Webkinz
Our youngest is a huge fan of Webkinz. Every time we get the kids, she asks to go on the computer so she can sign into Webkinz, and if she can, she'll spend hours online taking care of her pets. About a month ago I decided I wanted to see what the whole Webkinz thing was about, so she and I went to the nearest Hallmark to see which Webkinz animal I wanted to get as my pet. Since there isn't a Webkinz dachshund yet, I decided on the white Samoyed. As soon as we got home, we started setting up my account. When you first adopt a Webkinz pet, you get a room for them, a certain amount of Kinzcash (your currency to spend on the site), and a couple of introduction items for your pet, including an exclusive item for their house (mine was an arctic slide) and a special treat just for that particular pet type. (My pet is named Scruffy. He's a nerf herder.)
I initially dismissed Webkinz as something just for kids, a simple site with adoptable animals to keep kids occupied, but the people who came up with the idea put a lot more thought and detail into than I realized.
If you buy a stove, blender, and/or sandwich-maker for your pet, you can prepare food for them. I've actually put together a recipe book of the foods I like making for my pet (lasagna! bean burritos! berry tarts! cinnamon buns!). Really, it's much more entertaining than you might think. And if you put together the wrong ingredients you can end up with a blech sandwich or gak, neither of which is appetising to a pet.
If you buy an outdoor room and seeds, you can plant a garden, which you then can take care of by watering daily, raking as needed, etc. Once you harvest the produce you can either feed it to your pet (who finds it tastier and more healthy for them than the produce you can buy in the W shop), or you can sell it to the W shop to earn more Kinzcash. You can grow corn, pumpkins, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, watermelon, and strawberries. I have crops of each of those growing right now, and it is surprisingly satisfying to harvest a little pixelated pumpkin every few days.
You can buy more rooms of varying sizes (5 x 5, 7 x 7, and 10 x 10) or an outdoor room (10 x 10 only) and then you can buy things to decorate the room with. There are various room themes to choose from - rock star, arctic, modern apartment, beach, and many others - or if you decorate the room your own way, there are several different floor covering (various types of tiles, carpets, and wood patterns) and wall treatment (wallpapers and paints) options available.
You can earn Kinzcash by playing various arcade games (solitaire, a skunk-themed version of minesweeper, and many more) or by working. There is a Webkinz employment center, and every 8 hours you can go there and choose a job. Some have various requirements, while others are ones you can do right away. Personally I can't stand having to wait 8 hours, but it's not like I have a lot of say in the matter.
If you've purchased a bathtub you can give your pet baths (there's even a rubber ducky that you can put in the tub for them to play with). If you have a sink you can wash your pet's face and paws, groom them, and brush their teeth. If you have a bed, you can put your pet to bed before you log out. In fact, you are strongly encouraged to do this, that way your pet gets an adequate amount of sleep and doesn't get sick.
Seriously, I love this concept. It's simple enough for younger kids to enjoy, but with enough detail that adults who don't mind playing a kids' game can still have fun with it too. I don't think I want more than one Webkinz pet, though. That just seems like too much for me to keep up with. Unless they put out a Webkinz doxie, in which case all bets are off.
I initially dismissed Webkinz as something just for kids, a simple site with adoptable animals to keep kids occupied, but the people who came up with the idea put a lot more thought and detail into than I realized.
If you buy a stove, blender, and/or sandwich-maker for your pet, you can prepare food for them. I've actually put together a recipe book of the foods I like making for my pet (lasagna! bean burritos! berry tarts! cinnamon buns!). Really, it's much more entertaining than you might think. And if you put together the wrong ingredients you can end up with a blech sandwich or gak, neither of which is appetising to a pet.
If you buy an outdoor room and seeds, you can plant a garden, which you then can take care of by watering daily, raking as needed, etc. Once you harvest the produce you can either feed it to your pet (who finds it tastier and more healthy for them than the produce you can buy in the W shop), or you can sell it to the W shop to earn more Kinzcash. You can grow corn, pumpkins, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, watermelon, and strawberries. I have crops of each of those growing right now, and it is surprisingly satisfying to harvest a little pixelated pumpkin every few days.
You can buy more rooms of varying sizes (5 x 5, 7 x 7, and 10 x 10) or an outdoor room (10 x 10 only) and then you can buy things to decorate the room with. There are various room themes to choose from - rock star, arctic, modern apartment, beach, and many others - or if you decorate the room your own way, there are several different floor covering (various types of tiles, carpets, and wood patterns) and wall treatment (wallpapers and paints) options available.
You can earn Kinzcash by playing various arcade games (solitaire, a skunk-themed version of minesweeper, and many more) or by working. There is a Webkinz employment center, and every 8 hours you can go there and choose a job. Some have various requirements, while others are ones you can do right away. Personally I can't stand having to wait 8 hours, but it's not like I have a lot of say in the matter.
If you've purchased a bathtub you can give your pet baths (there's even a rubber ducky that you can put in the tub for them to play with). If you have a sink you can wash your pet's face and paws, groom them, and brush their teeth. If you have a bed, you can put your pet to bed before you log out. In fact, you are strongly encouraged to do this, that way your pet gets an adequate amount of sleep and doesn't get sick.
Seriously, I love this concept. It's simple enough for younger kids to enjoy, but with enough detail that adults who don't mind playing a kids' game can still have fun with it too. I don't think I want more than one Webkinz pet, though. That just seems like too much for me to keep up with. Unless they put out a Webkinz doxie, in which case all bets are off.