arabian nights – 🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Invisible Ring. Enjoy!

If you could have one wish, what would it be?

A) More Invisible Ring guest posts?
B) The second half of my pirate movie?
C) Poptropica to be revived in all its former glory: Monkey Wrench, Realms, classic common rooms, etc.

I wish! Don’t we all…

Unfortunately, I’m not a genie, so wish C is beyond my power to grant. I AM a poptropican with a magical craft table though! So, while I keep concocting the difficult spell of wish B, I shall now grant to you wish A.

From the scribe that brought you my comparison of the dream islands Fairytale Island and Goofball Island, comes the final dream island post, Jade Scarab vs. Arabian Nights– which are the first and last dream islands in Poptropica’s history!

Comparisons

Both of these islands are absolutely ✨magical✨, filled with magical secrets and deep-rooted legends from different parts of the world. They’re also both full of rich culture and beauty while also being challenging and exciting like most popular Poptropica islands. They even share some of the same musical soundtracks!

There were only four episodic adventures ever made, and Arabian Nights is the last of its kind. Similarly, there were only four Dream Islands ever made, and Jade Scarab is also the last of its kind! Talk about a coincidence.

Contrasts

Jade Scarab was one of the three 2020 Dream Island winners that eventually launched in 2022, while Arabian Nights was the 2013 Dream Island winner that launched in 2014. While Jade Scarab is one complete island, Arabian Nights is an episodic adventure that is split between three parts.

Fun fact: Arabian Nights is the only dream Island with any common rooms in it! 🤓 Jade Scarab doesn’t have one, however.

The medals are all different too! All of the dream islands have a different medallion and a different story to tell.

The Fairytale medallion has a royal purple strap and an etching of the mysterious villain Rumpelstiltskin, which leads me to believe Rumpelstiltskin himself dropped the medallion when he turned into smoke and escaped the fairytale castle.

The Goofball medallion has an indigo strap and a picture of a piñata. With a dull color and a fun picture, this medallion embodies the balance of goofiness and dullness that is ultimately delivered on Goofball Island.

The Jade Scarab medallion has a jade green strap and an etching of the island’s magical mascot, the Scarab. Need I say more?

The Arabian Nights medallion shows up at the end of each of the three island episodes. Three medallions? That’s as many as the rest of the dream islands put together! All three Arabian Nights medallions all look exactly alike too. They each have a blood-red strap and a sword. Surely these bold and deadly medals were either worn by thieves, made for thieves, or even made BY thieves! Heck, they could’ve even been stolen by thieves too!

But enough about fun facts and medallions. How do the actual quests compare and contrast?

Each quest revolves around an expedition to find a special treasure; an archeological expedition to find the Jade Scarab and an infiltration expedition to finding the Arabian Nights genie lamp. Each treasure has its decoy, but only the one on Arabian Nights has a dangerous curse if you don’t find the real treasure.

There’s a curse on Jade Scarab Island, too, but it only happens to the bad guys who try to stage fake curses and lock people in caves. It’s really just the supernatural Jade Scarab guardian protecting the treasure and punishing the thieves for their shenanigans.

Arabian Nights has a supernatural being too, Samhal the genie. But he was no guardian. He was a dangerous trickster, granting wishes with cruel twists everywhere he went.

But what made the Arabian Nights quest even MORE dangerous were the villains. While Jade Scarab had one or two thieves, Arabian Nights had 40 of them! Among the thieves was the most ruthless one of all, Scheherazade: leader of the thieves and the infamous genie of destruction. Yes, Arabian Nights was one among many of the scary and suspenseful islands that were coming out from 2013-2015.

Jade Scarab, however, stayed true to the traditions of the first dozen or so islands from the early days of Poptropica. It’s a lighthearted, humorous, and not too serious island that has a fun quest and a museum where you can learn lots of cool stuff in the process!

So why is one island so serious and the other is not? In my opinion, it all comes back to the two treasures, the lamp and the Jade Scarab.

As you play these quests, you learn that the Jade Scarab is good and must be protected in the museum. But no good came from the Arabian Nights lamp. That treasure wasn’t going to any museum. It had to be eliminated.

And that brings us to the biggest (and best) comparison. There are happy endings to both islands! Curses are broken, towns are restored, amends are made, and all peoples have a chance to get a new start and a chance to be prosperous again.

Aww, what nice stories for both islands! Which one do you like better? Better yet, which of the four dream islands is your favorite one of all?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and if you want more dream island comparison posts, then you are welcome to share with me your own dream island adventures from the dream island contests of long ago. (If I receive readers’ entries, I will try to be as fair as I was in my comparisons of the official dream island winners.)

Thank you for reading, and I hope to pop to you all again real soon!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Invisible Ring. If you did, you might also enjoy watching her full-length Poptropica fan movie, Battle Morale!

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? We’d love to hear from you!

Community Creations

Community Creations: January 2022

February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 Spotted Dragon

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the January recap for Community Creations. January’s theme was Arabian Nights, so be sure to check out all the featured artists!

No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.

Top 5 Picks

Scheherazade by pinklightningmc

I absolutely love the crisp lines and coloring of this design! Not to mention the wonderful swirly background that really puts a cherry on top of this magical composition. This is a great portrayal of Scheherazade, especially with all those warm pinks! Find their Instagram here.

Careful What You Wish For by Lucky Joker

Now, of course, Scheherazade is not the only genie from Arabian Nights Island. This depiction of Samhal is quite fantastic and the lighting in particular blows me away! The particle effect definite adds a great sense of magic. Find his Instagram here and check out his posts here on the PHB.

A Villain Wish by sleepybiker

Alright, bird man and magic girl look adorable in this art style, don’t you agree? Though the work focuses on Scheherazade and Ringmaster Raven, their plight can really apply to any villain on any island. Pretty hilarious to think about, especially with how ridiculous our Poptropica costumes can be! Find their DeviantArt here.

Scheherazade by Purple Paw

With this more realistic art style, Scheherazade jumps from adorable to gorgeous! I love the warm reds and yellow that were added for lighting because it makes the colors so visually interesting to look at. And the texture of the hair and other colors is quite painterly and loose! Find her on the PHC Dirscord and read her posts here on the PHB.

A Whole New World by Smart Icicle

Stepping away from Scheherazade and Samhal but keeping with our genie theme, this work showcases a neat crossover between Poptropica and Disney’s Aladdin. I love the Poptropica-fied versions of these characters! Plus, there’s great attention to detail in such a small composition. Find their DeviantArt here and her PHB posts here.

Honorable Mentions

No honorable mentions this month, so keep sending things in next time! Super creative work as always from everyone. Hopefully I won’t have to spell out “Scheherazade” again for a while though…

February: How Do I Participate?

Community Creations is a cool series for anyone in the Poptropica community to join in on. To sum up what it’s about, it’s basically a chance to show off your artwork, creepy fan-fics, Pop clubhouses, costumes, and anything else that pops into your mind.

If we really like the piece you submit, we will feature it here on the PHB! As long as it relates to that month’s theme. So what is February’s theme? February’s theme is…

Comics!

With the recent re-release of PoptropiCon Episode 2 for members, the Creators are hosting some PoptropiCon challenges encouraging players to make their own superhero costumes and Mighty Action Force cards. So why don’t we join in on that hero hype?

This month, anything comic related is fair game. Make your own superhero costumes, draw your favorite superheroes as Poptropians, you name it. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be superhero themed! Come up with your own Poptropica comic strip, draw characters from the Poptropica Comic series, or even take inspiration from islands like Big Nate. Have fun with it!

Submit: Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created, email it to the PHB team on our Contact page, OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, or Discord.
Results: Next month, I will feature 5 submissions that stood out to me the most as well as some honorable mentions.
Limitations: Just make sure you relate to both the theme and Poptropica (and nothing NSFW or otherwise inappropriate).
Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!

I will be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. While quality counts, I’m mainly looking for something to simply catch my eye, so don’t be afraid to join in!

So what are you waiting for? Go make something awesome!

~SD

Arabian Nights Island, Sneak Peeks

A new Dr. Hare minigame? Color me impressed!

November 27, 2020 Gentle Dolphin

Hey, Poptropicans! Yesterday, the Creators posted a teaser image for a new Dr. Hare-themed minigame and offered a way for fans to help make it! Let’s take a look!

The game has a cute retro art style and stars a Dr. Hare who has nearly gone full rabbit. As for gameplay, it seems that you would need to jump up the platforms and reach a checkpoint before time runs out. There are also items like clocks that give extra time, stars that likely give extra points, and spikes that thwart Dr. Hare’s escapades.

This minigame already has a lot going for it; however, it is missing one crucial thing: a name. The Creators are asking fans to come up with a unique title for this new game. Do you have any cool or punny game names? You can send them to the Creators on the Creators’ Blog or on Instagram, The game will be releasing very soon, so hop to it!

With the release of Arabian Nights: How Bazaar on Haxe, Poptropica made four Arabian Nights-themed coloring pages to “keep the sense of adventure alive”. The first page is an elaborately decorated frame, and the other three are characters from Arabian Nights. You can save the pages from the Creators’ Blog to your computer so you can print them or color them digitally.

When you’re done, you can send your newly colored masterpiece (or any Poptropica-related art) to the Creators via the Submissions page. Your art could be featured on the Creators’ Blog or even in Poptropica’s video player! While you’re there, you can also submit an entry for the Create Your Dream Island contest. Who knows? Your dream island might become a reality just like Arabian Nights did.

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

Arabian Nights Island, Haxe Javascript

Arabian Nights, popping onto Haxe 🏜

November 24, 2020November 25, 2020 Purple Paw

Hey everyone! After hardly six days since the Creators’ first announcement, Arabian Nights Episode 1: How Bazaar has appeared on the Haxe map! And, as promised, it’s open for members and non-members alike to play.

Arabian Nights, as shown on the Haxe map.

I’ve just run through the new How Bazaar, and here’s what’s I found to report: it seems that, unlike Mythology Island, the Creators made the decision to keep Arabian Nights the same as its Flash equivalent. Most of the scenes remained almost exactly as those in Flash, and the only differences I could spot in the entire island were minor dialogue changes.

Better yet, I experienced very little lag whilst playing. Despite the pop-up ads between scenes, the gameplay was quite smooth! I’d say that overall, Arabian Nights has given me fresh hope for what can be done on Haxe. If Arabian Nights can be executed so well, maybe the islands still waiting for a port will turn out awesome too.

By the way, bring along the PHB’s Arabian Nights Island Guide for handy help as you play through the episode!

A couple scenes from Arabian Nights on Haxe.

For the first time in a while, Quippy has appeared on time! You’ll find the little droid—sporting a cunning thief garb—in the Rumi’s Rugs common room, waiting to deliver his newest stash of Arabian Nights gear.

Did Quippy join the ranks of the Forty Thieves?

And speaking of the Arabian Nights gear pack, let’s see what’s in store! The four new items include: Arabian Style, Silent Thief, Desert Lizard Follower*, and Purple Smoke Bomb*. (Two of which are members-only.)

The Creators haven’t yet mentioned if the later episodes of Arabian Nights are planned to be released as well; although, in separate news, they did mention in their most recent post that they’ve already received hundreds of submissions in the Create Your Dream Island contest! Wow. Competition is getting real, and there’s still plenty of time left to submit your ideas! All this Arabian Nights stuff is sure to get creative juices flowing.

That’s all the news today! What are your opinions on the new Arabian Nights? What islands do you hope to see converted next? Share your thoughts in the comments!

~Purple Paw 💜

Uncategorized, Video of the Week

Arabian Nights and YouTube Spotlights 🧞‍♂️

November 20, 2020January 9, 2021 Purple Paw

Heyo, Poptropicans! Big news: the Creators recently announced that Arabian Nights will be coming to Haxe in less than a week! And, unlike many islands before it, it’ll be available to all players—non-members included—right from the release! Pretty awesome, huh?

Arabian Nights was one of the most popular islands.

It’s not clear yet whether the Creators plan to remaster Arabian Nights (like they did with Mythology Island) or if they’re keeping it relatively the same as the Flash version. Most players, myself included, weren’t very happy with the lack of challenge in Haxe’s Mythology; but who knows what’ll happen with Arabian Nights? A new island port is progress in itself, and the most we can do is hope that the new version turns out as awesome as the original Arabian Nights!

Speaking of Arabian Nights, this fun island trilogy was the winner of the 2013/14 Create Your Dream Island Contest! It’s not a coincidence that the Creators decided to release Arabian Nights at this time, to commemorate the current Dream Island contest happening right now. (There’s still plenty of time left to submit your island entries!)

Arabian Nights (as seen on the mobile app)

In other news, a second Creators’ Blog post appeared not long after the Arabian Nights announcement, this one sharing a Halloween Poptropica fan video by Invisible Ring (inspired by the Zomberry Hero special event)! Though the post is quite late for Halloween, it’s never too late to be zombified. 🧟‍♀️ Check out the spooktacular video below:

There’s something in the title of the Creators’ post that caught my eye: “Video of the Week.” Hmm… is this another weekly promise? The store rotations that were planned to change every week don’t always live up to the promise, but it would be pretty great for the Creators to recognize their (very creative) fans with weekly videos. Between their showcasing of fan art in place of ads, social media spotlights, and now fan video features, the Creators have definitely been giving the Poptropica fandom lots of recognition lately!

Welp, that’s all for this one! What are your hopes for the new Arabian Nights? Thoughts on the Creators’ fan interactions? Let us know in the comments!