We reported earlier this week on plans to release a Club Penguin themed game for Nintendo's DS, but it's not the only virtual world looking to make such a leap. One of the buzz games at the E3 show has been Neopets Puzzle Adventure, which uses Nickelodeon's virtual world as the basis for a mixture of puzzling and RPG-style character development.
Developed by Infinite Interactive, the game is based on existing title Puzzle Quest, which uses a similar gameplay dynamic. The puzzle sections are loosely based on Othello / Reversi, with the ultimate aim of the game being to capture pets.
What I’ve found interesting is the attempt to preserve as much of the character of the original virtual world - in this case, by including many of its mini-games where you tame and train your pets, make items for them and cook food. The idea is clearly to have familiar elements for Neopets fans, bolstered with some new gameplay to take advantage of the DS (although the game is also coming out on the Wii console and PC).
One issue worth discussing is whether these spin-off games will be enough for the young users of virtual worlds like Neopets and Club Penguin, or whether they’ll ultimately want full access to the virtual worlds from their DS’s, which after all have built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. The technical complexities of such a cross-platform virtual world may be eye-watering, but it seems logical that eventually, web-based virtual worlds for teens and tweens will seek to expand to other devices, whether DS, Wii or mobile phones.
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