| Poptropica | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Jeff Kinney Group (formerly) StoryArc Media |
| Publisher(s) | Pearson Education(formerly) Sandbox Networks |
| Designer(s) | Pete Amomaur Jeff Kinney |
| Engine | Adobe Flash |
| Platform(s) | Web iOS |
| Release | July 2007 September 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Educational, Adventure, single-player with Massively multiplayer online game elements. |
| Mode(s) | Single and multiplayer |
Mar 29, 2014 My Tour for the Poptropica Tribes is here!! Hope you enjoyed this Showcase of the Tribes and I hope you select a good tribe. Subscribe for more Poptropica video's!! Music provided. Nov 08, 2013 The video starts out as a tour of the multiplayer rooms for each of the tribes, and then becomes a long talk about video games. Currently, this video wins the award for being my longest video.
Poptropica is an onlinerole-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, the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. As of 2015, he remains at the company as the Creative Director.[1]
In the game, players can go to different 'islands' (game quest scenarios), compete in multiplayer games, and communicate with each other. The islands all have various difficulties, but all center on a problem that the player must resolve by going through multiple obstacles or completing goals. All islands, upon finishing, award 'Poptropica credits' which are non-negotiable but may be used to buy costumes and special effects in the Poptropica store.
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] In 2012, Poptropica had an Alexa Internet rating of 1,302 in the United States, and a ranking of 5,162 in the world.[3] By 2012, the game had grown to have over 500 million registered users, with 35 million in the 15-25 age group.[4] Versions of the game have been released on Nintendo DS and 3DS, and iOS mobile devices. In May 2015, it was announced that Family Education Network was sold by Pearson to the interactive-education venture capitalist Sandbox Networks,[5] and that Poptropica had 'over 3.2 million monthly unique users in 200 countries and territories.'[6]
In 2015, Poptropica was sold to educational-technology investment ground, Sandbox Partners.[7]
Gameplay
When it first launched in 2007, Poptropica only had one island, titled Early Poptropica Island. As of 2017, it has 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. Each island has its own quest, for which a player can 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, Timmy Failure, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Magic Tree House. These islands are permanent, and can be played at any time. In 2015, a total of seven of these islands became members-only.
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.
Expansions
Island Creator Kit
In August 2013, an island creator kit was made available for purchase. It is an activity book that walks the player through all the same steps the developers take when they make a new Island: coming up with a storyline, creating characters, and designing puzzles.
Poptropica Adventures
In 2012, in partnership with Ubisoft, Poptropica released a new video game for the Nintendo DS, titled Poptropica Adventures.[8]
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.[9] It has been replaced on iOS 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 features, such as redesigned characters, customizable homes, and new Islands. Returning players are able to 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.
References
- ^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.
- ^McCracken, Harry (August 16, 2011). '50 Websites that make the web great'. TIME. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^Alexa ranking
- ^Brian Solis (2010). 'Virtual Worlds'. Engage. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN978-0-470-57109-5.
- ^Rosen, Judith (May 21, 2015). 'New Owner for Poptropica and FEN'. Publisher Weekly. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
- ^Dorbian, Iris (May 21, 2015). 'Pearson sells Family Education Network to Sandbox Partners'. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^'Pearson sells Family Education Network to Sandbox Partners - PE Hub'. PE Hub. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- ^'Ubisoft and Poptropica partner to bring popular virtual world for kids to the Nintendo DS system'. PRWeb. May 29, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^https://web.archive.org/web/20141012014051/https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/CoA7KDYAI99r7hBGI2w-hZtcxRBtTbQb/
External links
Poptropolis Games
TrailerS
Video Playthrough
Poptropica Cheats for Poptropolis Games Island
Archery Archery is one of the easier sports. You just aim and click when the power meter (which is always swaying) becomes centered. Watch out for wind and gravity, though! As a rule of thumb, if the wind is at 10 mph, aim at the black ring of the board, at the opposite edge of the wind direction. Adjust accordingly for different wind speeds. Gravity usually only pulls the dart down by the same amount as the thickness of a ring, but it pulls more the farther you aim from the right edge. There are ten shots in all, and it's not tough to get 9 points or more on every throw. I recommend some practice shots to warm-up. Hurdles This one is easy, but tougher than it looks. You click to jump before every hurdle. If you click whenever you are two or three inches behind one, you should be fine. Remember: always go through the practices! | Diving In diving, you have to hold your mouse to the left or right of your Poptropican to spin in the direction shown by the arrows. Complete all the spins to finish a routine, and click just before hitting the water after every routine for a perfect dive! Three of these and you're the top winner. Javelin The javelin throw is very easy, but kind of hard to understand. You click when the javelin stick is at the optimal angle to set the angle. You'll know when the time is right because your stick will glow. Then click to set the power. It's best if the power meter is in the green, but anywhere near is good enough. Be sure to practice. That's all there is to it! *NOTE: in Poptropolis Games 2013, if you forget to click on the power meter during practice, it becomes impossible to win because your Poptropican keeps sliding forward.* |
Long Jump The long jump is also one of the easier sports. You simply press and hold the mouse button to start running, release the button when you're running over the number 1, and click again while you're at the top of your jump to lunge forward. Practice makes perfect! Power Lifting Believe it or not, Power Lifting is super easy. All you have to do is repeatedly click on the moving yellow circle. If it turns green, you clicked on it and your score increases, if it turns red you didn't click on it and your score decreases. This gets a bit tough starting with the 400 kg mark, though. At this point, note that not clicking is better than clicking and getting it wrong. And always remember to practice. That's it! Skiing The rules are simple: avoid everything except the gates of torches and the ramps. You are timed, but actual time doesn't count for much as going through the gates reduces the time. This one takes lots of practice, but I discovered that 18 seconds will get you first place. | Pole Vault Now, the Pole Vault is a bit hard. Run to the launch area, and press AND HOLD to begin your jump. Then, release the mouse when your pole is tipped toward the bottom of the green zone. But it's a little hard to get the timing right, so make sure to practice. Shot Put Shot Put seems easy, but it's difficult to master. You have to click three times when the indicator is on the green to set your angle. The last one can throw off all the others, so this helps: get it slightly wrong on the first two, then get it wrong in the opposite way on the last one. Next, click when all three spinning indicators are lined up in the green to set you power. Then, you just watch your rock fly. You have to practice many times to get this right. Volleyball We've all played Volleyball, right? Well, this is a hundred times worse. You move your mouse back and forth to get under the ball. But since the screen scrolls to keep the ball in the center, you're better off guessing. My strategy is to keep the mouse perfectly still until the ball crosses the net, then tracking it. To hit the ball, try to get it to bump on the right edge of your head, or a little higher. |