Hey Poptropicans! Check out what recently came through the mail!
Somewhat recently, I won third place in the official #PoptropicaArt contest, with the prize being a 1-month membership and “a bunch of Poptropica swag.” Well, my membership is running out soon, but the swag has arrived – and I thought perhaps you might be interested in seeing what’s inside!
As you can see, the small cardboard box that arrived contained: a Dr. Hare plush toy (see below for a little giveaway of the redeemable code!), copies of the two Poptropica graphic novels currently in print (#1: Mystery of the Map and #2: The Lost Expedition), plus Zomberry DJ decals!
The decals of Zomberry-fied DJ Saturday Nite munching away are stickers made for laptops (one made for Apple, one for other types) – as seen in this pic from Jen MacLean, a Poptropica Creator. They were nested in a page spread inside the Mystery of the Map book. Very cool.
There was another surprise waiting inside the second book, The Lost Expedition – one of the opening pages was signed! I’m assuming the signature is that of the author, Pop Creator Mitch Krpata(unless that K is for Kory Merritt, the illustrator?) (update: Poptropica clarified in a comment on this post that it’s Mitch’s signature!). Either way, pretty awesome!
And as I mentioned earlier, I’ll be giving away the redeemable code that comes with the Dr. Hare toy! Redeeming the code will give you two exclusive in-game items: the Hare Club power and Dr. Hare Plush handheld. (Learn how to redeem promo codes here.)
To enter this little giveaway, simply comment below on this post with your favorite Poptropica store item and why you like it. I’ll pick one random Poptropican from the comments to give this one-time code to! Entries will be taken up until next next Tuesday, November 15 (my birthday!).
Of all the Poptropica toys out there, the Dr. Hare plush is honestly the one I’d have wanted the most – so it’s a great coincidence to have received one as part of this awesome Poptropica package! The other items are fantastic too, of course.
Thanks to the Poptropica Creators for the prize package, for hosting the art contest, and many other fun events besides! 😀 ❤ Be sure to enter the mini giveaway too (you never know if you’ll win!).
Lucky Joker here bringing you a Poptropica app update, as well as new Islands of the Month!
If you haven’t logged on to Poptropica in a while, allow me to enlighten you. 😛 Poptropica has finally added conventional pets to the store with the Cat Pack and Dog Pack! And now, these guys (as well as the plethora of other new fall goodies) are also available on the app.
And guess what? Unlike the online version, everything’s available for purchase for 0 credits. That’s right, they’re FREE! Even the pets! If you haven’t already, get yours today!
The Cat Pack includes three different variations: a grumpy black one, a fuzzy gray one and, my personal favorite, a calico cutie.
The Dog Pack also includes three different kinds: A brown one, A loyal labrador and happy mutt.
Cute, right? For a closer look at all these fall goodies, see this PHB post.
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Also, an NPC on Home Island could possibly be hinting at future Thanksgiving-themed costumes. (Thanks to idk for the tip.) Check it out!
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In addition to all of this it’s now November, and that means new Islands of the Month! This month’s featured islands are…
Poptropolis Games Island 🏅
Ah, Poptropolis Games – the island where you compete in various games to prove tribal supremacy. (PHB Tribal Tournament, anyone?)
The video walkthrough has been uploaded by Captain Crawfish, if you’re interested:
The day has come for us to announce the winners of the PHB’s 8th Annual Autumnal & Halloween Contest, so here it comes. We’ve gone through your spooky and stylin’ costumes and, what with your stupendous fashion senses, it was quite the task to narrow it all down! In fact, we’ve decided to have 6 per category instead of 5 as originally announced. Here they are…
🍂 The TOP 6 Fall Costumes! 🍂
“Me in Autumn” by Lila (aqmar2)
“Cat Trick-o-Treater” by Jazminty
“Café Cutie” by PopPerfect⭐
“The Scarred Markswoman” by Shiny Bird
“Orange Fall” by superstar
“Yellow and Blue” by Silver Bear
We were totally falling for these amazing fall/autumn attires. But hold on, there’s more…
🎃 The TOP 6 Halloween Costumes! 🎃
“The Dead Shadow” by greedyshadow
“Beauty’s Beast” by Fast Lizard
“Warrior Nymph” by Bianca
“Nightmare Ghoul” by Happy Lobster
“Rock On” by RedLizard2015
“Fire Biker / Pyro Podi̱láti̱s” by LGfullofValor (Messy Dragon)
As we announced in our contest post, each of these tentwelve winners will receive a one-month Poptropica membership, courtesy of the Poptropica Creators! (Winners, keep an eye on your email.) In addition, their spiffy suit-ups will also be immortalized on the PHB’s Costumes page.
But there were so many awesome entries that we couldn’t stop here – so we’ve selected several Honorable Mention winners as well. The prize for our HMs is simply the honor of being featured here:
👻 Honorable Mentions 👻
“Timekeeper” by Fierce Snowball
“Devil DJ” by Tall Cactus
“Maroon Rider” by idk
“The Beautiful Nightmare” by Lord Zacff
“Witch Hunter” by MasterPinpey
“Goat Scientist” by Dangerous Foot
“Swampy Monster” by Fast Flame
“Mira Ciel” by Jean of Pop
“Creepy Ballerina” by Dangerous Knuckle
“Tiny” by Fast Lizard
“Shark Boy Senior” by Fast Lizard
“Colonel Sanders” by Fast Lizard
“Spoopbeard the Skeleton Spiderhead Cat” by G-Hopper
“Crazy Chemical Mechanic” by Noeltopless
“Darkness Demon” by themadfeather
“Creepy Masquerade” by Perfect Sky
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There’s one last Spooktober Special to get to today… the Stolen Snapshots!
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
Here are the anticipated answers for where each spooky snippet is to be found:
Back Lot Island (the set in Studio 1)
Mission Atlantis, Episode 3 (the hole made by the Leviathan)
Astro-Knights Island (the candles in the secret Mordred club)
Monster Carnival Island (one of the horses on the carousel)
Super Power Island (the comet)
Vampire’s Curse Island (the clock on top of the cinema)
Zomberry Island (this is on top of the Smoothie shop)
Haunted House (bathroom)
Spy Island (cat in front of the spyglass shop)
Ghost Story Island (cemetery)
Although nobody got all of them right, two Poptropicans did each get three right: Tall Cactus and Muddy Kid. As for those who got two or less, they are Zany Panda, 3milyCx, Shaky Skunk, and Spooky Cereal. Congratulations!
Thanks to everyone who participated in any segment of our Autumnal/Halloween competitions! We hope you enjoyed dressing up and guessing at inverted snapshots in this sp00py month of October. Congratulations to all the winners, and to every Poptropican in the neighborhood: happy Halloween!
👻 trick or treat, trick or treat 🍬
🍭 give me something good to eat! 🎃
Them spooky scary skeletons outta be sending some shivers down your spine. Now that we’ve covered the trick, let’s move on to the treat. Welcome to round forty-eight of PMFM (Poptropican Meme Face Mondays)!
The lucky meme-faced Poptropicans this week are Zany Panda, Samwow5, and fellow PHB author Spotted Dragon! And here are the memes:
Zany Panda
Samwow5
Spotted Dragon
Feel free to click on the images to view them in their full glory. 😛
And we have an extra meme face this week! 😀 Today is Happy Lobster’s birthday! And what better way to celebrate than a little meme-ry, eh? Be sure to send him your birthday wishes!
Include the meme face you would like on your Poptropican in your comment (a link to an image of the meme is very preferred).
Post your comment and wait! (PMFM is operated on a first come-first serve basis, so your meme face will come after all of the ones before are released).
Just a note: You do not need to re-comment on newer posts if you haven’t gotten yours yet. Once I reply to your comment mentioning “You being added to the list,” then I have seen your comment and added it to my literal list, so yours will be made after each one before is made.
This completes round forty-eightSPOOP EDITION of meme faces. Tune in next Monday for the next Poptropican Meme Face Mondays!
What do you think about this week’s meme faces? Comment below.
I now leave you with this super scary gif in celebration of Halloween.
Boo! Slip here. I am your host for today, your… ghost host!
The witching hour is almost here – so what will we do? Last year, we did an omnibus of Poptropica’s scariest moments. Well, scary islands and characters are good Halloween clichés: why not review one of Poptropica’s best and creepiest islands? How about Ghost Story Island? Sure!
This review contains spoilers, so if you haven’t played the island yet, close your eyes and hum throughout the review! However, since you’re still reading this, let’s go!
Announced back in November 2011 (wow, it’s been five years!), Ghost Story Island was peculiarly released after Halloween, despite its spooky themes. In December, a pre-island quest called Spook Central was released and involved hunting ghosts throughout different Poptropica islands and eventually earning the exclusive Ghost Hunter suit!
Are you ready for the review? Oh yeah, we’ll be omitting the Soundtrack section since this is a non-SUI island. We’ll begin shortly—if you dare. No turning back!
Storyline & Characters
Hemlock Harbor is a town with a secret. Restless spirits are said to haunt its shores, but no one knows who they are, what they want — or how to get rid of them. Can you hunt the ghosts of Hemlock Harbor and uncover the mystery that will set them free?
This island, I think, has one of the best storylines. Why? First, it tackles on a tricky topic for kids like ghosts, apparitions, and other scary stuff. Just the trailer is creepy enough to make you want to hide under the bed.
As we explore Hemlock Harbor a bit more, we discover the secret behind all these apparitions — it’s one big connect-the-dots game and it’s up to us to weave the story together. Then comes the boldness of the storyline: a story of love, betrayal, and forgiveness — a type of story that goes beyond the typical fluff of kids’ tales.
What I really liked the most was the plot twist in the end, so I suggest that you try playing the island again to find out what it is! Kudos to Poptropica for doing such a great job in making the storyline of the island. I like this island so much that I think it’s worth revisiting once in a while.
Here on the PHB, we love Ghost Story so much that this island won the Best Storyline award in the 2015 Poppies. Awesome.
As for the characters, what amazes is that almost every character makes an appearance and no one gets left out of the story. There is great character development between the ghosts and as well as the magistrate, Henry Flatbottom, as key characters in the story.
My favorite character would be the superstitious guy in front of the bakery. I find it fascinating that some people still believe in superstitions in the modern era.
Gameplay
The island has a serious amount of gameplay, with lots of neat features, some of which are unique and can’t be found on other Poptropica islands!
One feature I really enjoyed were the cutscenes, like the scene inside the inn where the couple scares you. It’s one great tool to make the island better and interactive.
I also liked the mechanism used while maneuvering vehicles within Poptropica, similar to the ones in Wild West and Cryptids. The boat in the gif above is one of the examples of this.
Now for the distinct features of this island! One would be the first-person mazes found in the cemetery. It’s one of the best features of the island and I like how it adds to the eerie atmosphere.
Last but never the least, is the violin mini-game in the island. It’s actually amazing to hear music and sounds in classic Poptropica, and this island has become a good recipient of it. Check out our PHB Special about Fiona’s violin song!
Visuals
Ghost Story received a decent amount of animation — some of which are seen on the banners above. The best thing that I liked in this island was the fog effect seen throughout the Main Street and the cemetery. I also like the ghost glasses being sold by the vendor on Main Street! Poptropica really put in some cool details on this island!
Another thing to point out in this island was the numerous rooms—so many that I’ve already lost count. With all those rooms, Poptropica filled each one to the brim with detail. What’s more amazing is that while some of the rooms seem repetitive, they’re actually different, such as inside the prison.
Even the concept art made before the island came into being is amazing! It simply shows that Poptropica really gave their best making this island, because their art quality never disappoints!
Verdict
Judging on a scale from 1 to 10, Ghost Story Island gets a… 9.4/10!
Ghost Story Island is undoubtedly one of Poptropica’s best islands. Being released almost five years ago, it still stands out among classic Poptropica islands.
I see it as one of the underrated islands because it doesn’t get that much attention, and according to the map, it’s not that popular. If so, I hope this review enlightens and encourages you to play the island and explore it for once! You’d be missing out if you didn’t.
Well, that concludes this review! Hope you enjoyed this gif-filled post as much as I do!
Don’t forget, tomorrow is Halloween, and we’ll be announcing the winners of our 8th Annual Autumnal-Halloween Contest! Watch out for that, everyone! Stay awesome.
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