Love Island The Game: Then And Now 

Fusebox, oh Fusebox why would you do this to me? This is what I and many other Redditors felt when the decision to delete seasons 1-3 of Love Island: The Game (though we were especially sad about the deletion of seasons 1 and 2). What about fan favorites like Bobby, Lottie, and Talia? Were they all just a figment of our imagination? Upon opening the OG app for Love Island: The Game, now titled Love Villa, there are zero remnants of the stories that got us hooked in the first place (RIP, Chelsea that was my girl😭). Oh wait, what am I talking about? Read more to find out the backstory of the hit mobile story game, Love Island: The Game / Love Villa. Also, stay tuned for my blog post that'll cover my thoughts on the current Love Island: The Game season - Tempting Fate. 

Introducing Love Island: The Game

Have you ever heard of the insanely popular reality TV show Love Island? Hosted by ITV (British Broadcast Television Network) this is a game show that follows a group of single people who move into a luxury villa (typically in Spain or Mexico) for an unforgettable summer full of love and drama. The goal for each contestant is to stay in a couple the entire summer for them to have a chance at winning the grand prize money. Once a couple survives and is deemed winners, they will each open an envelope (one person will get the money, the other gets nothing) the individual with the prize money then needs to decide if they want to split it with their new TV beau or take all the money for themselves.  I watched the first season of Love Island UK and I must say, the show was something else. A little too crass for my Bob's Burgers-loving self, therefore, I could not proceed to watch the other seasons or even the US spinoff of the franchise. I remember when I was first introduced to the game many years ago and I have been playing ever since. One day back in 2019, I saw my then-favorite YouTuber upload a gameplay of Love Island: The Game. At first, I was confused as I thought it was only a TV show. However, Love Island: The Game was developed and published by Fusebox Games in 2019 for mobile gaming available on Apple and Android. Love Island: The Game / Love Villa follows the exact same formula as its predecessor Love Island The TV Show. This made the experience feel immersive for people who were actual fans of the show. I may have not been able to finish watching the TV show, but I can play the crap out of a game, especially one revolving around love, fashion, and scandal. However, in recent years there has been a major uproar regarding Fusebox and the many changes they've implemented between 2020-2021. Before we can get into how everything has changed, let's first get into how it started.

Love Island: The Game Then (2018-2020)

Season 1 - Love Island: The Game Season 1 was a phenomenal introduction to Love Island. This was available to play on June 10, 2018, on all mobile devices. Whether you were a big fan of the TV show or did not know about it, this was fundamental to expanding the franchise to multiple people. I'm no stranger to "choose your own" adventure-style mobile games so this was right up my alley. Besides Vine, back in high school, I spent a lot of my leisure time playing games mobile games such as Episode and Choices. However, Love Island: The Game felt different to me. It seemed more "mature" which is what I was looking for since I was now a college student. Once I saw my favorite YouTuber play it, I was excited to download the game on my iPhone and see what it's like. Season 1 had a rustic-looking style even for 2018, however, once involved in the storyline it's easy to look past. In this game, there are not many options in terms of character customization, and the clothing style was very much 2014 even though we were in the year 2018. However, I must say it was one of the strongest written seasons. We had substantial character interactions with the likes of Mason, Levi, Talia, and the infamous Cherry, #Cherrygate. This season was truly satisfying. Unfortunately, there are no screenshots of my gameplay from this season since I played on my old iPhone 7 and the game has been removed from the game's app by Fusebox since December of 2023. 

 The season had a huge replayability factor which is why I remember it so vividly. Once I finished it, I'd just play it all over again. While waiting for the next season, we were given a Christmas-themed episode with our favorite characters. My LI's during my multiple gameplays were Levi, Talia, and Mason. See the picture below for the Season 1 cast.

Photo Credit: fuseboxgames.fandom.com. Look at their beautiful faces!

Season 2 - This season, in my opinion, was the most iconic one. Released on June 6, 2019, this season had everything Season 1 lacked (character customization options, relevant fashion, and even a prom event) and then some! The scripting in this was pretty strong at the beginning and end of the season (the middle was a bit lackluster but Fusebox made up for it). Regardless, this was such a strong season. I'm actually sad I don't have any pictures of my gameplay because I played this season probably 20 times or more. Like season 1, it was the exact same premise as before. A bunch of 'hot' people who are single go to a villa,  and you choose your LI or  Love interest to stick with during the summer competition to win that cash prize. We had double the drama than season one and #Cherrygate was funnily enough mentioned (I like that fourth wall breaking). Some iconic drama-filled moments include the cheating scandal with Rocco and Marisol as well as Operation NOPE which was basically a scheme to separate Noah and Hope aka NOPE. Some of my favorite characters to befriend in this season were: Chelsea, Priya, and Lottie. I remember the storylines of Season 2 since I played it the most out of all of the seasons ever made. In fact, I enjoyed this season so much that I had to see what the people on social media were saying about it since no one I knew played it. This introduced me to the Love Island: The Game side of Twitter. It was a field day and a half reading user's thoughts and opinions on this iconic season. A lot of people truly enjoyed it and Fusebox was the most interactive with their players during this time.  I will say the biggest faults I remember in Season 2 were some weird glitches between the characters of Henrik and Lucas. There was also that one episode dedicated to birds. I like weird stuff but that just seemed like a random filler episode that could have been better utilized. The characters that I pursued as LI's this season include Bobby, Marisol, Lucas, and Noah (this costs a friendship with Hope but it was worth it ). Before closing the chapter on this season's cast, Fusebox gave us the amazing episode titled "Chelsea's Murder Mystery." I  remember playing this while on my forbidden Noah route and the story exceeded my expectations. Plus Chelsea is my Love Island: The Game bestie so it was great to spend time with her while trying to solve a mystery. See the below picture to view some of the iconic characters of this season. I miss them so much!

Photo Credit: fuseboxgames.fandom.com. Look at these gorgeous people!

Season 3 - By far the most shocking one for me, Season 3 was released on June 23, 2020. For one, the art style was completely different than what we'd seen in previous seasons. The LI's or Love interests seemed to have adorned a more adolescent art style rather than the refined and "mature" look of the aforementioned seasons. This is the first season where we were able to explore multiple body types for our MC or Main Character. However, that did not change what was lacking in this season - the writing. The writing and storyline felt haphazard this season.  I could not even tell you what drama ensued in this one because this season just did not meet the expectations of what players had experienced previously. People were very vocal on social media websites citing that this season felt different. People were split, some people liked it and some really did not like it. Nonetheless, I stuck it through until the end to give it a fair chance and I did not like it nearly as much as I liked (loved) the other seasons. I did make the most out of my gameplay and pursued the following characters: AJ, Harry, and Camillo. The best part of this season was seeing Afro-Latin representation with Camillo and having Elladine and AJ as friends. As the episodes went on in this season, players knew something was off with the production of this one. After further investigation, players and fans of the game realized a bigger issue was brewing within the game-developing company, Fusebox. I want to spend the next paragraph getting into that. For now, look below at the art style for season 3. 

Photo Credit: fuseboxgames.fandom.com. Look at them...

Fusebox Drama (The brief version) - It was apparent something was off once the character design for season 3 was revealed to fans via social media. Of course, after playing season 3 it became clear that Fusebox was going through something major. I believe during the rollout of this season, a lot of information was being said about the work culture over at Fusebox from former employees on social media. I recall looking through the r/loveisland subreddit and Twitter trying to figure out what exactly happened. From what I can remember, serious accusations were made by former employees. The accusations were pretty heavy so I will not get into that but it is on the internet if anyone is curious to know what it entailed. I can't tell you if these accusations were proved accurate in a court of law but what I can say is a lot of the OG writers who worked on the game were either fired or resigned after (or during) the rollout of season 3. The following season of Love Island: The Game (season 4) would further prove the dissatisfaction that players felt with Fusebox. I personally liked season 4 more than season 3. The art style went back to the refined "adult" look and the characters were interesting so I was satisfied in that regard. However, it was obvious that the writing and effort from Fusebox had indeed plummeted and players were tired of it. This season came out right after those allegations were made which increased the mistrust players had with Fusebox. Season 4 is still available to play now so I won't do a paragraph on this one. I will, however, include screenshots of player reactions to it on social media. This is important because as mentioned, this season is right after the allegations. Players were loud about their disdain for the new creative direction and alleged working conditions. Take a look at these player critiques from 2021.  

Pictures of player tweets sourced from Twitter back in 2021. 

I honestly don't remember season 4 being that bad. Then again, I've only played it once, maybe twice (because of Will). I agree that many shortcuts were made with this season which is unfortunate because it had a great cast of Love Interests and Friends. 

Love Island: The Game - Now (2022 - 2024)

Since season 4 was released on January 26, 2022, Fusebox has adjusted its game tremendously. For one, the seasons used to simply go by: S1, S2, and S3 however, now Fusebox is including specific storylines for each of their seasons. For example, Season 4 is titled "Bombshell." In this season players come into the Villa after the other NPCs have already coupled up and got to know each other. The old formula was that players would enter the villa at the same time as the NPCS therefore, everyone got a fair chance to get to know each other and couple up. Season 5 also did something different. It is titled "Ex In The Villa" and you guessed it, your ex shows up in the villa while you are trying to move on and get to know new people. I found this season particularly annoying the ex was annoying and super persistent. Some players cited feeling uncomfortable by his persistence. This trend of themes will proceed as FuseBox continues to create new seasons every few months. Do I like this new formula? Not really but this is what Fusebox has been doing for over 2 years now and I can't imagine them changing that.

Final Thoughts

Love Island: The Game was an experience within my gaming hobby that I will never forget. Being able to design my own character in my likeness, learn British slang, party in a villa, and meet characters of all backgrounds has been such a fun experience. There are many faults with the game now but I'm certain there have always been faults. However, things do feel different now. I come back to this game specifically for the nostalgic feeling. I try to bring back the fond memories of what it once was by playing what it is now. It's just unfortunate that FuseBox removed those first 3 seasons. I don't know if it was for legal reasons or if they no longer wanted those seasons to represent their game. Seasons 1 and 2 were by far the best seasons ever created and I just wish players could experience them again. Nonetheless, I will continue playing the new seasons and hope that we as players come across something good. I am currently playing their new season, season 8 titled "Tempting Fate". So far I am not feeling it but I hope as I continue to play, I'll find something to like about it. Have you ever played Love Island: The Game before? What are your thoughts about the changes? Get loud in the comments and I'll see you next time!