Hey Poptropicans! You’re familiar with Home Island, the perennial launchpad of your Poptropica adventures (and home to a brand new store interior!), but are you aware of its storied past?
An early iteration of Home Island in 2016. Yes, before DJ Saturday Nite was whitewashed, she dyed her hair blonde. Welcome to Poptropica.
This week on the Poptropica Creators’ Blog, guest writer Invisible Ringlays out a history of Home Island and how it connects to the disappearance of Monkey Wrench Island, released in 2016 as a tutorial for first-time players. Her main theory is that, as Home Island kept changing with seasonal makeovers, the connection to Monkey Wrench must have gotten cut off. “How could Amelia land her airplane on Home Island if Home Island won’t stay still?”
Monumental: You finally made a monkey out of me.
Ring also gives a shout-out to “Monkey Wrench posts on the PHB” which inspired her to contact the Pop Creators about bringing the island back. (One such post: Purple Paw’s Pop Petition: Bring Monkey Wrench back.) In response, the Creators have confirmed a return for Monkey Wrench, although no dates are set yet.
As for Home Island’s history, in addition to Ring’s guest post, the PHB has captured its evolving stories over the years as well. Before 2015, there was no Home Island — when you logged in, you’d find yourself wherever you last left off on whatever island you were on. Since its release (back when it was briefly known as Hub Island), it’s gone through a lot of cosmetic and functional changes in the past five years.
Did you know that in the first Home Island, you had to find a wrench for Amelia Earhart and medallion shards for an explorer, which was later disbanded into the separate islands of Snagglemast and Monkey Wrench? Anyway, we went through our archives and pieced together some pics from over the years! Do you remember these scenes?
Enjoyed the throwback? There’s much more in the PHB archives!
Anyway, how do you feel about Home Island? What changes do you want to see on it, or have you had enough of its constant facelifts? Do you miss Monkey Wrench, or is Snagglemast superior? Share your thoughts in the comments, and pop on, Poptropicans! ✌️
Hey Poptropicans, it’s Slanted Fish with a few bits of news, most relating to the new Home Island in one way or another. Let’s pop in and see!
First, the countlessly redesigned Home Island has now rolled out its latest update to all players, so you can find it the next time you log in.
Comparison: Home Island 2020 (top) vs 2021 (bottom), by Capax infini
In case you missed it, check out our Home Island Guide for the lowdown on the side-quest featuring Xavier the self-statue-stealer!
There’s something else new to this Home update, though: carts on the side. Left of the new store building, you’ll find either a pet cart (which takes you to the pet shop interface) or Herc’s snack truck manned by Aeolus, keeper of the winds, who apparently owes Zeus money. Accepting the god’s offer of a bite will take you to Mythology Island.
You’ve seen Adventure Outfitters, the rebranded store building, but it’s not just about the treasure chest aesthetic on the outside. It’s going to get a shiny new interior too! Check out the sneak peeks from the Creators’ Blog (peep the ice skull from the old Pathfinders tribe common room, as well as displays of the reversible octopus and more):
Plus, it’s the start of another week, which means another store rotation! In addition to stuff featured last week, we have a new Prom Princess costume and several more suit-ups. The Creators also really emphasized that tons of stuff is available for non-members this time (11 out of 14 costumes!), which is quite the improvement from before.
Last but not least, this past Monday, March 8 was International Women’s Day! To celebrate, the Pop Creators posted a tribute to our girl Amelia, whom you might know from Home Island (one of the constants in all its remodels). She’s based on a real life icon: Amelia Earhart, the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean back in 1932.
We have Amelia be the first person everyone meets in Poptropica because she was a true adventurer! She was smart, capable, brave, and willing to try things no one had ever done before.
Of course, Amelia is far from the only woman worth celebrating in Poptropica! Here are a few pieces of fan art from the community of various iconic, female-identifying Poptropicans:
Amelia from Home Island by Purple Paw
Daphne Dreadnaught from Spook Central (Ghost Story prequel) by ray-of-flight
CJ from Shrink Ray by Purple Paw
Considering the world’s male-dominated past (and sometimes present), it’s especially important to highlight the achievements and capabilities of women. For all the girls out there, you’re capable of greatness! Let us all take notice, regardless of our gender. 💃🏽💪
That’s it for this post. Share your thoughts in the comments and on the PHC. As always, keep on popping on!
Hey Poptropicans, have you seen that Home Island is covered in snow? ❄️ It’s different from last year’s winter makeover — you won’t find any falling snow, random birds, or snowballs to grab.
Instead, you’ll find colored lights, lamps, and garlands on buildings, plus a wicked bearded snowman beside the New You building. Jolly good! ☃
And if you haven’t already played it yet, don’t miss out on the new Grapple-Pap Gift side-quest by talking to the old man! 🎁 It’s only here for a limited time, so enjoy it while it lasts and spread some holiday cheer before Grapple-Pap comes for you!
After you’ve played the side-quest, you might enjoy this fan video from jaekelopterus3(Perfect Fish) containing an analysis of the visual storytelling with the design of Clareta and her rundown home. (Beware: Spoilers ahead.)
“Poptropica’s visual storytelling: An analysis of Clareta from the Grapple-Pap side-quest” by jaekelopterus3 (Perfect Fish)
In other news, the Poptropica Creators recently shared a couple more fan art features on their Instagram story. Check out these cool OCs (Original Characters) and their snazzy outfits!
Plenty more is going on around Poptropica, so be sure to catch up on the post below to see what else is new! And check back on the PHB tomorrow for a special post — we’ve prepared the perfect Poptropica entertainment to snuggle up to this Christmas. 📰🥰
Have a merry Christmas Eve — or just a quiet, socially distant day, considering the times — and happy Grapple-Pap! 🎄
Hey Poptropicans, it’s another new day of events here on Animal CrossingParadise Island! (In case you missed it, catch up on the first two days of Poptropica’s latest endeavour in yesterday’s post to make sense of this one.)
Day three’s festivities: a party on a new character’s paradisiacal island. It’s like your Paradise Island, but with more stuff. Remember that message you got from the blonde girl who can’t wait to visit you on your island? She shows up, and before you can even respond, you’re whisked away to her island party. At this point, no names of characters have been introduced—not yours, not hers, nor anyone else you meet. How strange?
Anyway, the girl says you’re just in time for the surfing contest, but there’s not much contest about it: you surf alone on the waves of a familiar game from the recent ad American Girl: Joss’s Island. And not only do you still not know who all the other randos on the party host’s island are—well, except for DJ Saturday Nite from Zomberry Island—you can’t even talk to them!
Moving on, here’s your chance at 1000 credits. After the waves, the host will introduce you to the next activity, a starfish scavenger hunt. There are five to find, and it’s not a big island, so it won’t take long. However, there’s one that’s a little trickier to grab—the one on the sand near the surf shop. To get that one, jump into the water from one of the island’s edges and swim over to pick it up!
That’s it for day three, but let’s check out what else is on this alternate Paradise Island. Some of these fancy things—like the glowing dance floor and the pen of horses—definitely aren’t in the Ko-Kea catalog. Nor are the renovations to the beach house exterior! But perhaps we’ll get these features in the future?
At any rate, it looks like the ability to visit other players’ customized islands might be on the horizon. Now that would be a party!
Looking ahead in a message received, day four looks like it’ll bring a beach party. Wait, wasn’t this already a beach party? Guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens next. (To join the fun, see our initial post on Paradise Island.)
👉 Why “Paradise Island” doesn’t land with many Poptropica players
Since sharing about Paradise Island here on the PHB, Poptropicans everywhere have been popping in with their takes on this latest development. Here are a few thoughts from players on the PHC, our Discord server (and my own addendums):
“Poptropica is supposed to be a game of storytelling, and what the creators have been making these days just doesn’t cut it. We older players know early Pop well, and know that it was nothing like this. I say this with heart, but Poptropica is simply not Poptropica anymore, what with all these new updates that only take away from the game we know and love. The creators have been focusing more and more on worthless updates instead of continuing the educational yet fun format they had before, and right now, what I want more than anything is to see Old Poptropica, in all its glory, show up on my computer screen.”
Purple Paw
Absolutely. Just as has been written about elsewhere on the PHB, Poptropica was created as a unique digital platform for modern storytelling for the next generation. It was never meant to become Mocktropica Island.
“Mmmmkay… so it’s our third (fourth?) redo of Home Island, and once again they’re chasing current trends… that’s it. I don’t want to come off as overly negative, but the only thing that can save Pop at this point is an entire new team of Creators, or a fan remake/spin-off. It’s like they’re intentionally doing everything except what people actually want, in an attempt to cater to a nonexistent audience!”
MaryannTheConqueror
A few things come to mind about Poptropica’s chasing of trends: there’s Realms, a sandbox creation that mimics Minecraft; the recent-ish emphasis on new clothes, pets, and home decor that feels like Club Penguin; and now, the personal islands with daily tasks that copies Animal Crossing.
Animal Crossing | image: Nintendo
Instead of making inferior versions of things that already exist, Poptropica might do well to go back to the unique product they used to be so good at creating: immersive island worlds filled with meaningful storytelling.
“The whole reason Poptropica is my favorite game is because of the storytelling. It’s the only thing I’m good at, and the reason I much prefer it to other amazing games that are mostly gameplay, like Super Mario Bros. So it’s been really disappointing nowadays. I haven’t played the new makeover yet, but from what I’ve heard it sounds pretty nice. Except for the daily tasks. Those games are always so boring. They lull you with a false sense of progress, and completely destroy all enjoyability in very little time. Like Sims. I’d like to have something simple and quiet, that I can come to on my own time for a wholesome storytelling experience, like long ago.”
Incredible Fire
The daily, mandated, straightforward tasks are a bit reminiscent of Poptropica: Forgotten Islands, an old iOS and Nintendo 3DS game that probably lives up to its name by being so uninspiring as to have been generally forgotten by the fandom. It was basically a sequence of nonsensical fetch quests, and you can read all about it in our Forgotten Islands Guide. Let’s hope Paradise Island doesn’t become like it.
Poptropica: Forgotten Islands
Do you have a hot take on Paradise Island? Talk about it with other Poptropicans on the PHC Discord or share it in the comments!
🎉 Want a good Poptropica party? Come join us at the closing ceremony of the PHB Tribal Tournament, which takes place this Saturday, Aug 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern! (If you live elsewhere, check a time converter for the time in your zone.)
We’ll be announcing the winners of the Games and having a good time on the PHC and in Poptropica common rooms. See you there!
Remember Slanted Fish’s House Tour? Well, I’m here to continue the series and give you guys a look into my Poptropica Worlds house! While the other PHB authors frantically do some spring cleaning to make their rooms presentable, we encourage all readers to join in as well. Send in a guest post to feature your house on the PHB!
Anyway, make yourself feel at home! I don’t have membership to make the place real fancy, but I do have some pretty cool decor if I do say so myself.
The first thing you’ll see when walking in is certainly the chandelier over the front door. Gotta have something a bit fancy, right? Anyway, keep walking and you’ll find the main living area, where my friends and I most commonly hang out. This is where I keep my drum kit and arcade machine (complete with a stool for spending hours on a high score), despite my lack of skill in both areas. There’s also some wall art (to make the place more spiffy), my closet (near the front door since I’m lazy when it comes to quick outfit changes), and a soccer ball (for any quick games).
On the other end of the first floor, we have the kitchen for all my snacking needs. You got a fridge, table, trashcan, mounted microwave, basically everything you’d need. And with this place all to myself, I can’t eat a meal without watching some TV on the big screen.
Going up either set of stairs, you’ll pass some of my favorite photographs, both taken on some wild adventures across Poptropica! It’s not Spotted Dragon’s house without some photography.
On the second floor is where the magic happens. It’s a creation station! An easel for painting and a piano for playing. Complete with windows for some natural lighting, and a fan because I need a number one fan to boost my self esteem for when it gets hot. And who doesn’t love house plants? Let’s just hope I remembered to feed the one on the far right…
Going to the third floor, to the left is my trophy room! You may call it self centered, but I call it self love. Awards from every island are kept here (which continues to grow), along with some cool statues I’ve collected. Of course, I have another photo hung up, but I also have a tapestry I bought from another island.
Lastly, we have my bedroom! It’s got everything I need on a late Saturday morning. My cozy bed of course, my dresser, but let’s not forget about my books and computer! The latter I do need for work, though I admit I get distracted with video games all the time.
My bathroom is behind the door in my bedroom, but there’s no need to go in there on a tour… TMI. The rest of the doors in my house are mainly for storage and clutter.
Welp, that wraps things up! Good thing I showed you everything when I did, because a glitch keeps moving my stuff around and sometimes even removing it from my inventory. Ah well.
I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes glance into my life! Who knows, maybe we’ll be able to interact even more with some of our furniture in the future?
🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺 