Shining Light on Hidden Gems #4 - Astana

In this series, I will be displaying users who you may or may not know so well, but that I think deserves more credit. This could be that the user has well made quizzes which don't have many plays, or that the user is a great person and should be recognized by more people. Whatever the case may be, I will be talking about it here. This is not an interview, as that would be a direct ripoff of baptistegorce's "Interview of a JetPunker" series, which is not my intention at all. I simply want to spotlight users who I think should be more popular. Enjoy!

I have selected user Astana as my fourth entry in this series because most of her excellent quizzes are not noticed much by the larger portion of JetPunkers. While she has had a great impact on the small community, I want to try and shine light on her talent. Astana is, at least in my eyes, known for making her Jeppy Adventure SVG quizzes, where the JetPunk mascot fish Jeppy can be seen partaking in some shenanigans. These quizzes are quite enjoyable, but of course, she has other great quizzes which I will highlight too, as well as her many blogs. She is also a good JetPunk friend, which has encouraged me to make it sooner rather than later.

I have a feeling this episode may be a bit controversial... for reasons... so if you have nothing nice to say, please go back to Discord and say it there, not in my comment section. Much thanks; let us begin!

Compared to the last episode about user Shannanygans, there is a whole lot more to say about Astana. While she has around 600 quizzes as of posting this blog, she only has 40,000 takes in total. Most of her quizzes get less than 100 takes each, and the majority of these only get 50 takes. Out of all of these quizzes, only one is Featured, and she didn't even make it*, unfortunately. This Featured quiz is her most taken quiz, however, she has many more takes on other quizzes of hers. So, without further ado, here are what I think Astana's best quizzes are.

* More about this quiz at the end of the blog; I am excluding it from this section for reasons above.

I couldn't start this list without including her most prominent, yet so underrated, quiz called Jeppy's Prison Break. This quiz is about Jeppy escaping prison. Sounds simple, but this quiz is just the begin of what Astana made into a full series of Jeppy's grand escape. Along the way, you help Jeppy by identifying certain things in each SVG. For this quiz, you have to identify country shapes he finds around the prison. They might be dirt spots, but Jeppy is going insane, so he can't tell without your help! 

Each quiz contains great SVG artwork, and you can click on the scene to change Jeppy's location. This is the same for all of her SVG quizzes in this series, which you should check out HERE. The interactive game is quite enjoyable, and the story makes it all that much better. Astana was able to get many of the quizzes in this series translated into other languages, notably French, and has received more takes from these translations. However, her SVG skills still lay under the radar, which is why I'm trying to highlight them here. These quizzes are not very popular for her, which is sad considering they are amazing.

One of her more taken quizzes, Click a Valid Country #1 is a Tile Select quiz asking you certain geographic questions. You have to click the correct countries given to you based on the questions. It is a short quiz, but plain and simple isn't a bad thing. She made similar quizzes, being Click a Valid Country Flag #1 and Click a Valid Country Flag-Shape #1, which both have just over 100 takes. All these quizzes are sweet and simple, and she has many more in each series respectively.

Her most taken Sudden Death quiz, as of posting this blog, is her Duolingo Languages-Sudden Death. The quiz is well made, having a variety of different language selections. Some answers are straight-forward, while others are quite funny. The idea is simple, but the execution is fantastic. I would say that this is the quiz in this blog that is most worthy of a Feature, as it appeals to the majority of JetPunk users, and would be ideal for people to take.

Be it not so popular, her Pride Flags Quiz is actually a good quiz in my opinion. While Quizmaster might not think it's a good Feature for the sight, and while the quiz might be controversial to some, the quiz is not even bad. It's simple, yet a bit short, but still a good quiz. I assume most people won't know much about it, and might care even less, but I think it's at least worthy of a spotlight here. Featuring it might not be the best idea; I'm sure most people would agree. This quiz isn't one of her most popular, but I think it's well made either way.

She has other quizzes of the sort, such as LGBTQ Terms Quiz #1. This quiz actually used to be her most taken (it just surpassed 1,000 takes), but after she obtained her Featured quiz*, it no longer is.

These are just some of her most popular quizzes. These are also just my opinion of her best quizzes, so feel free to explore her other quizzes HERE. She has just under 600 as of posting this blog, and with just 40,000 takes, she is certainly a hidden gem. However, I would say that a lot more of her time is put into her blogs rather than quizzes. More below.

Astana is known for her contribution to the blogging section of JetPunk. Of course she makes great quizzes, but I would say, from my perspective, she is more known as a blogger than a quiz maker. This is largely due to the fact that she has nearly 150 blogs! That's a crazy amount, so it's hard for me to name specific blogs that are my favorite. She has many great stories, as well as informational blogs.

I truly cannot say what her best blogs are. There are too many, and they are all great. Go read some of her stories if you haven't already, as they all tell a fascinating tale. Check them all out HERE!

After making this blog, Astana has chosen to leave JetPunk. I don't know for how long, but she won't be around anymore. However, I will still talk about her legacy.

Astana was on JetPunk some good time before I was, and she made a good amount of quizzes and blogs. I first met her at the end of 2024, when I stepped into the blogging community (and the greater community in general). I learned who she was, and that she was known on JetPunk. With the addition of the Message Board, she could connect with others on the site, including myself, where she promoted her creations with positive feedback from us. I feel like most people know who she is, as she has made a large impact of the site as a whole. She was one of the most active users, and contributed heavily.

* The Featured quiz I am referring to is the Multiple Choice City Quiz - Warsaw. It is her only Featured quiz, but she obtained it after another user, TigerPl, transferred the quiz to Astana's account (through Stewart's assistance) for undisclosed reasons. So, it technically isn't her quiz, and I can't really include it in my rankings, even though it is a Featured quiz she has. This quiz has helped her gain some takes (only 1,500 as of posting this blog), and will likely give her some more recognition down the road.

Well, that wraps up this blog. Overall, I'm just suggesting you support this user. She makes really good content that tends to go unnoticed. Not always, but sometimes. I will make more of these in the future, as I already have ideas of who I want to feature in upcoming blogs. Thanks for reading, and if you haven't clicked on those links above, do so now!