Disney Online Multi-player Games: Reviews, Previews and Safety Tips
71Reviews, details on free trials, video previews, safe online behavior tips, costs and computer requirements for Disney's Toon Town, Club Penguin, Pixie Hollow and Pirates of the Caribbean multi-player online games. Make an informed choice. Check out the details before you subscribe!
Club Penguin
Six to ten year old kids love this online game. With well over ten million members, it is one of the most popular of all children’s sites. Children choose a name for their penguin then engage in an endless series of games many of which involve throwing snowballs whilst choosing special skills to overcome opponents. They can earn gold during games to buy cool clothes and igloos with all the best fittings (though in the free version there aren’t too many things to buy). A popular activity is making music videos to share.
The game provides a safe introduction to multi-player games, virtual worlds and social networking. Parents can use it to introduce ideas of online etiquette like how to deal with newly encountered players and rude or unhelpful players.
Players can chat to other children using controls set by parents that allow either ultra-safe stereotyped greetings only or filtered typed-chat.
It is free to join but for the full online game-play experience there is a charge of $9.95 dollars a month.
Visit Club Penguin Here
Pixie Hollow
This is a role playing online game for children six and older. The controls are easy and not frustrating even for the youngest children. The graphics are everything that you expect from Disney and children are easily drawn into the virtual world.
As a player you have three fairy avatars- on screen characters- that you can name and dress in a variety of outfits. Your home- usually found in the hollow of a tree- can also be decorated to suit your mood.
During game play there are leaves and flowers to find which can change the seasons. Badges can be won in various games to display in your special journal. Pixie money can be won in games and used to buy new clothes and decorations for your home.
This is a multi-player game so you will meet other players as you fly around the woods and meadows and make new friends. Chat with other players is regulated by parental controls.
Disney regularly adds new features such as the upcoming hair salon.
Male Pixies are not allowed!
Online game can be found here: http://pixiehollow.go.com/
The free version has limited game play but is useful in deciding if you want the full game at $9.95 a month.
Toontown
This was Disney’s first massively multi-player online game (often called a MMOG) and remains a firm favourite with children aged seven and over. The graphics are as rich as Disney TV cartoons and the game controls are easy to learn in Toon Tutorials offered before each game.
The main action is defeating the bad-guy Cog Robots with gags like trapdoor gags or squirting flowers. Gags are purchased with 'laff' points earned in simple but fun games scattered around the virtual world.
Chat is available at levels controlled by parents. With passwords, a player can chat to real life friends while playing the game and co-operate with them on tasks.
Team work is encouraged. Some tasks cannot be completed without other players help. For example, players cannot heal themselves they can only be healed by other players. More experienced players often have to help less experienced players to complete their tasks.
Online game can be found here: http://play.toontown.com/
Pirates of the Caribbean
This is an online multiplayer game for children of ten years and older. The graphics are great (see the video below) and there are there are plenty of quests like hunting for treasure .
You can earn gold either by playing blackjack and Tortuga hold 'em in taverns or completing quests. With gold you can buy ships or get special weapons upgrades from blacksmith’s shops.
The combat is either single combat or ship against ship where it is best to co-operate with other players. Individual weapons available are sword, pistol, voodoo doll, dagger (and throwing knives), grenades, and voodoo staff. You can upgrade each weapon up to four times. The ships have cannons which can bring down the masts of opponent's ships.
During live player against live player combat you and your opponent become skeletons and fight in a special arena. In other parts of the game you interact with favourite characters from the movies like Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swan.
Family friendly Disney doesn’t allow any blood or flying bodies during combat. Your defeated enemies fall unconscious and wake up in jail. The level of violence is no more than you would find in many popular children's cartoons.
The free version of the online game is played in a frame surrounded by advertising. The paid version has many more levels of play and costs $9.95 a month. Chat is set at levels determined by parents.
Online game can be found here:http://apps.pirates.go.com/pirates/v3/welcome
A version of the game is available to play on mobile phones. http://disney.go.com/disneymobile/mdisney/pirates/
Parents Information.
Online Safety
Parents can set chat levels to absolutely safe or to a freer level of chat filtered for profanities or inappropriate terms. Players can flag other players who say cruel or unhelpful things. Chat is also overseen by human monitors who can intervene if one player complains about another player.
Advantages of Online Multi-player Games
Apart from the chance to interact (and often co-operate) with other players, the main advantage is that new games elements and material are added routinely so it is hard to run out of game play.
Drawbacks
Like many computer games, Disney's online games can be addictive. Parents should think about setting ground rules for time spent playing from the very beginning.
There are free versions of the games that offer a lot of game play but for the full game experience you need to pay. Payments can be made by subscription or game cards available online with paypal or credit card.
You will Need
A computer with broadband Internet connection. Online game play is with keyboard and mouse only.
Computer System Requirements:
· For Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista:
800 MHz processor
512 MB or more of RAM (1 GB or more of RAM recommended)
700 MB disk space available
32 MB 3D video card (64 MB recommended)
DirectX 9 or better
· For Mac OS X:
OS 10.4.6 (Tiger)
PowerPC G4 or any Mac with any Intel processor
512 MB or more of RAM
400 MB free disk spa
Good advice for children’s online safety
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents
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Hi shibashake, I have a soft spot for Disney because my Dad used to take me to see every new movie when I was a kid. It was the 'whole other worlds' thing for me.
shibashake Level 5 Commenter 3 years ago
A definite thumbs up! There is a lot of good information here. I checked out ToonTown when it first came out, but was not too impressed - maybe I am too old :) But it really seems like Disney has been very busy and the other online worlds that you describe look very interesting and quite beautiful.
In addition to helping with socialization skills, online worlds such as these can also help with leadership skills, work-flow (dividing up large goals into smaller tasks), persuasion skills, etc. All the good stuff that will help kids take over the world when they grow up :)