🦄 Ponytropica 🦄

Hey guys! There’s a lot of Poptropica news to cover, so let’s get right into it.

First off, the Creators have announced that Galactic Hot Dogs Island will be coming to Poptropica in 15 days. That is January 29, a Thursday. They also mentioned that a Galactic Hot Dogs book will be coming to bookstores in 110 days. That is May 4, a Monday. (Click here for more GHD peeks!)

In Between: We can fill this with our imaginations.

Deserted: Monument valley, this isn’t.

Mega: Coming soon to a desktop near you.

Second up, check out this awesome “bubble universe” sneak peek for Poptropica Realms!

Third up, the Creators tweeted this cool layout of all the train carriages on Mystery Train Island – a glimpse into a planning stage of the past. Pretty interesting! 😛

They also tweeted another PopStorm (#11) – this one is a bunch of little jumping jellybeans. Cute! :3

Lastly, PoptropiCon: Episode 2 (Spoiler Alert) is now available for iOS, and it’s free! The Creators tweeted this image along with it, which HP posted earlier as an unreleased carousel slide for the redesigned Poptropica layout, so although it’s not on the front page, it looks like it still served some purpose after all.

That’s it for this time around! 😀

~SD

Daily Pop

Quizful Thinking – New Pop Quizzes!

January 15, 2015January 19, 2015 HPuterpop

Hi Gs,

I logged in today to find a “problem loading quiz 13366”. Same error occurred when I logged into some of my other accounts. (Thanks to Spotted Dragon for the picture.)

quiz-problem

If you’ve checked the Daily Pop today, you’ll understand why this is…

dailypopQuiz

As it seems, new pop quizzes are to come – and they look pretty sweet considering the call-backs to some awesome islands as you can see above.

Anyway, this post is just a quickie, so tell me in the comments what you think about pop quizzes in general. If you are a fan, be sure to check out the PHB’s Pop Quizzes page, listing practically all of the possible questions and answers that currently exist!

TAFN.

-HPuterpop

Web Development

More on the new Poptropica layout

January 14, 2015January 14, 2015 HPuterpop

Hi Gs,

So, I assume you’ve already seen the new Poptropica homepage. (Check out Blake’s PHB post below for a recap!) I honestly think it’s smexy, but that’s just my opinion. Some people like it, some do not. Either way, I want to go over it with more detail in this post, talking about the little things that they have improved and changed. First of all, they’re definitely going for a more stylized look with the carousel slots – a lot more designing has gone into those, as you can see below.

Second, they seem to be going for a different look entirely with the clouds instead of palm trees and vines – the contrast works great, and I absolutely love the change. They also have finally updated to the new logo with the more bold and “poppy” style. I adore that thing, and if you look closely I put the same style into a lot of my graphics as well.

poptropicaNewHeader

In the files, the change is labeled as “PopV2”, and contrary to my prior assumption, it’s not just an overlay, it is an actual update. Basically, I thought that they had just stuck all the new stuff over the old stuff. Instead, they have actually woven in the new stuff.

One last thing to say – I found this carousel slide for PoptropiCon: Episode 2. The episode came out quite a while ago, and I can’t imagine why they would release the slide anytime soon (perhaps they’d planned the new layout earlier but didn’t have it ready when P-Con Ep. 2 arrived). However, it’s a cool piece and I’m glad it was uncovered!

popconSlide Anyway, tell me what you think about the changes in the comments! I suggested that the Poptropica logo be animated to float – what do you think that the homepage needs?

TAFN.

-HPuterpop

Web Development

A Whole New Layout!

January 13, 2015January 13, 2015 Blake

Ah, it’s so nice to get back to Poptropica, where nothing has changed at all in any way– WOAH. What the FUDGESICLES happened here?! Well, unless you’ve been living under a rock (or sleeping on a horse, like I’ve been), you’d have noticed that it’s a new year. And with it, comes a surprising change from the Creators: a new site layout! Timmy, drumroll please?

*drumroll*

A whole new layout… a dazzling place I never knew… but when I’m way up here, it’s crystal clear, that now I’m in a whole new layout with you…

…er, I should probably stop with the Aladdin references. BT makes those already.

Anyway… um, guys? Help. Poptropica runs Windows 8 now, I can’t figure out how to work anything. Well, I’m almost certain I, like many others, will learn to maneuver these changes! Now, for a recap of main changes in this the re-design:

The main login screen has been replaced by a carousel screen that I suppose will cycle through new islands (and other new features) when they come out (similar to the login homepage banner carousel)
There’s now a static image header at the top with the blimp and some clouds.
Important links are listed at the top, including the now-yellow Play Now button.
The link to the Creators’ Blog is now way larger, and runs through the middle of the page.
Islands are now listed in 3 categories: New, Classic, and Popular!

This brings in the New Year in a big way for Poptropica, and I for one support them! I just now figured out how to work the controls as I typed this post, and it actually looks pretty good! Good luck with the new layout, Poptropicans, and stay popping.

PHB Specials

PHB Sunday Special: Poptropica vs. the Board of Education

January 11, 2015January 11, 2015 Slanted Fish

Is your school one that doubts the educational merits of Poptropica? The Twitter-ers among us may have already seen this, but Poptropica recently tweeted a few infographics showing off the scholastic side of their game world in response to all the tweets about schools blocking the site.

If you want Poptropica un-blocked at your school, try showing these to someone in charge, and they might just change their mind. Poptropica may be game, but it’s also a world of learning opportunities! 😀

Some of Poptropica’s best stories involve historical figures, real life locations, art history, and more – all with that unique Poptropica twist that makes it engaging, clever, and still accurate.

And with all the branded books and interactive dialogue waiting to be discovered, it’s clear Poptropica encourages reading as well. Still in doubt? Check out the PHB’s Poptropica Game Review!

With all that being said, Poptropica should fit right into any school environment, especially for the target audience of 6- to 15-year-olds – and kids will pick up all sorts of culturally and academically relevant information while being immersed in top-notch storytelling. And that means…