Wednesday, March 5, 2008

World of Webkinz (a review)

I have recently been formally introduced to the wonderful world of Webkinz. I have known a bit about Webkinz for a while now...but never really looked into it farther. Apparently, its the "thing to do" if you are an elementary student. Jessalyn has been asking for one for a few weeks and I finally went ahead and got her one...and just because they are so cute I got one for Ethan and Luke as well.

We have now had a chance to play around in each of their little worlds. You start out adopting your pet, by using the code that is given to you on their tag. You get to name it and get a little birth certificate...with a birthday. (the kids think this is really cool) You also get a chunk of "kinz cash" to get you going.

You then get to set up the pets room. You use your kinzcash to buy the items you want to see in your room and then get to set it up as you please. You can deck out the room with all sorts of cool little items.

Of course, you start running out of cash pretty quickly so you then have to play games or answer trivia questions to earn more money. There are tons of games to choose from.

You also must feed your pet. It has a meter that lets you know how hungry and happy he or she is. I'm not sure what happens if you don't feed your pet...we haven't let that happen yet.

Although I like most of the stuff on this site there is one meter that I don't really like as much. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is one meter that rates how happy your pet is. I think the more you buy for your pet the happier it gets. We had to explain to Jessalyn right away that in real life we shouldn't love someone according to how much they buy us!

These little pets have proven to be a great source of entertainment for my kids...if only they each had their own computer so they wouldn't have to fight over "webkinz time". Of course, I tend to get a little worried when Jessalyn proclaims "I NEED to use the computer..because I HAVE to feed my webkinz" in this very desperate tone. (I don't know...I think she might have gotten this from me..."I NEED to check my messages...".

Is it wrong of me to want my own webkinz pet? I get to help Luke with his...but he wants to set up his room like a typical three year old would:) I suppose I will have to settle playing with the three that live in our house..

"Suzie" (Jessalyn's dalmation..named after my Aunt Susie)
"Zach" (Ethan's bull dog...named after Zach from the Wii game "Zach and Wiki")
"Yoube" (Luke's frog...I think he got the name from that show on Noggin)

5 comments:

Becky said...

Welcome to the wonderful world of Webkinz!! Hailey does the same thing...insists that she NEEDS to go on the computer to feed her pet so it won't "die". She loves it though and always asks me to do the hard trivia questions for her to get more points (money).

Anonymous said...

you can do the same thing on this website.. that way you dont have to buy one. It is very addictive! I used to have one..

Labbymommy said...

My kids are addicted to them. Tyler just adopted his 20th pet which gave him some crazy bonus bed. I play on Trevor's account and have found that his pets stay happy & healthy all the time, just a little hungry here and there. I think once you start playing regularly, you don't have to buy as much stuff. I can go days and days with just earning money and never spending it and the pets stay happy. The only consequence that I have found for not checking daily is that if I don't tend to my garden, my fruits & veggies die. Other than that, as long as you put your pet to bed before leaving, they will be fine. It's very different than the Tamagotchi concept. BTW, My fave game is Goober's Lab. Quite addicting! LOL

MoMologette said...

Yeah, we do webkinz here too. I can't imagine keeping up 20 though!!! I still have to help Elise cause she can't quite read yet so I find myself actually playing and she sits in my lap. Hmmm...no garden here yet....

I should figure out the friends list thing...it would be funny if us "moms" came across each other while playing with the kidets.

Teachermom said...

K just got her first Webkinz last month...a black horse named Shadow. I am glad she's the only one so far, because I'm sure she and M will fight like mad over the computer.

WE (the adults in the house) really like the games, too! We'll stockpile kinzcash for her now and then. IT's pretty cute to log on and see that she's purchased an aviator hat and schoolgirl outfit for Shadow, that she's put her to bed, etc. It's fun!