Contests

“Lightning Wielder” dazzles creators of Poptropica’s costume design contest ⚡️

Hey Poptropicans, look sharp! The results of Poptropica’s costume design contest (2020 edition) are here. But first, a word from the Pop Creators:

Remember, even if your drawing doesn’t appear on this list, it has without a doubt made a valuable impression on our art team as we move forward into the new year! There will also be more contests and opportunities to be featured on Poptropica very soon. Remember, all art is subjective, so if you didn’t place as high as you would have liked, don’t let it get you down! The best part of this contest was seeing artists of all experience levels share their ideas with us!

(Editor’s note: bold text = PHB’s emphasis added.) And now, onto the winners!

For the grand prize winner, whose design will appear in the game as a costume in the store (and who will also win 6 months of membership): we have Instagram user @bianca_donka for her “Lightning Wielder” creation!

This fantastic character comes with a loaded description written onto the image (which you can click to enlarge). Its standout feature is the lightning arm (with possible space bar action for “cool lightning stuff”), paired with spiky hair, a funky eye, and tattered clothing, including a jacket that doubles as a cape. The space bar action is explored further with an unnamed friend’s idea that it could be “like the prank things that make everyone else see-through or something… makes everyone else have lightning eyes / a floating blue lock.”

Bianca, the character’s creator, goes on to explain that the concept comes from a Poptropica fan comic she’s been writing for the past year (it’s currently on hiatus for mental health reasons, she added). That comic is in the #PoptropicaBreakdown tag on Instagram and is done in a scribbly style with ink pen and color highlighters. Sample below (click arrows to flip pages):

There are currently 20-some parts to the series, labeled in the post description (like P19 for part 19, above). Plus, check out the artist’s Instagram page for more doodles, including some more fun #poptropica stories like this one:

Anyway, back to the costume. “The concept is that the character experiencing this is starting to see glitches in the game and the locks are whether or not the character is ‘editable,’ aka a player or program in the game,” Bianca wrote in the costume’s description. Locks are shown as open on NPCs, and closed on player characters. She also added that this feature might be “too weird or obscure” to be done, so they may not appear in the actual in-game version when it’s created. Either way, we’ve got a dazzling costume to look forward to!

The Poptropica Creators explained their choice like this: “We chose Bianca’s Lightning Wielder for its snappy gesture, sharp silhouette, and strong stylistic integrity to the Poptropica aesthetic! This Poptropican is gonna give Zeus a run for his money, with lightning powers and, might I add, MUCH cooler hair.”

And there’s more from Bianca: just for fun, she also sent in this drawing of Poptropicans with eyebrows and mustaches along with her entry. Gotta love all those facial expressions… even that frown could get a smile out of you.

All right, now for the runners up! These costumes won’t get made into the game, but the designers do each get a month of membership. In no particular order, here’s “Sunflower Cordial” by @otheraccidk, loved for its 70’s style; “Porcelain Chicken” by Noisy Ghost aka @bylophim, with its adorable chick followers; and “Sharp Beatz” by RadioactivePup, designed to react to the background music with its sweet soundbar visor. (Click to enlarge images!)

Last but not least, here come the honorable mentions! The ten artists’ social media handles (generally, Instagram) are on their respective artwork, so consider checking out their pages for more great work. Tons of amazing fan artists are also on DeviantArt! As always, you can click to enlarge the images:

Special shout-out to our very own PHB staffer Lucky Joker for being named an honorable mention! He created each of his three designs with gendered versions and placed them on cool backdrops that aren’t seen on the Creators’ Blog, so we’re sharing them here. They’re also on LJ’s Twitter and Instagram!

That’s it for the 2020 Poptropica costume design winners! Whether or not your entry made it to the list, may you be encouraged by the fact that the Creators loved seeing your work, and go enjoy all the creativity sparked by this talented community. And if you like, share your entries with us in the comments!

Keep a funky eye out for the Lightning Wielder coming to the Store in the near future, and as always, stay popping, Poptropicans. ✌️

Thunderbolts and lightning! Where can a Poptropican find some more frighteningly good fan art? Check out:

We-Love-Poptropica on DeviantArt · Community Creations on the PHB · Pop Fan Artist Spotlights on the PHB · #art channel on the PHC

🌩

Contests, PHB Parties

Recap: PHB Tribal Tournament 2016!

tribe closing recap

Hey Poptropic-athletes! After a month of solid competition, the Poptropica Help Blog’s first ever Tribal Tournament has now come to a close. Thanks to the tons of Poptropicans who cheered, dressed up, and got involved in one way or another – we hope you had fun!

At the Closing Ceremony, we announced on the PHC the winners of the Tribal Tournament, breaking it down by each category. You can also see a collage of some party pictures above. But don’t worry if you missed it – we’ll be recapping them here as well! Since we’ve broken it down, you’ll need to get to the bottom of this post to see the overall winners.

tribe honor

Without further ado, let’s begin!

Medal Marathon

The first contest we announced was the Medal Marathon, which ran throughout the month, and all one had to do was play Poptropolis Games and show us the resulting scoreboard to earn points! As many times as one could! Higher results earned more points (1st place = 8 points, 2nd place = 7, etc).

Here are the standings for the Medal Marathon:

  1. Seraphim – 1284
  2. Wildfire – 931
  3. Yellowjackets – 902
  4. Pathfinders – 816
  5. Nanobots – 645
  6. Black Flags – 167
  7. Flying Squid – 113
  8. Nightcrawlers – 23

Congratulations to the Seraphim for flying high and proving their merit in medallions!

medal win tribe

Artistic Athletes

For the Artistic Athletes round, we asked you guys to create and send us your best Poptropica art in a number of categories: visual art, written work, fashion, and Realms.

The PHB tribe reps then went through their respective tribes’ entries and picked one for each category, then brought them to the rest of the PHB team to vote, with each rep not voting on their own tribe’s entries to eliminate bias. After our deliberating, we’re ready to present our top selections for each tribe!

To calculate points, the PHB team ranked each chosen piece for every category, except for ones from their own tribe. From there, the placement numbers (first place, second, etc.) were added up and then divided by the number of placements that had been given to form an average.

Then the average scores were ranked within each category from lowest to highest, as lower amounts meant it had received higher placement ranks in the judging. From there, each category awarded points based on the final placements: 80 points for first place, 70 for second, and so on down the line.

You can see the overall placements for the Artistic Athletes after all the art categories below.

Visual Art

Click to view each image at full size.

Congrats to all tribes for participating in this category!

These are the amounts of points earned by each tribe for the category of Visual Art:

  1. Seraphim – 80
  2. Wildfire – 70
  3. Black Flags – 60
  4. Pathfinders – 50
  5. Nanobots – 40
  6. Nightcrawlers – 30
  7. Flying Squid – 20
  8. Yellowjackets – 10

Written Work (Fan Fictions)

  1. Poptropolis Games by Bony Bones (Flying Squid) – click here to read. (+80 points)
  2. The New Tribe by Happy Lobster (Seraphim) – click here to read. (+70 points)
  3. Hurdles by Wanderesa/White Ice (Wildfire) – click here to read. (+60 points)
  4. Chant by Shaky Skunk (Nanobots) – click here to read. (+50 points)

No written work entry received from Black Flags, Nanobots, Nightcrawlers, Pathfinders, and Yellowjackets.

Fashion (Costumes)

Click to view each image at full size.

No fashion entry received from Nightcrawlers.

These are the amounts of points earned by each tribe for the category of Fashion:

  1. Wildfire – 80
  2. Seraphim – 70
  3. Yellowjackets – 60
  4. Flying Squid – 50
  5. Black Flags – 40 (tied for 5th)
  6. Nanobots – 40 (tied for 5th)
  7. Pathfinders – 40 (tied for 5th)

Realms

Click to view each image at full size.

No Realms entry received from Nightcrawlers, Pathfinders, and Wildfire.

These are the amounts of points earned by each tribe for the category of Realms:

  1. Nanobots – 80
  2. Black Flags – 70
  3. Flying Squid – 60
  4. Seraphim – 50
  5. Yellowjackets – 40

Honorable Mentions

These entries did not influence the voting process, but we thought they were too good not to be shown here! A few of them are from PHB authors, who did not enter unless their tribe did not make an entry. Click to view full images.

Plus, the Seraphim tribe had so many entries you can check them out in this imgur album.

Placements

These are the amounts of points earned by each tribe for every art category combined:

  1. Seraphim – 270 (80 + 70 + 70 + 50)
  2. *Flying Squid – 210 (20 + 80 + 50 + 60)
  3. *Nanobots – 210 (40 + 50 + 40 + 80)
  4. Black Flags – 170 (60 + 0 + 40 + 70)
  5. Wildfire – 150 (70 + 0 + 80 + 0)
  6. Yellowjackets – 110 (10 + 0 + 60 + 40)
  7. Pathfinders – 90 (50 + 0 + 40 + 0)
  8. Nightcrawlers – 30 (30 + 0 + 0 + 0)

*Flying Squid and Nanobots are tied for second overall in Artistic Athletes.

Congratulations to the Seraphim for their championship in the field of artistic endeavor!

Tribal Thinkers

In the Tribal Thinkers round, we set out some brain-bending puzzles to test your Poptropica knowledge, with trivia questions and Stolen Snapshot challenges abound. Check out how your tribe fared below!

Placements

  1. Pathfinders – 245
  2. Seraphim – 180
  3. Wildfire – 175
  4. Flying Squid – 170 (tied for 4th)
  5. Yellowjackets – 170 (tied for 4th)
  6. Nanobots – 170 (tied for 4th)
  7. Black Flags – 130
  8. Nightcrawlers – 0

Congratulations to the Pathfinders for finding the path to the most answers!

thinkers tribe win

Answers

Now for the answers to each question! How many did you get right?

Questions about Poptropica (5 points each)

  1. When was Poptropica founded? September 2007
  2. What brand of soda does Gamer Guy drink? Valley Rain
  3. What item on Shark Tooth Island isn’t actually needed in the quest? Shark Fin
  4. What is carved on the tree in the Lewis & Clark Expedition on Time Tangled Island? “Clark was here”
  5. What are the names of the B.A.D’s guard dogs on Spy Island? Fang, Slasher, and Fluffy
  6. How much did the Astro-Knights Early Access pass cost? 500 credits
  7. The Tabloid on Reality TV advertises an article about dating who? Black Widow
  8. What Greek letters are on the Drachma coin on Mythology Island? AθE – alpha theta epsilon
  9. What does Sprocket from Steamworks Island want to call his autobiography? I, Robot
  10. For which island did Poptropica first launch its own external website as a promotion for the island and what was the website? Cryptids Island – mewsfoundation.org
  11. Which island’s name is also a possible Poptropica player name? Red Dragon
  12. Which island contains an altered version of the painting American Gothic by Grant Wood? Game Show Island (inside the museum on Main Street)
  13. What does the binary code found on the recycle billboard outside the Game Show Main Street factory translate to? “Robot”
  14. Which island has a common room that has no name, and what is the room? Vampire’s Curse – a barn (also accepted Poptropolis Games room as an answer)
  15. What is the name of the ship in Captain Crawfish’s dream on Super Villain Island? H.M.S Seachicken
  16. Which time period on Time Tangled Island requires an item from another time period to collect the misplaced artifact? Vikings, 831 A.D.
  17. Which island has a character claiming to be from “Time Twisted Island”? Shark Tooth
  18. Where did Dr. Spyglass, from Spy Island, use to work? PASE
  19. Who was the Ice Arrow, seen in Astro-Knights, crafted by? Rime the Wizard
  20. In the trash bin on Mocktropica Island, what is the name of Zeus’s tree character? Spruce

Questions about the PHB team (5 points each)

  1. What is Brave Tomato’s favorite island? Mythology
  2. What was Slanted Fish’s first Poptropica account? Scary Tomato
  3. Spotted Dragon made a fansite about Poptropica and _? Adventure Time
  4. How did Slippery Raptor discover Poptropica? A magazine called K-Zone
  5. Which island did Ultimate iPad Expert play first? Super Power
  6. Who is HPuterpop’s character designed to resemble? His dad (a younger version)
  7. What was the name of Koi (Spencer)’s second Poptropica account? Friendly Gamer
  8. What place did Ylimegirl win on the Reality TV Island Champions Map? 4th place

Bonus question (10 points): What’s the name of Skinny Moon’s puppy? Toby

Stolen Snapshots (10 points each)

These were the Stolen Snapshot challenges given by Slippery Raptor in the Tribal Thinkers round. Below, you’ll find the answers for where each snapshot can be found in-game.

  1. SOS Island
  2. Lunar Colony
  3. Arabian Nights Episode 2
  4. Wild West
  5. Poptropolis Games
  6. Game Show
  7. Counterfeit
  8. Ghost Story
  9. Poptropolis Games
  10. Mythology

Shout-out to Creepy Goose of the Pathfinders tribe for getting all of them right! 🌟

Overall Standings

And the winner is…

Well, to keep the suspense going, we’re going to work from the bottom. In 8th place, we have – lean and mean, but not too keen – the Nightcrawlers! Better seize the day next time, ‘Crawlers.

nightcrawlers

Waving their mighty dark banner above the sea where the squids dwell, in 7th place we have the Black Flags! Arrr, at least they weren’t dead last.

black flags

Swimming in at 6th place are the Flying Squid, who, for a small tribe, still played a decent share in the tournament! Not bad, Squiddies. Just keep swimming!

flyingsquid

Who’s won 5th place? According to our heavy data-crunching calculations, it’s the Nanobots! At least their processing power got a workout.

nanobots

Following their GPS, the Pathfinders have found their way to 4th place. A fine finish to their journey, and nobody got lost on the way!

pathfinders

Swarming in at 3rd place, we have the Yellowjackets, with not even a little sting in their pride. These buzzers were pretty close to the sweet taste of victory with winning the bronze!

yellowjackets

The intensity is heating up for 2nd place – and it’s Wildfire who nabbed the silver! Feel the burn, because this team isn’t going to be extinguished without a fight. And the crowd goes… WILD!

wildfire

Which leaves, in 1st placeSeraphim! Congratulations to our champions who reign from on high! (cue angelic choir) Spread those wings proudly, because the glory is yours! Gold jerseys get the gold!

seraphim

Thanks to Slippery Raptor for these awesome animated tribe gifs!

Here’s a look at the overall standings for each tribe, with the total amount of points won:

  1. Seraphim – 1734 (1284 + 270 + 180)
  2. Wildfire – 1256 (931 + 150 + 175)
  3. Yellowjackets – 1182 (902 + 110 + 170)
  4. Pathfinders – 1151 (816 + 90 + 245)
  5. Nanobots – 1025 (645 + 210 + 170)
  6. Flying Squid – 493 (113 + 210 + 170)
  7. Black Flags – 467 (167 + 170 + 130)
  8. Nightcrawlers – 53 (23 + 30 + 0)

overall seraphim

Before we wrap up, there’s one more award we want to give out… the Most Valuable Player!

This Poptropican pulled more than his weight in the Tribal Tournament, making up the majority of the Pathfinders’ tribe’s score and bringing more spirit on their PHC tribe channel than the PHB rep of the team. According to this player’s profile, he’s played through the Poptropolis Games almost sixty times!

So from all of us at the PHB… Lucky Joker, you da real MVP.

mvp tribe luckyjoker

Shout-outs also to Messy Thunder of Seraphim and Perfect Sky of Yellowjackets for also playing a ton of Poptropolis Games enough to rival LJ’s score – however, it was Lucky Joker who carried his team even when no one else did. Congrats to all three!

Well, that concludes the first ever Poptropica Help Blog Tribal Tournament! We hope you had fun competing and participating in our various competitions, cheering on your tribe, and enjoying the tribal colors on the PHC (Poptropica Help Chat)!

Remember, the PHC on Discord is always open for Poptropicans of all ages to hang out and have fun in a safely moderated chat environment, and you’ll often see PHB staff around too. We hope you’ll stick around and get to know this great community!

tribepop

🏅 faster, higher, stronger 🏅

– the Poptropica Help Blog team –

Advertisements, Contests, Web Development

The Long-awaited Halloween Costume Contest Results! …plus an ad.

This is it.  Hopefully, the moment you’ve all been waiting for is here!  Judges Deathstalker/Seph (the MYSTERY judge) and I carefully went through all 114 entries — yes, you read that right; 114 entries 😛 — and narrowed down the costumes until we had come to an agreement on 4 runner-ups and 1 overall winner.  Of course, it’s very hard to select only 5 costumes when there are so many entries for pick.  Especially since we were inundated with contending costumes! I’d like to start off with a round of applause for all of the costumes. *applause* This is sort of a cliché, but you all deserve a pat on the back for a job well done! Everybody pat their back. I SAID TO PAT YOUR BACK! Good. Now, for the runner-ups… Continue reading “The Long-awaited Halloween Costume Contest Results! …plus an ad.”

Bonus Items, Monster Carnival Island, Web Development

The PHB Competition Results!

Its been a while since Dr. Hare took over the site. Its been too long. But you can blame Codien for that 😛

The PHB was so close to been taken over after its header and the competition email were stolen. But we thank everyone that helped out and found them.

And for a reward we have randomly chosen 13 (Was 20 but you can ask Codien how he lost them!) Poptropicans who entered and have given them a specially rare PHB Monster User.

monstersoutfits

Please bear in mind that these costumes were made before the 
Poptropica Store opened.

Without further ado i would like to announce the 13 winners:

  • Squeezy Stomper
  • Crazy Catfish
  • Cuddly Star
  • Magic Storm
  • Comical Hawk
  • Strange Noodle
  • Perfect Dolphin
  • Green Seal
  • Angry Noodle
  • Spotted Bubbles
  • Cuddly Onion
  • Big Axe
  • Brave Flame

Congratulations to the 13 winners! Your very own special monster outfits have been sent to the email addresses that you used for the competition.

Hope you all had fun! Thank you to all who rescued the PHB!

[Motionman that user on the PHF is me! 
Told you i would write your name here!]
Advertisements, NPC Popularity Contests, Spy Island, Web Development

Meet the scarecrow… I mean, winner!

🙂 Poptropica Help Blog has reached the 700,000 hits milestone! 🙂

  • throws cookies in your direction*

Wait, did you like the flavor? We’ve got jam ones too… or do you prefer peanut butter?

Shark Boy, the host of the Poptropica Popularity Contests, congratulates everyone who voted and participated:

avatar imageThe results are in and the winner is…the secret agent from Spy Island! Congrats and thanks to all those who voted! We will be putting together a couple T-shirt designs of this character and will allow you to vote on your favorite design.

Cool! Be on guard for new T-shirt designs at Poptropica’s online store (after we vote for it, of course)! 🙂

Here’s Mr. Spy Guy standing proudly on the podium:

There is a small problem, though. Vince Graves and Medicine Man sure looks upset! Let’s just hope they don’t go seeking revenge… maybe we should go read a Goosebumps book instead…

Ready for some Goosebumps? Take the blimp to any of the 8 islands and run to the right edge of Main Street, and you should find something like this:

goosebumps-scarecrowandmummy-ad

Enter if you dare…

You dared, didn’t you? I’ll explain what’s inside so you don’t get lost and scared… 😉

Floor | Side | Function
Bottom Left: Clickable Poster for ordering online
Middle Left: Scarecrow costume
Middle Right: Pale-green mummy costume
Middlish-Top Right: Clickable Poster for ordering online
Middle Middle: Goosebumps Quiz Game
Top Right: About the DVD (Return of the Mummy)
Top Left: About the DVD (The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight)
Top Middle: DVD Trailer Video

Want to jump higher on Poptropica? Check out Director Lion‘s newly discovered cheat, now updated for the Cheat Codes page! 🙂