Pop 5

5 reasons Poptropica is the best virtual world for kids

Slanted Fish

While surfing through the waves of the web, I came across an article called “Five things learned from five years of Poptropica“, which you can click to read if you’re interested. It’s written by Director D – I mean James Lema, the director of product development at Poptropica.

DubitHeader

Anyway, onto the good part! Here were 5 reasons James cited as what makes Poptropica a better kids’ virtual world than any other game:

  1. We are not building a game. Let’s create a collection of narrative driven quests.

  2. Ask for age and gender. If they want to register, ask them after they have played around for a while.

  3. 2D is faster, cheaper… and none of us know 3D.

  4. We will use pre-scripted / random chat.

  5. We are NOT Facebook for kids.

Interestingly, Poptropica started out with a staff of just two artists, one of them being Lema, and Poptropicans spend an average of 30 minutes per session on the site! If you’d like to read more, check out Lema’s Poptropica article on Dubit, which explains the 5 things more in-depth.

Want to know what we at the PHB think about Poptropica? Check out our Poptropica: Game Review article in the Cool Stuff section!

Now the question is, why do YOU think Poptropica is awesome? Let us know in the comments! 😀

Uncategorized

Mother knows best

elmopwns

Every once in awhile I keep getting this little feeling in the back of my head like I forgot something…yeah, well maybe that sort of feeling was right and should’ve reminded me more than ever once in awhile despite whatever troubles I still have to be concerned about xD. Ladies, gentleman, err, and whatever you are in the crowd over there since I can’t tell, thank you for putting up with me for the last period of time! I had some personal adventures to deal with…ahem, digging deep into the boughs of the earth to discover a rare mineral that would one day secretly save humanity…no xD.

What day is today? If you’re past the International Date Line, maybe this is a bit late for you…I’m talking to you, Australia! Just kidding. It’s Mother’s Day! Say thanks to your parent or guardian or your ma! And what better way than sending her a big hug rather than another “Just five more minutes before I get up, mom.” Poptropica decided to kindly remind us with a few mothers from some old and new islands:

Some mom this was! As the creators stated, the queen didn’t even know of her child’s missing state.

Hey, my son too is reliving Jaws on a deserted island whilst I wait around with my purse doing nothing! 😀 What a great mother.

It seems to me that I’m seeing a trend her; this mom never knew her child was the size of a hair or a pea. “Hey look, I just stepped on an ant…wait a minute…”

Katya’s mom sure had some common sense. But according to the story, did the person ever listen? Nopa. Obey your parents, kids. You won’t earn 200k a year flipping burgers as a runaway xD.

Who forgot about Greg and his silly adventures? I read in a Chinese translation by an editor that claimed even the boy in the series was more clever and funnier than his parents. Unfortunately, his adventures were often ruined by his mom. At least that was the funny part.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Oh, mom, if you’re reading this: sorry I didn’t get those chocolates the day before xD.

Advertisements, Uncategorized

To Max Steel and moms everywhere: it could get ‘harey’

Slanted Fish

Earlier this week, PHB author Angry Wing found “Max Steel” mysteriously listed in green at the top of his item inventory. This has now disappeared, though the new “Closet” (leading to one’s costume closet) above the [also new] dashed line is still here. Subtle indeed!

max steel

Last week on Poptropica, there was a video ad on Main Streets for Max Steel, a new Disney XD TV series. Watching the video awarded viewers with a costume and super power of Max McGrath’s tech alien, Steel. Sadly, I don’t have pictures, and all I could find of this ad was a blurry YouTube video.

What could this mean? Will there be more Max Steel in Poptropica’s future, or was this just a glitch? What if we get to keep all advertisement items in the future?! That would be awesome, especially considering the Creators disabled the Poptropica Ad Transporters a while back.

UPDATE: PHB commenter Abigail informs us that “Scholastic Summer” (a book-reading challenge) now takes the top spot in the items dropdown menu. Once again, clicking on it will tell you “You don’t have any items for this campaign yet. Explore Poptropica to see what you can find!”

This could mean that we’ll only get to keep our ad items until a new ad replaces the previous one, as commenter Fruitbat7777 speculates. Perhaps they’ll release this ad soon!

Scholastic Summer

On a different note, the Creators blogged about this Dr. Hare fan art they received from Poptropican Cool Crown, complete with a Dr. Hare plush toy. Watch out… it could get “harey”!

Lastly, this Sunday (as are all other second Sundays of May) is Mother’s Day! The Creators have posted a lovely Tribute to the Moms of Poptropica on their blog (featuring the likes of CJ’s mom on Shrink Ray, Katya’s mom on Vampire’s Curse, and more).

But there’s another definition to “Poptropica moms,” and that’s all the mothers whose son or daughter is a Poptropica player! If that’s you reading this, happy Mother’s Day!

Daily Pop Sneak Peeks

The battle bot in the cheese factory.

Fuzzy-B

And yes, that is a Bones reference. From time to time we get a reminder of some of the great little things that Poptropica offers. One of those things is the abundance of free Mini-Quests that are available. Good ol’ Captain Crawfish is giving us a reminder about those Mini-Quests. Legendary Swords, Shrink Shot, Prepare for Impact, Dr. Hare’s Secret Lab, and the Haunted House are free and available for you to play.

Go out to the Poptropica Store and get any of those epic free adventures you don’t have right now!

Speaking of Legendary Swords, when are we getting those updates promised a year and a half ago? I would be pretty excited getting a Battle Arena or some new legendary adventures!

In other news, some strange images have been showing up in the Daily Pop. I don’t really know what to make of these sneak peeks.

De-Coded: There's a glitch in the system.
De-Coded: There’s a glitch in the system.
Building a Mystery: Why is construction going backwards?
Building a Mystery: Why is construction going backwards?
Battlemechs: Don't mess with these battle bots.
Battlemechs: Don’t mess with these battle bots.
I am the Cheese: You can't stay neutral about flavor this bold.
I am the Cheese: You can’t stay neutral about flavor this bold.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that these probably aren’t about Virus Hunter Island, so what are they about? A new Battle Bot Cheese Factory Glitch Island? What do you think all of these could be about?

LEGO Poptropica, Wallpapers

Little Evil Genius – Dr Hare Wallpaper

Slanted Fish

Dr. Hare’s LEGO CUUSOO project has reached 6,000+ supporters, and as promised, the Creators have released a brand-new Dr. Hare drone-head, carrot-laden wallpaper for you to deck out your desktop!

The little evil genius in the pink rabbit suit welcomes you in green or blue backgrounds for multiple devices and screen sizes. If you want this green-goggled face greeting you when you look at your screen, download it for the device you want it on:

Now we’re only ~4,000 supporters away from the goal of the big ten thousand! So if you haven’t already, and you’re over 13 (or know someone old enough to represent your vote) – you know what I’m going to say next – vote for Dr. Hare’s Lair on LEGO CUUSOO to make it a reality!