Poptropica is an online role-playing game targeted to a demographic of people aged 6 to 15 and owned by Pearson PLC. It was launched in September 2007 and is primarily free, but also offers paid-for membership advantages. Poptropica offers a world divided in islands. Each island has its own theme and quest to complete. Users can acquire a number of items to customize their avatar with through these quests and by obtaining in-game money to spend at the shops. Membership's advantages include exclusive access to certain outfits and access to new islands four weeks earlier than non-paying users.
Poptropica creates a lot of content itself, but sometimes also hires other companies to create content for them. One such company is Treefox Cartoons.
Mattel partnered with Poptropica in March of 2010 to promote Hot Wheels. Monster High promotions were added to the partnership on June 8, 2010. All promotions revolve around obtaining outfits and accessories for the avatar characters by participating in events and winning games.
Events[]
- June 8, 2010 - Poptropica creates its first Monster High advertisement area, which lasts for a month. It is accessible only to female Poptropica characters of 10 and 12 years of age and located on 24 Carrot Island. The area is a building in which a mannequin area and a photo booth are located. Outfits that can be obtained are the 'Basic' clothes and accessories of Lagoona Blue, Clawdeen Wolf, Draculaura, and Frankie Stein.
- April 13, 2011 - A Gloom Beach-themed advertisement area is made available. It features the Volume 2 webisode "Witch Trials" and offers a game in which the user has to memorize Holt Hyde's tune. The reward is Draculaura's Gloom Beach outfit.
- February 2, 2012 - A Sweet 1600-themed advertisement area representing the school is made available. It hosts the trailer of "Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love?" and contains a request by Frankie Stein to help deliver last-minute invitations. If accepted, a mini game starts in which the user has to guide Count Fabulous ever faster through the school, avoiding obstacles and touching students to deliver the invitations. If won, the user is awarded with Draculaura's Sweet 1600 outfit and Count Fabulous as companion sprite.
- September 4, 2012 - To promote the three new ghouls: Robecca Steam, Venus McFlytrap, and Rochelle Goyle, Poptropica relaunches the high school advertisement area. From there, each ghoul's dorm room can be visited, which contains their profile, the outfits for avatar customization, and an ability for the avatar. Venus's Pollenator power temporarily creates a greenish cloud around the avatar, Rochelle's Stone Gargoyle power turns another character to stone for a bit, and Robecca's Jet Pack launches the avatar into the sky and back.
- February 16, 2013 - The release of Scaris: City of Frights and "Scaris: City of Frights" is preceded by another promotion, this time containing a trailer for the TV special and two games. The first game is a fashion show in which four outfits for four models need to be assembled from a collection of wigs, shirts, belts, and skirts. The reward is Skelita Calaveras's Scaris: City of Frights outfit and the ability to summon all four models to come show off the previously put-together outfits. The second game gives the user control of a scooter as they have to catch ten pages from Clawdeen's lookbook through gameplay similar to the Sweet 1600 game. The reward is Jinafire Long's Scaris: City of Frights outfit and the possibility to peek inside the lookbook, which contains screenshots and models of the five main Scaris: City of Frights characters.
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