My Webkinz house is estimated to be worth 500,000 kinzcash. When I was eight years old I was raking in the money on this online game we all know as Webkins. According to Google Arts and Culture, Webkinz was released on April 29, 2005, by the Canadian toy company Ganz. This online platform could be accessed through a pet code on a card attached to the leg or paw of the stuffed animal. From there, players would have to log into their online Webkinz account and type in this pet code to unlock the Webkinz pet in the game. Once you had your pet in the game you had a world of options: You were able to customize your Webkinz house by adding rooms and all types of furniture. You could buy your Webkinz clothes, food, and different collectible items. The most famous part of the online Webkinz game was the mini-games. You could do anything from mining for gems to making pizzas and smoothies. 

Webkinz was a great game until the addition of the deluxe membership in 2014. With this addition, it locked players from playing certain mini-games, buying certain items, and adding new rooms to their houses. The deluxe membership was a whopping .99 cents for the first month and after the first month, it was 5.99 per month. That was an astronomical amount of money to me when I was younger, and I didn’t think my parents would let me buy the membership. This caused a lot of outrage amongst Webkinz players including myself. I was about eight at the time and when it was added I stopped playing. My pets now sat and waited for me to come back one day. 

I had not been on the game until very recently, but I was very curious to see how my favorite childhood game was doing. Upon logging in, a wave of nostalgia came over me. Much to my surprise, the Webkinz world had pretty much looked the way it did when I had stopped playing. Sadly the deluxe membership was still in, but seeing what eight-year-old me had accomplished and built up on this game made up for it. My three Webkinz pets –  a dog named Cody, a cat named Katherine, and a mouse named Sophy – were all thriving despite my years of neglect. I took my favorite Webkinz pet, Cody, and started playing all of my past favorite games. The games were incredibly easy, seeing as I’m a seventeen-year-old playing a children’s game.

Webkinz provided me with countless hours of enjoyment and it was great to log back on and reminisce. If you have never played before, I do not suggest you make an account because it is quite a childish game, but if you are a veteran player like myself then log on! Be sure to play all of your favorite mini-games and don’t forget to spin the wheel of wow!

“Webkinz – Google Arts & Culture.” Google, Google,  https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/webkinz/m0268pg0?hl=en.