Learning site Funbrain says more than 14 million children have used its Poptropica virtual world since it launched last September. I hadn't heard of it before, but it's proof that kids' appetite for virtual worlds is growing strongly - and is not necessarily restricted to the large existing worlds like Webkinz and Club Penguin.
The world offers safe interaction between users, with scripted chat rather than free reign. Mini-games are, as ever, a big feature, including head-to-head sudoku and Hoops games for children to play against one another. The obligatory avatar customisation is also there.
Funbrain has also just launched a new island in the world, called Time Tangled Island. It’s got a time-machine theme, meaning that while exploring it, users get all manner of historical facts and figures thrown at them. Subjects include Thomas Jefferson, Mount Everest, the Statue of Liberty, Aztec civilization and Ancient Greece, among others.
The new island joins existing islands Early Poptropica and Shark Tooth Island, with a fourth - 24 Carrot Island - due to be unveiled in the coming months. Funbrain is certainly on an expansion tip, predicting that it’ll have 10 islands in the world by the end of this year.
1 comments
Ilwaad
16.05.08 at 19:06