It’s the end of the year, and we have two islands to mark it (totally not because I got so lost in the holidays that I forgot to make November’s post!). I’ll be highlighting both islands selected for the past couple months, which are…
While not often listed among the most favorite classic islands, many fans have good memories of Game Show Island, and it has a particularly unique design and setting! It takes the futuristic aspects of Astro-Knights and the apocalyptic ones of Steamworks, and fuses them together in an A.I.-takes-over-humanity story. Also includes the fun and games style of Reality TV, this time with more danger!
But unlike Sprocket and Merlin, these robots are not so friendly, all culminating to an epic battle against the evil supercomputer Holmes… who you defeat with a flash drive. Ahem. Definitely a brains-over-brawn island!
All jokes aside, this island does have a lot of fun puzzles, at times requiring players to test their real-world knowledge with fun facts! It also features several IRL locations, including Istanbul, Miami, and Buenos Aires.
For our second and final feature, Mocktropica Island is a special one that is not remembered so much for storytelling, worldbuilding, or puzzles, but for its humor that pokes fun at the game itself, and all the negative directions the game and its developers could turn… some of which are hitting a little too close to home now.
Also, the theme music is severely underrated.
Mocktropica is definitely a cult classic. But will the devs ever re-release an island that would be even more self-deprecating now (especially considering the references to former employees)? Only time will tell. And let’s not forget the official Mega Fighting Bots website!
Let’s remind the Pop Creators why these islands became so memorable, and why the efforts that went to create them should not go to waste. Encourage them to preserve their past stories and their potential!
Until next year!
Castori honorem ~ Maryann/Smart Bubbles
🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺 
I love Game Show soooo much! I immensely enjoyed the little game shows ( especially Brainiacs! ) and had so much fun solving those little puzzles to slow down Holmes at the end.
As for Mocktropica, I like that as well. While it does relate a little too much to actual Pop nowadays, it’s a really awesome island nonetheless
Great Flash-backs to two classic islands! Game Show Island feels more relevant than ever with all the advancements in AI technology, and Mocktropica was a clever creation, more so with the background knowledge that its story was already unfolding while it was being made.