Contests, Fan Art Features, Member Gifts, Sneak Peeks

Wacky Winning Clubhouses and Frosty Fashionable Gifts ðŸ â„ïļ

Hey, everybody! Gentle Dolphin here for another round of Poptropica news!

The Creators just announced the winners of the Goofy Clubhouse Challenge. Without further ado, let’s give a crazy congratulations to Incredible Flame, Lucky Star, and Pink Crush! We have some images of these loony lodgings below, but you can watch the full clubhouse tours on Pop’s Instagram post. ðŸĪŠðŸ 


Over on the Creators’ Blog, the Creators also confirmed that there will be a Grapple-Pap mini quest available this December! The announcement post is accompanied by an image of a snow-covered house, which was used to tease last year’s Grapple-Gift mini quest. Will this year’s quest be a brand new experience, or will it be the same as last year? We’ll have to wait and see.


The 12 Days of Member Gifts is reaching its end, so let’s highlight some new exclusive winter wear. We know that players received Crystal Couture on Day 8; however, unbeknownst to us, pets also received a matching shawl that day. Day 9 brought on the Cabin Cozy PJs. Members got the Snowy Supreme and Stay Frosty outfits on Day 10, and their pets got a red Winter Outfit on Day 11.


Let’s wrap up this post with a short and sweet edition of Fan Art Features. Pop’s latest batch of Instagram stories spotlights two OCs and a character from the classic S.O.S. Island.

That’s all for now. Any predictions for the upcoming Grapple-Pap mini quest? What do you think of the new member gifts? What will this year’s final member gift be? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐎

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Grapple Gifts and Gear Galore ðŸŽðŸŽ

Happy Grapple-Pap, everyone! It’s time to celebrate Poptropica’s latest holiday tradition! Home Island is now a winter wonderland decked with colorful lights and crates, and the Baron is here with Grapple gear to spread some holiday cheer! ☃ïļâ„ïļ

The Baron’s Cabin of Curiosities is stocked with holiday dÃĐcor and costumes galore! On your right, you’ll find some Grapple-Pap goodies such as a Grapple totem (150 credits), a stained glass chandelier (150 credits), a mistletoe garland (50 credits), a Grapple bust statue (150 credits), and a traditional Grapple-Garb outfit (50 credits).

Among these Grapple goods, you’ll find the three winning costumes from last month’s poll: Love Potion Demon, Ice Cream Cat, and Movie Geek. If you missed these costumes the first time around, now is your chance to get them for free! 💗ðŸĻðŸŋ

On your left, you’ll find Maroon Moon’s Dr. Hare outfit, the winning design of November’s costume contest. All players can sport this casual look inspired by Poptropica’s most iconic villain for free! 🐰ðŸĨ• The Baron can’t help highlighting her generosity if you talk to her.

Now that this hare-raising look is available in-game, the Pop Creators finally posted a video showcase of November’s costume contest entries.

Among last month’s submissions are awe-inspiring animals, Christmas costumes, and… Rick Astley. Now that’s one that’ll never let us down. Anyway, here are my favorite entries from this reel:

By the way, ask the Baron where her Grapple-wares are from, and she’ll mention a place we’ve never heard of: Kraghorn Island. The Baron says it’s not on our map, but might there be a future adventure there like the Baron’s Crusade? Maybe she’ll take us sometime; we’ll see!


In contrast to the Baron’s festive findings, Amelia added two spooky costumes to the Adventure Outfitters gallery: the bewitching Wicked Wizard outfit and the members-only Dark Wizard outfit. While these villainous vestments appear new to newer players, they actually debuted back in November 2019 during Home Island’s wizard makeover. New or not, both of these bewitching looks cost 350 credits.


Along with celebrating Grapple-Pap, members can celebrate the 12 Days of Member Gifts. On the first day, they received winter garlandsnow globe, and deer decorations to deck their clubhouse halls. Then, on the second day, they received violet, gray, and blue beanies to keep their detachable heads warm.

Day 3’s gifts aren’t here at the time of writing this post, but a strange development occurred. While I was on Poptropica today, I discovered that Day 1’s member gifts disappeared from my inventory. It turns out that these initially free decorations can now be purchased from the clubhouse store for 100 credits each. What’s the reason for this happening?


To end off this extensive holiday post, we have a new ad for the Disney Channel original movie “Christmas… Again?!” Watching the short ad gifts you two prizes with special spacebar actions. You can ride around and rev your engine in Ro’s Race Car, then summon a snowstorm, err, flurry with the Mall Santa Suit. 🏎ïļðŸŽ…

This was a lot to cover, and there’s always more news popping into our feeds. Stay tuned to the Poptropica Help Blog for all the latest Poptropica news and more!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐎

Reviews

PHB Review: Grapple-Gift Side Quest ðŸŽâ„ïļ

Belated season’s greetings, Poptropicans! Though the major winter holidays have passed, we thought it would be “cool” to gift you all a review of Poptropica’s holiday-themed side quest: “The Grapple-Gift.”

This side quest is set during a fictional holiday called Grapple-Pap, which is Poptropica’s version of Christmas. The holiday is named after a Krampus-like figure who delivers gifts and takes away people who don’t spread cheer. Much like other fictional holidays such as Merry Walrus or Life Day, Grapple-Pap gives us a look at some of Poptropica’s history and traditions. It’s a nice touch and makes me want to see more Poptropican holidays.

The story is very simple, but it has a strong hook: you help an old man deliver a small wooden horse to his sister Clareta. However, Clareta hasn’t been seen in years, and the villagers believe that Grapple-Pap took her away because she became “mean.” Now, you have to travel the frigid Cold Cliff Pass and find out what happened to Clareta.

When you travel up the pass and enter a rundown cottage, you are greeted by Clareta (now a mean old hag) frantically shouting at you to get out. How did she become so mean and reclusive? What caused the rift between her and her brother? What will it take to show her the true spirit of Grapple-Pap?

To answer your questions: we don’t know, we don’t know, and destroy her cottage with a giant Grapple-Pap statue. â€ĶYup.

The story started so well but ended way too quickly. It’s ironic that a side-quest with the tagline “solve the mystery” left some of its biggest questions unanswered. It feels like the quest didn’t have enough time to explore all of its ideas, possibly due to being rushed in time for the holidays. We know very little about Clareta and her unnamed brother aside from small clues in her cottage. Also, there’s some evidence that Grapple-Pap himself could have had some role to play in the story other than as a holiday mascot.

All of the Grapple-Pap iconography in the locales, the large hoofprints on Clareta’s roof, and his silhouette on the start screen may have been foreshadowing his appearance in the game, but he was cut for whatever reason. But what if he did appear? Imagine an alternate ending in which the real Grapple-Pap kidnapped Clareta and you had to save her and show her the true spirit of the holiday. That would have had a much better payoff than scaring her with a statue.

I feel bad for ragging on the ending, so let’s spread some cheer by talking about the presentation. This side quest is like hot cocoa and sugar cookies for the eyes and ears! The locations are beautifully designed and expansive, the NPCs look festive in their traditional Grapple-Pap attire (or rags in Clareta’s case), new NPC animations add more life to the scenes, and Jeff Heim’s music never fails to immerse the player in their adventure.

I give “The Grapple-Gift” a solid 3.5/5 Grapple-Pops. It’s a fun holiday side quest with an intriguing plotline, even if the ending left some people out in the cold. Make sure to play this quest before Grapple-Pap takes it away for one whole year. What did you guys think of this little holiday special? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Grapple-Pap and New Year to all!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐎

Uncategorized

This year, give the gift of Grapple-Pap ðŸŽ

Heyo, Poptropicans! Big news: as promised, the festive Grapple-Pap side quest has appeared on Pop! After playing through it, I found it to be a very intriguing adventure. To begin, head across the wondrously snowy Home Island and speak to the man with a pile of presents.

He’ll ask you to deliver a gift to his sister. But before you accept the challenge, there’s one thing that needs to be set straight; what exactly is Grapple-Pap? According to the man, it’s ‘the time of year Poptropicans give gifts and merriment’. So it’s essentially the Poptropica version of Christmas! (I wonder what other holidays Poptropicans celebrate…)

If you’re feeling ready to go Grapple-Papping, respond with a ‘sure’ and you’ll be whisked off to start the adventure! Keep reading for a full guide with pictures below.

You’ll be in a very festive-looking town. Everybody’s dressed up in traditional Grapple-Pap apparel. Walk on up the road. You’ll pass by several townspeople getting ready for the holiday, including three jump-ropers and an ice-skater!

When asked where Clareta is, they all come up with generally the same answers. Nobody’s seen her for years, and they think that the Grapple-Pap got her. After all, if you don’t spread cheer, the great Grapple-Pap will get you for one whole year…very mysterious indeed. One will also tell you that the holiday is named after somebody called the Grapple-Pap! Finally, you’ll find a Poptropican who will give you a clue about Clareta. The baker up at the Salty Nugget tells you that Clareta lives in Cold Cliff Pass. An NPC wandering near the Salty Nugget will also warn you that Clareta has become ‘mean’ over the years…that can’t mean anything good.

Following the baker’s advice, go right to Cold Cliff Pass. There’s quite a bit of pretty winter scenery in this area.

It’s cold outside…

Keep walking down the hill until you reach a tunnel of ice with several floating platforms. There’s a stone block with an engraving on it; push it all the way against the far wall of the ice cave, and jump on it to reach the last platform. From there, climb onto the top slope and exit the ice tunnel.

Walk up a second hill and you’ll find yourself in front of a ledge with another stone block on top of it. Hop onto the ledge, and push the block off of it. Keep pushing it until you reach a very tall snowdrift. Using the block as a boost, climb up onto the snowdrift.

Go down another ice tunnel, and jump up onto a second tunnel above it, this one filled with snow and holly. There’s another stone block wedged in this tunnel, so you’ll have to push it out before you can proceed. From there, you’ll see a rope. Climb up it, and you’ll be in a blizzard; dangerous, yet beautiful. Walk against the blizzard down a hill–and, hey, there’s footprints in the snow here! Clareta must live nearby!

It sure is winter here.

Sure enough, at the bottom of the slope there’s a (rather rundown) house. Enter it.

Whoa, this house sure is creepy…just look at that huge, uh, whatever it is, hanging from the ceiling! But there’s a fire in the grate, so somebody must still live here. Walk through the house as far as you can go, past a huge bed with a bearskin on it, and you’ll see a piece of paper perched on a windowsill. Click on it, and you’ll see…

Aw, it’s Clareta and her brother (the man who sent you on the quest) at a Grapple-Pap years ago! Just look how young and happy they were…and it looks like Clareta is holding a Grapple-Pap gift not much different from the one you were sent to deliver to her. The two of them must have lived here together, at least when they were younger.

Once you’ve finished admiring that cute image, close it, and something quite frightening will happen. The bed behind you begins to shake…there’s a lump moving under the covers…and a very angry and bedraggled Clareta will burst out!! (Apologies for the horrible screenshot. I definitely wasn’t expecting something like that to happen!)

“I have a Grapple-Pap gift from your–“

Wow, somebody’s feeling nasty today. Clareta will scream at you to leave her house, which you, quite willingly, do. That Grapple-Pap’ll always get you if you’re not careful, as Clareta clearly demonstrated. But you can’t let it end like this…there must be something you can do to remind Clareta of the holiday spirit!

And, indeed, an opportunity presents itself! A very large pile of snow outside the house falls away to reveal a huge stone block with what must be the Grapple-Pap himself engraved upon it. Click on the block, and it’ll slide down the hill and crash straight into Clareta’s house! Oops…

Another scream will issue from the now-broken house, and Clareta will come outside and sprint away, promising that she’ll spread cheer. Run along after her.

Follow her back into the town, where she’ll be dancing (sudden change in mood, huh?) while holding a Grapple-Pop. She’ll thank you for reminding her what Grapple-Pap is all about, and gives you a Grapple-Pop as your reward. Congratulations, you’ve completed the Grapple-Pap quest!

Equip the Grapple-Pop and press space bar to turn everybody’s heads green.

Welp, that sure was a wild ride! Even though it’s not a full island, this side quest has really given us some insight on Poptropican lore and traditions. Overall, I think it’s pretty cool (pun may or may not be intended). But what do you think? Let us know in the comments down below! Merry Grapple-Pap!

~Purple Paw