it feels half-hearted, with not much of a story to it.

If you want the new items to be added, please post the picture of your ice cream machine along with the #FreeThe15 hashtag on your social media pages. If you don’t have any social media, I can share yours on my twitter page – just DM me on Discord.


In other news, yesterday, another post was published on the Creators’ Blog, promoting one of Poptropica’s most popular islands: Cryptids Island. Cryptids Island is well-known for its mythical creatures and its extraordinary adventure.

The post was pretty interesting, but the thing that stood out the most was this glorious drawing of the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie:

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It’s really nice! I really like the detail on the ocean, and I wish I would draw like that. However, it doesn’t quite look like the ordinary Poptropica style. When asked about it, the Creators wrote back that a Poptropica artist wanted to do things a bit differently to capture the mystery.

Anyway, Cryptids is one of my favorite islands, and I really want it to be remastered for Poptropica Worlds, so I kinda hope (even though the chances are really low) that it might be. So I guess #CryptidsForWorlds..? I don’t know. XD


Anyway, thanks for reading this post! I’ll try to post more and stop being too lazy – but until then, I’m out!

🐾 Purple Claw 🐾
:mrgreen:🌊

Pop Petitions

Pop Petition: What We Want From Pop Worlds, Pt. 3

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Hey guys, Spotted Dragon here with another Pop Petition! This one is about Poptropica Worlds yet again.

With my last post on Worlds focusing on all the positives, it was only inevitable that the negatives would be brought back up. Although, remember that these posts aren’t meant as complaints about the game! They are simply voicing what we want and what we are excited for! Click here for our first Pop Worlds Petition and click here for our second.

Anyway, we’ve talking about customization, interacting with friends, glitches, and more, so what could possibly be left? Well, we saw all your feedback and we totally get that Poptropica Worlds still has a lot to live up to. So, let’s get into it!

#1: Item/Power Cards

How could we forget about this? We have a store full of clothes and a store filled with house decor, but there are no items/powers anywhere for purchase! In Original Poptropica, we had gum, balloons, electric powers, followers, and more to choose from.

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Currently, there is not even a place where we could go looking to buy items/powers. While these items don’t really help game-play, they were always a cool addition to the ways we could customize our characters. I guess it always comes back around to wanting more customization, huh?

We are already seeing more animation in Poptropica Worlds, such as the little movements our Poptropicans make when idle, and I feel like this attention to animation could make item cards even more exciting. Although, now that I think about it, this will probably just lead to even more lag at our multiverse parties!

#2: Old Cursor

Remember how the old cursor we had in game changed length and color? Well I’m sure you’ve noticed that those features are no longer a part of the cursor in Poptropica Worlds. The movement controls are still the same, but the appearance is slightly different. It may not seem like a big deal, but to some it is a big change.

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With the old cursor, the arrow turned green when you would jump, turned blue when you would just walk, and turned yellow when you would crouch. In addition to this, the arrow grew longer the further it was away from your player. Both of these features helped to determine exactly how your character would move and where they would go.

You can move the same way in Poptropica Worlds, but it can often be a bit difficult when you’re trying to land on a small, specific platform. I found myself falling into lava on Crisis Caverns more than once I admit. If the color change and length change were added back, I think that making precise jumps would be much easier. Don’t you agree?

#3: Organized Store

Now here is something that even Original Poptropica didn’t have! A more organized store. In OP and Pop Worlds, costumes (and in OP’s case: item cards) were simply arranged in a single row, usually by date added with some exceptions for holiday features and whatnot.

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Having things disorganized makes it very difficult and time consuming to find something specific. It also means that the things in the “back” of the store get viewed and bought less. It’s especially a hassle in Pop Worlds, since only a handful of costumes are shown on one page and you have to wait for new pages to load. We’ve had a similar problem in the past with Poptropica’s backpack too. Players who had tons upon tons of items had a hard time finding things, even though you could organize things alphabetically and by date.

In the future, when Poptropica Worlds expands, organization will certainly become more of a problem. Not only in the house/clothing stores, but in our inventory as well. The solution? Well one idea is simple… a search bar. Another solution? Instead of selling full outfits, maybe have different pages for different accessories. Just some ideas.

#4: Mouth Customization

At this point, no one should be surprised to see we want more customization! Like, seriously. It’s super limited right now. In addition to being stuck with our hair and skin colors, we are also stuck with the mouths that we chose when first logging in.

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This isn’t a super big deal if you’re content with the mouth you chose. But what if I feel like classin’ myself up one random day with a little lipstick? What if I’m down in the dumps and have the urge to needlessly express that through an online kids’ game? Welp, I currently can’t put a frown, nor ruby red lips on my Poptropican.

This isn’t the only problem like this that people have come across. Many things that players chose upon first logging in have come back to haunt them in a mildly annoying way. This seems like something that should be easily fixable. I know it’s weird to “store mouths in your closet…” *ahem* but I mean we are already able to store blush and other facial features, so it’s not that big of a stretch.

#5: First Log-in Accessories

This is something that I briefly mentioned while taking about mouth customization. Yes, yes, it’s yet another customizing concern. Like I said before, many people end up wanting to change whatever design they chose when first logging into Poptropica Worlds. However, it doesn’t just have to do with hair color and facial expressions.

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Maybe when you logged in, you chose a pair of black shoes that you thought were fitting, huh? But then later, you realized you totally should have chosen those once in a lifetime rainbow kicks! Okay, I might be reflecting my own past decisions when I explain this, but my point is still clear. All those cool clothes, hairstyles, and other accessories are not available anywhere else in the game.

We wouldn’t have as much of a problem if the initial clothes we could chose from also showed up in the store. In Original Poptropica, many of the initial clothes we could chose from showed up in common rooms and on Early Poptropica’s NPC’s. Thus, it was still possible to customize the things we seemingly missed out on. Like a few other things on this petition, it’s not a huge problem but it’s something nice that I think a lot of players would appreciate.


So, what are your thoughts? Do you agree with our list? Shout out what YOU want to see in Poptropica Worlds and what other subjects you want to see petitions for!

~SD