The top stop for all things Pop
Happy holidays, Poptropicans! No matter what you celebrate this time of year, we hope you all have fun and stay safe with your loved ones.
It’s been a quieter year than usual for Poptropica, but we still experienced our share of ups and downs! Check out our 2023 Rewind post in the Pop Yearbook for a recap on the past year’s shenanigans.
🎉 Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! 🎆
—the PHB team 🏝️🗺️🎄
Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the December recap for Community Creations. December’s theme was Grapple-Pap, so be sure to check out all the featured artists!
No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.
To kick things off: a perfect fit of a fit for the holiday season! I love the playfulness of the costume design and the unique approach to winter-themed attire. It mixes in just a touch of mischievousness with that holiday cheer. And I seriously want that present shooter in game! Find their Instagram here.
Next up, we have a wonderful Poptropica-style twist on a classic holiday tale. It’s really fun to see Grapple-Pap take on a story that pretty much everyone can recognize. Plus, the extra attention to composing the text on this wintery background gives it a special touch. Very clever! Find her in the comments and on the PHC Discord.
Okay, geez, I should have warned you all this would get emotional! With just a few panels, this work definitely packs a punch with its story. The lore of the Baron, Amelia, and all the Fairy Tale Island royalty continues to grow, and so does my investment with these characters. 🥺 The juxtaposition between the warm, bright setting of the past and the cold, dark composition of the present is quite powerful. The visuals add a lot of significance to the dialogue from the airship. Excellent work! Find their Tumblr here.
It was the morning of Grapple-pap. The morning where kids rushed down the stairs to open gifts with their families. A time where as the old saying goes, “if you don’t spread cheer, Grapple-pap will get you for a year.”
Boys asked for cars and action figures. Girls asked for dolls and ponies. That morning they would giggle and laugh with happiness at their new toys, playing with them all day long.
For the Jones family, living in a town with festive decorations up for their occasion, their gift to their son, Felix, was not a toy, but a tool.
As the young boy opened the small box which was the gift from his parents, he was met with a strange bracelet. Unlike the sparkly bracelet with beads girls wore, it was made with a durable, neon orange rope, tied in a way you could unravel it. the rope was connected by a black side connector buckle, like the ones you see on backpacks. A small compass was embedded in the buckle, and even the buckle’s shape was odd, with strange fork prongs inside.
“Daddy, what is this?” The young boy asked, looking up at his parents. His dad smiled, crouching down and explaining it all to him.
“My Fledgling, this is a survival bracelet.” he said, taking the bracelet from the box. “I know you want to explore the world, but there are dangerous things out there. This will help you avoid those dangers.”
“How?” Felix asked, even more interested in the bracelet.
“Think of all the uses for a rope. This survival bracelet can do it all.” His father explained. “It even comes with a knife, which might be the most useful tool ever.” “It’s still too big to fit on your wrist…” Felix’s mother pointed out as the young boy excitedly put the survival bracelet on. “But one day it’ll fit perfectly. I can’t wait for that day!”
CONTINUE READING HERE
Acting as both a Grapple-Pap tale and a short prequel to Felix’s origin in the author’s Aerie of Eagles series, this story serves up a great sense of nostalgia. It has a traditional holiday setting that many kids can reminisce on, and leaves you wanting to know more about where the characters are now. Very interesting introduction! Find their Tumblr here.
Lastly, we have a hilarious holiday card that I would be happy to receive myself! The artist has remade this card every few years, each purposefully tacky yet increasingly more polished each time. And, I have to admit, the “tally ho-ho-ho” pun is a killer. 😉 I wonder what sort of gifts MVB would give out? Perhaps I don’t want to know the answer… Find her Instagram here.
Amazing work, everyone! It’s always hard to grapple with how talented you all are. From the whole PHB team, we hope you had an amazing holiday season and a great new year! Here’s to an even better 2023.
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 January’s theme? January’s theme is…
🤔🧩 Puzzling! 🧩🤔
One of my favorite gameplay elements of Poptropica has always been the puzzles. From playing minigames like mancala on Nabooti Island, to solving mysterious codes on Spy Island or changing the dragon sculpture on Counterfeit Island, puzzles seem to be everywhere when you really think about it!
Some are pretty straight-forward and other are, well… puzzling! But that’s why we have PHB Island Guides to help you out. So as we enter 2023 and start solving a whole new year of puzzles and challenges, let’s take a moment to celebrate the fun ones and share our frustrations on the more difficult ones.
Maybe draw your Poptropican trying to solve a particularly puzzling puzzle, or write a story about your favorite puzzling Poptropica minigame. Perhaps design a costume for what you think the ultimate puzzle-solving master would look like, or even design a Poptropica puzzle yourself! Your work doesn’t even necessarily have to involve a physical puzzle, just something confusing or a brain teaser of sorts will do. The options are up to you! Good luck!
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
Happy Grapple-Pap, Poptropicans! 🎄💝☃️
We may be well into December by now, but the Pop winter tradition is officially on for the third year in a row. All players can find the old man on Home Island to play the Grapple-Gift Side Quest! Here’s our guide.
Just like before, you’ll be asked to deliver a gift to the shut-in, Clareta, in a short journey across a cold cliff. At the end, you’ll win a Grapple-Pop treat that can turn people sickly green! 🤢 Check out our review of The Grapple-Gift here. Cheers — we wouldn’t want ol’ GP to get us for a year!
You may have seen the winter wonderland of Home Island topped with Christmas garlands, but there’s another arrival on the homebase as well: the Baron’s airship! Except, well, the Baron’s still missing…
…and taking the throne inside the Cabin of Curiosities is her nemesis Amelia! Though maybe frenemy is a better word for their curious relationship, as the storekeeper comes with a peace offering of Grapple-Pops for her absent archrival, as she apparently does every year.
Also in the cabin, you can pick up a plethora of gifts, including half a year’s worth of the monthly player-designed costumes for free! The returning outfits were determined by popular vote last month, bringing us the Rockette, Jester, Spa Day (with slippers), The Hair, De-Man, and Boxing Barb (with shoes and gloves).
To the right, you can also purchase Grapple-Pap goodies: a tri-color lamp, totem pole, Christmas garland, gargoyle, and villager outfit.
But back to the case of the disappearing sky pirate. Talk to the detective Amelia, and she’ll share that the Baron’s ship just drifted in on its own.
She’ll also tie in worry for the Baron with the legend of Grapple-Pap, which states that if you don’t spread cheer, the fearsome monster (who shares a name with the holiday) “will get you for one whole year.”
We know the Baron is notoriously un-cheery, so does that mean they’ve encountered Grapple-Pap… whatever that means? Will we not see them for an entire year? Or is Rumpelstiltskin in on this too?
While the plot is only getting thicker up in the skies, down at Adventure Outfitters, Amelia is back to her smiley self with new gear for the holidays. In addition to the wintry wonders on the shop floor introduced earlier, don’t miss the fine fits for players and pets, including the Polar Bear, Slice of Pie, and Ornament costumes for the latter littles!
Last but certainly not least, enjoy these fan art features Poptropica shared on their Instagram stories last week! Feeling inspired? Share something “Grapple-Pap” for our Community Creations this month! ✨
Have a merry holiday season, however you celebrate. Come back before the end of the year for our annual rewind and let’s put a bow on 2022! 💝
~🐠
Pap-Pap Hooray, it’s Grapple-Pap! ❄️❄️❄️
This weekend, Poptropicans gathered in the Arcade and on our PHC Discord server to celebrate the holiday season with a bout of friendly games, festive outfits, and frolicking cheer. Catch a glimpse of the fun in the collage pic above! 🥳👋
We dressed up and doodled around, connecting with friends and facing our share of disconnections from full Poptropica party rooms. On the PHC, Santa Hare and a host of other Santa villains greeted us with boasts of their Christmastime delinquency. Snowballs were thrown, screen snaps were shared, and so were suspicions of who in the party room might be a Pop Creator — our bet’s on Detective Anna Gram. 🕵️♀️
Thanks to all who came out to party with us! We hope you had a blast and are enjoying the holidays, however you celebrate. Happy Grapple-Pap!!
~Poptropica’s little help bloggers 🎄
Happy Grapple-Pap, Poptropicans! To celebrate the holiday season (both on Poptropica and in general), the PHB is hosting a Grapple-Pap Holiday Party! 🎄🥳
Legend has it that Poptropicans are obligated to spread holiday cheer, or the great Grapple-Pap will get you for one whole year. Well, we love an excuse to party, so you’re all invited join us on the Discord sleigh for a merry time of Poptropica play! 🎊🎅
Save the date for Saturday, December 18 @ 8 pm Eastern / 7 pm Central / 6 pm Mountain / 5 pm Pacific (for all other time zones, check a time zone converter). In some parts of the world, it may be Sunday morning, Dec 19. 📅
We’ll be hanging out in Poptropica’s common rooms like the Arcade (via the in-game menu), playing head-to-head games, and talking on our Discord chat server, the PHC — a space where PHB staff and other Poptropicans regularly hang out. It’s open anytime, so come on in. 💬👋
Bring your wondrous winter wear and get ready to have a beautiful blizzard blast. See you this weekend! ❄️
~Poptropica’s little help bloggers 🎄
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