Webkinz World
Webkinz are stuffed animals that were originally released by the Ganz gift company in 2005. The toys are similar to many other small plush toys, however they come with a special code on their labels that allows access to the "Webkinz World" website where you can "adopt" a virtual version of the pet for virtual interaction. There are also smaller versions of the toys called "Lil' Kinz".
When you've adopted your Webkinz pet, you give it a name, gender and enter the secret code that comes with each Webkinz stuffed animal. You can then check out your very own room, which comes with a welcome balloon, a food item, one or two pieces of furniture and the Webkinz unique food and special item.
Bonus: After every fifth pet starting with the 10th adoption, the user will receive a special bed called a Super Bed. These beds are also very exclusive and come in a wide variety!
You get 2,000 in Kinzcash to buy food and buy items for your virtual pet's house!
A great bonus to Webkinz world is that you get to learn about earning and spending money, in this world it's called Kinzcash. If you don't have the money, you can't buy it. How do you earn the money? You can play multiple minigames, including quizzes and arcade games. With the money you earn, you can buy new things for your Webkinz pet!
With your virtual pet, you will see the levels of happiness, health and hunger, which will decrease as you play the game. You can increase these levels by feeding your webkinz pet, playing with your pet, exercising, bathing and answering surveys. If the meters get too low for your webkinz pet, your virtual pet becomes sick and you have to take it to the doctor.
What you need to know: The online game is free to use for one year after the purchase of the first toy, then you'll have to purchase another toy to continue playing. There is a grace period of 30 days where your account is kept active, but after the grace period it will be deactivated. After 90 days the account will be deleted.
Tip: If you've got several Webkinz pets on your shelf, keep the codes! When you're year is up just use the code from another pet. Yes, you can have multiple pets in your account. If you save your codes, you can play for much longer with no worry about losing your webkinz account.
In case you missed it this past summer, Ganz introduced sets of trading cards and Webkinz Charms to further the fun and games with Webkinz world. Similar to the toy line, the trading cards and charms include codes that allow access to parts of the Webkinz website. The codes that are supplied with the charms allow access to the site's "Charm Forest."
Ganz is also planning to release other Webkinz-themed accessories in Fall 2007, such as Webkinz clothes with web site codes.
The Webkinz fun just keeps coming!
