Be the hero of your own story-Poptropica is a place where imagination and creativity allows you to explore, engage, and interact in a world of uncharted islands. Take on epic adventures in story-based islands created by the one and only Jeff Kinney! Battle monsters, solve. Poptropica, a virtual world for kids to travel, play games, compete in head-to-head competition, and communicate safely. Kids can also read books, comics, and see movie clips while they play. Sep 05, 2017 The Poptropica Creators have always claimed Poptropica is an educational game, but is really true? Or, at least it started out like that — Poptropica’s first three islands were pretty educational.
Millions of Kids Find Educational Games and More on Safe, Online Environment for Fun and Learning
Poptropica offers parents and kids the best possible online world. Kids can enjoy challenging stories and online games, while parents can trust that their children are playing -- and learning -- in a safe online environment. That's why the site's popularity has grown so quickly
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RSSBoston, MA (PRWEB)June 30, 2009
Poptropica, the Web's fastest growing virtual world for kids, has entered Quantcast.com's list of top 300 Web sites, based on monthly visitors. Less than two years old, the safe online environment for fun and learning recently secured the 274th slot on the online audience measurement firm's list. Poptropica users have created more than 120 million online characters who explore and learn on the site's nine virtual islands.
This news follows the remarkable launch of the site's new Astro-Knights Island on June 10, when 1.2 million users logged on to explore this online Medieval space adventure. Early access to this new island was made possible by Poptropica's recently launched virtual economy system for kids, through which parents or other adults can purchase credits for their children's accounts. Kids can then use these credits to purchase Early Access passes to play new islands before they are launched to the public, and can buy costumes, special powers and features for their online avatars. Kids also earn a limited number of free credits when they complete islands on Poptropica.
Parents and online pundits around the world have been singing the praises of this educational virtual world for children. 'NetFamilyNews' sent an 'undercover Mom' on to Poptropica, and she concluded, 'Poptropica does indeed boast an admirable educational dimension. Kids travel back in time and meet historical figures like Leonardo daVinci and Thomas Edison. They traipse through Aztec Ruins and learn about the dorsal fins of Great White sharks. Children who want to learn more can click a button that links them directly to more information at FEN's FactMonster.com.'
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n her blog, 'My Digital Summer,' a parent and graduate student in library science said, 'Due to its educational aspects, many kids are allowed, and even encouraged to play the game at school. I think it is a fantastic resource, and I am excited to share it with others.'
Or, as 'Wired' magazine's 'Geek Dad' said in May 2009 when his daughter chose Poptropica over all of the other gaming options in the house, 'All in all, this is a great site.'
Poptropica is visited by nearly 7.5 million kids each month. The members of this virtual world for kids come from more than 70 different countries and have their Web browsers set to more than 90 different languages, ranging from Spanish and Sanskrit to Vietnamese and Croatian. Upon arrival at Poptropica, kids are asked to select their age, a user name and password. They then create an avatar to explore the online virtual islands for kids. They can choose from numerous characters, hairstyles and colors, eyes, lips and clothing to create their own unique character. Using scripted chat, young Internet users on Poptropica safely and easily interact with others online, never sharing any personal or identifying information.
'Poptropica offers parents and kids the best possible online world. Kids can enjoy challenging stories and online games, while parents can trust that their children are playing -- and learning -- in a safe online environment. That's why the site's popularity has grown so quickly,' said Jess M. Brallier, general manager, Family Education Network, publisher of Poptropica. 'Poptropica's virtual economy adds another element for parents to enhance their kids' experience on the site if they wish. All Poptropica islands are -- and will continue to be -- free for all kids to play.'
Later this summer, Poptropica will launch its 10th new island to challenge, entertain and educate the millions of kids around the world who visit the site every month.
About Poptropica (Poptropica.com):
Developed by Family Education Network, the makers of Funbrain, Poptropica is a virtual world where kids can travel, play games, collect objects and compete with other players in head-to-head competition. Players can also safely interact and communicate with other inhabitants of Poptropica. There are always new areas to explore in this ever-expanding world, and players can read digital books and comics and watch movies along the way.
Family Education Network is part of Pearson, the world's largest education and technology company. Pearson's other primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.
Poptropica Is Educational
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| 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 |
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
Poptropica Educational Games
- ^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/