Poptropica

Last updated
Poptropica
Poptropica Logo.svg
Developer(s) Jeff Kinney Group (formerly)
StoryArc Media
Publisher(s) Pearson Education (formerly)
Sandbox Networks
Designer(s) Pete Amomaur
Jeff Kinney
Engine
Platform(s)
ReleaseJuly 2007
September 2007
Genre(s) Educational, adventure, single-player with massively multiplayer online game elements
Mode(s)Single and multiplayer

Poptropica is an online role-playing game, developed in 2007 by Pearson Education's Family Education Network, and targeted towards children aged 6 to 15. Poptropica was primarily the creation of Jeff Kinney, later known as the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. As of 2015, he remains at the company as the Creative Director. [1] The game primarily focuses on problem-solving through game quest scenarios, called "islands". Islands all center on a problem that the player must resolve by going through multiple obstacles, collecting and using items, talking to various characters, and completing goals. All islands, upon completion, award "credits," which are non-negotiable currency that may be used to buy costumes and special effects in the Poptropica store.

Contents

In 2011, Poptropica was listed on Time magazine's list of "50 Websites that Make the Web Great", where it was described as "an inventive megasite for kids with a wholesome and slightly educational bent". [2] By 2012, the game had grown to have over 75 million registered users, with 35 million in the 15-25 age group. [3] Versions of the game have been released on Nintendo DS and 3DS, iOS, and Android mobile devices. In May 2015, it was announced that Family Education Network was sold by Pearson to the interactive-education venture capitalist Sandbox Networks, [4] and that Poptropica had "over 3.2 million monthly unique users in 200 countries and territories". [5]

In 2015, Poptropica was sold to educational-technology investment group, Sandbox Partners. [6]

In 2020, because of the discontinuation of Adobe Flash, Poptropica began porting their old islands that were built on Adobe Flash over to an HTML5 format. As a result of Poptropica's utilization of varying Flash engines, a number of islands were unable to be ported immediately, and were effectively removed from the game. [7] Fan archivists later made 35 islands available once again via the Basilisk browser within the Flashpoint program. [8]

In April 2022, Poptropica announced that some of the old islands would return as part of a bundle on Steam. [9] Though delayed by a day, the game was eventually released on May 26, 2022, and includes seventeen islands and Poptropica Realms. [10]

In 2024, Poptropica announced that they would be permanently hosted on Coolmath Games while remaining playable on Steam and mobile. [11]

Gameplay

Poptropica's previous login page, including Harvey Hare / Dr. Hare, the game's main antagonist and most recurring character. Poptropica screenshot.jpg
Poptropica's previous login page, including Harvey Hare / Dr. Hare, the game's main antagonist and most recurring character.

When it first launched in 2007, Poptropica only had one island, titled Early Poptropica Island. By 2017, it had 58 islands to be explored, all with a different theme: examples include Back Lot Island, where the player helps produce a movie, and Super Power Island, where their goal is to defeat six super villains: Copy Cat, Speeding Spike, Sir Rebral, Crusher, Ratman, and Betty Jetty. Each island had its own quest, for which a player could receive an island medallion as well as 150 credits to spend in the in-game Poptropica Store. Starting July 6, 2011, Poptropica allowed players to replay islands without creating a new account, while still keeping track of all the Medallions the player had earned.

Advertisements

In addition to the available island quests, advertisers contract for temporary mini-games that appear on the site, sometimes targeted to players of a certain age group or gender. Regular advertisers have included Disney, Kellogg's Froot Loops, Lego toys, and various animated movies and DVD releases. Advertisement mini-games normally appear only during a two-week period. If the player completes an advertisement mini-game, they receive a temporary prize, usually related to the media being advertised.

A few Poptropica islands are themed after certain book series: these include Big Nate ("Big Nate Island"), [12] Timmy Failure ("Timmy Failure Island"), [13] Diary of a Wimpy Kid ("Wimpy Wonderland" and "Wimpy Boardwalk Island"), [14] [15] Magic Tree House ("Red Dragon Island"), [16] and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Island"). [17] These islands are permanent, and can be played at any time. In 2015, a total of seven of these islands became members-only. [18]

Mini-games

Poptropica features different mini-games that users can play with other people. These include Switch, Sudoku, Hoops, Sky Dive, Paint War, Star Link, Balloons, Soupwords and Pathwise. The game keeps track of how many times the player wins or loses a certain mini-game.

Spin-offs

Poptropica Adventures

In 2012, in partnership with Ubisoft, Poptropica released a video game for the Nintendo DS, titled Poptropica Adventures. [19]

Poptropica: Forgotten Islands

On September 5, 2013, Poptropica launched Poptropica: Forgotten Islands, an iOS game, which allows players to meet new characters and discover story elements about Poptropica by finding artifacts littered throughout the game. It was also released on the Nintendo 3DS system through Ubisoft in 2014. [20] It has been replaced on iOS and Android with a mobile version of the desktop Poptropica game.

Poptropica Worlds

On January 11, 2017, Poptropica announced via their blog that they were introducing another game called Poptropica Worlds, developed in Unity. It was released in spring 2017. Poptropica Worlds has new feature, such as redesigned characters, customizable homes, and new islands. Returning players can port over their avatar's look and name to Poptropica Worlds. Poptropica Worlds can be played on both the web and mobile. If membership was bought for Poptropica, it carries over to Poptropica Worlds, and vice versa.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Chocolate</span> Former video game company

Digital Chocolate, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher headquartered in San Mateo, California. It was founded in 2003 by Trip Hawkins, the founder of video game companies Electronic Arts and The 3DO Company. The company focused on developing games for Java ME-based mobile phones, iOS, and Microsoft Windows, and made some non-entertainment titles. Its marketing motto was Seize the minute.

Fact Monster is an educational technology website geared towards children. It is owned by Infoplease and, like the Infoplease site, it contains several reference works under one umbrella, including the Columbia Encyclopedia, Random House Dictionary, an atlas and an almanac. It also features quizzes, flashcards, a homework center and Flash-based games.

<i>Bomberman Land Touch!</i> 2006 video game

Bomberman Land Touch! is a puzzle video game developed by Hudson Soft for the Nintendo DS. The game was first released in Japan and North America in 2006. Part of the Bomberman franchise, Touch! is the third game in the Bomberman Land series and its first to be released outside Japan.

Big Nate is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Lincoln Peirce, syndicated since January 7, 1991. The strip follows sixth-grader Nate Wright, alongside his family, friends, and foes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Kinney</span> American author, cartoonist and screenwriter (born 1971)

Jeffrey Patrick Kinney is an American author and cartoonist. He is best known for creating, writing and illustrating the children's book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He also created the child-oriented website Poptropica.

<i>Garrys Mod</i> 2006 video game

Garry's Mod is a 2006 sandbox game developed by Facepunch Studios and published by Valve. The base game mode of Garry's Mod has no set objectives and provides the player with a world in which to freely manipulate objects. Other game modes, notably Trouble in Terrorist Town and Prop Hunt, are created by other developers as mods and are installed separately, by means such as the Steam Workshop. Garry's Mod was created by Garry Newman as a mod for Valve's Source game engine and released in December 2004, before being expanded into a standalone release that was published by Valve in November 2006. Ports of the original Windows version for Mac OS X and Linux followed in September 2010 and June 2013, respectively. As of September 2021, Garry's Mod has sold more than 20 million copies. A successor, Sandbox, has been in development since 2015.

<i>Diary of a Wimpy Kid</i> Comic-style book series by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an American children's book series and media franchise created by American author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. The series follows Greg Heffley, a middle-schooler who illustrates his daily life in a diary.

<i>Bloons Tower Defense</i> Video game series by Ninja Kiwi

Bloons Tower Defense is a series of tower defense games under the Bloons series created and produced by Ninja Kiwi. The game was initially developed as a browser game, built upon the Adobe Flash platform and released in mid 2007. Later games in the series expanded to support various mobile platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows Phone, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DSi, Windows, Linux and MacOS. Games in the Bloons series older than Bloons TD 6 are available through the Ninja Kiwi Archive on Steam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jess Brallier</span> American writer

Jess M. Brallier is a publisher working in various media, genres, and formats, such as bestselling books, popular web sites, apps, and virtual worlds including Poptropica, one of the Internet's largest virtual worlds for kids. He helped launch bestselling brands such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Galactic Hot Dogs; and extended the Poptropica brand into toys, global education, and books. He is also the author or co-author of 31 books, including Lawyers and Other Reptiles.

<i>Terraria</i> 2011 video game

Terraria is a 2011 action-adventure sandbox game developed by Re-Logic. The game was first released for Windows and has since been ported to other PC and console platforms. The game features exploration, crafting, building, painting, and combat with a variety of creatures in a procedurally generated 2D world. Terraria received generally positive reviews and by 2022 had sold 44 million copies, making it one of the best-selling video games.

<i>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</i> (franchise) Fantasy media franchise created by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a media franchise based on the 1964 novel of the same name by British author Roald Dahl. It includes two books, three live-action theatrical films, three video games and miscellaneous other properties, such as touring musicals and theatrical adaptations, various merchandise and defunct amusement park ride.

Just Dance is a rhythm game series developed and published by Ubisoft. The original Just Dance game was released on the Wii in 2009 in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Funbrain is an educational browser game website for children and adults. It was the site where Diary of a Wimpy Kid was first published before being turned into a successful book series and movie franchise.

<i>Cube Life: Island Survival</i> 2015 indie sandbox video game

Cube Life: Island Survival is an indie open world sandbox survival video game developed and published by Cypronia. It was released for Wii U in June 2015. An HD remake was released for Steam in April 2018, for Android and iOS in August 2018, and for Nintendo Switch in December 2020.

<i>Growtopia</i> 2012 video game

Growtopia, commonly abbreviated as GT, is a massively multiplayer online sandbox video game developed by Ubisoft Abu Dhabi and formerly by indie developers Robinson Technologies and Hamumu Software where players can farm, build worlds, converse with others, and engage in player versus player combat. The game was initially released for Android in November 2012, and later for iOS, Microsoft Windows, and OS X in 2013. It was also released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2019, but support for each console would later be discontinued on July 30, 2020.

<i>Club Penguin</i> (franchise) Disney media franchise based on the MMO game of the same name

Club Penguin was a media franchise that was created in 2005 with the release of the online massively multiplayer online game (MMO) Club Penguin, later bought out by Disney. Club Penguin inspired a variety of console video games, books, and television specials. Following the game's discontinuation in March 2017, the game was replaced by a successor, Club Penguin Island (2017), which was released on mobile and desktop, and an unlicensed recreation, Rewritten (2017). However, Island was discontinued in November 2018, while Rewritten was ordered shut down by Disney in April 2022, effectively ending the franchise.

Video games can include elements that use blockchain technologies, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), often as a form of monetization. These elements typically allow players to trade in-game items for cryptocurrency, or represent in-game items with NFTs. A subset of these games are also known as play-to-earn games because they include systems that allow players to earn cryptocurrency through gameplay. Blockchain games have existed since 2017, gaining wider attention from the video game industry in 2021. Several AAA publishers have expressed intent to include this technology in the future. Players, developers, and game companies have criticized the use of blockchain technology in video games for being exploitative, environmentally unsustainable, and unnecessary.

<i>Just Dance 2021</i> 2020 video game

Just Dance 2021 is a 2020 dance rhythm game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was unveiled on August 26, 2020 during the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase August 2020 web presentation as the twelfth main installment of the series, and was released on November 12, 2020, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Stadia, and on November 24, 2020, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It is the first game in the series since the initial title not to be announced at E3, due to the event's cancellation in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also the first game in the main series not to be released for the Wii and the first game in the series not to be available on a Nintendo optical disc.

References

  1. ↑ Dossena, Tiziano Thomas (October 29, 2014). "From Lost Side Of Suburbia to Poptropica, An Exclusive Interview with Artist Kory Merritt". L'Idea Magazine. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ McCracken, Harry (August 16, 2011). "50 Websites that make the web great". Time . Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  3. ↑ Solis, Brian (2010). "Virtual Worlds". Engage. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-0-470-57109-5.
  4. ↑ Rosen, Judith (May 21, 2015). "New Owner for Poptropica and FEN". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  5. ↑ Dorbian, Iris (May 21, 2015). "Pearson sells Family Education Network to Sandbox Partners" . Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Pearson sells Family Education Network to Sandbox Partners - PE Hub". PE Hub. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  7. ↑ "State of the Game: Converting from Flash". Poptropica. Sandbox Networks Inc. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "Old Island Directory". server.idkonpop.com. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  9. ↑ @Poptropica (13 May 2022). "PSA: The NEW Poptropica bundle will available on Steam starting MAY 25th!!" – via Instagram.
  10. ↑ "Old Poptropica: picking up Steam". Poptropica Help Blog. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  11. ↑ https://twitter.com/Poptropica/status/1748070245762322700
  12. ↑ "Big Nate island". Poptropica. Sandbox Networks Inc. February 12, 2009. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Timmy Failure island". Poptropica. Sandbox Networks Inc. September 17, 2015. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Wimpy Boardwalk Island". Poptropica. Sandbox Networks Inc. July 3, 2012. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Wimpy Wonderland Island". Poptropica. Sandbox Networks Inc. March 14, 2011. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Red Dragon island". Poptropica. Sandbox Networks Inc. May 5, 2011. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory island". Poptropica. Sandbox Networks Inc. November 15, 2012. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  18. ↑ Kanjanapangka, Jeremy (March 10, 2023). "How to Play Old Poptropica Islands Games". Touch Tap Play. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Ubisoft and Poptropica partner to bring popular virtual world for kids to the Nintendo DS system". PRWeb. May 29, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Poptropica Forgotten Islands". Nintendo. 2014. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.