Club Penguin

Club Penguin
File:ClubPenguin.png
Developer(s)	New Horizon Interactive
Publisher(s)	New Horizon Interactive
Engine	Adobe Flash
Platform(s)	OS Independent (Web Based Flash) (Flash 6 Required)
Release	October 24, 2005
Genre(s)	MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Club Penguin is a massively multiplayer online game for kids developed by New Horizon Interactive. Using cartoon penguin avatars, players can converse, play minigames, and participate in other activities with one another in a snow-covered virtual world. Club Penguin was first made available to the public on October 24, 2005, and has since expanded into a large online community.

Club Penguin shares similarities with other popular online environments like RuneScape. Though open to all kids, Club Penguin is primarily designed for children age eight to fourteen, and has been qualified for the Better Business Bureau - Kid’s Privacy Seal of Approval. Club Penguin was also awarded the "Editors Choice" award from Children's Technology Review Magazine.

A merchandise section, "The Shop", opened on the Club Penguin website in August 2006, selling stuffed puffles and T-shirts. Keychains, gift cards, and more shirts were added on November 7, 2006.

Though the game can be played for free, many of the features are not available unless a subscription is purchased. See Membership.

Environment

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A screenshot from Club Penguin's Town

To move about Club Penguin, players click where they want to go. To enter or leave a building, one clicks on the door.

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The town centre on/around Christmas Day 2006

Each player is provided with an igloo for a home. Members have the option of opening their igloo so other penguins can access it via the map. Members may also decorate their igloos with items bought with money earned by playing minigames.

Many game locations can be accessed by clicking on the Club Penguin map. Some places, such as the Attic, are reached by clicking its general area on the map then walking the penguin to the specific location. Other places, such as Rockhopper's Ship, The Migrator, are only available on certain days.

Club Penguin parties

Every month, there is a party on Club Penguin. The party may be for a holiday such as April Fool's Day, Halloween or Christmas, or it may be random, as occurs when no major holiday is celebrated or chosen in a particular month. A new, free article of clothing is made available with each non-member party. Most recently, a second free item has been included as well. The first party on Club was the Beta Test Party at which beta testers who tested Club Penguin would get a party hat.

Parties since Club Penguin opened, and their free items, include:

• October 26, 2005 - Halloween Party/Beta Test Party (Yellow, and Purple Party Hat)
• November 2005 - Unknown Party, (Flower Hat)
• December 22, 2005 to December 25, 2005 - Christmas Party (Santa hat and Christmas scarf)
• January 2006- Winter Luau (Red Hawaiian lei)
• February 2006 - Unknown Party (Bowtie, Red Sunglasses)
• March 2006 - Pizza Party (members get access 2 days before nonmembers,) (pizza apron) and St. Patrick's Day Party (St. Patrick's Hat)
• April 2006 - April Fools Day Party (Propeller Cap) and Easter Party (Bunny Hat)
• May 2006 - Mine Party (members get access 3 days before non-members mining helmet)
• June 2006 - Summer Party/Beach Opening (Blue Hawaiian Lei, Water wings, Inflatable duck, and Whistle)
• July 6, 2006 to July 14, 2006 - Western Party (bandanna)
• August 4, 2006 to August 19/20, 2006 (extended by 6/7 days) - Sports Party (red/blue face paint, skates)
• September 22, 2006 - Lighthouse Opening (red sailor's cap)
• October 13, 2006 - Rockhopper arrival #1 (eye patch)
• October 24, 2006 - 1 year anniversary party (blue-green Party hat)
• October 27, 2006 - Halloween Party (wizards hat)
• November 2006 - Lime Green Color Party (members only, lime green color, green cape)
• December 8, 2006 to December 21, 2006 - Rockhopper arrival #2 (pirate bandanna)
• December 22, 2006 to January 2, 2007 - Snow Party (Christmas & New Year's Party) (santa hat, santa beard)
• January 19, 2007 to January 22, 2007 - Winter Fiesta (maracas)
• February 9, 2007 to February 23, 2007 - Festival of Snow (Item t.b.a.)

• Note: Items in Bold were added later in the party.

• Note: Parties in Italics were extended.

Free items

Players can receive other free items in addition to clothing at parties. New pins appear every two weeks and are visible in the top left-hand corner of a player card for those who find and use them. Another way to get free items is by participating in treasure (scavenger) hunts, such as searching for Lighthouse lights or recovering the band's lost instruments; these activities resulted in free player card backgrounds. The Penguin Times newspaper sometimes offers polls or fundraisers for items. In the "Save the Lighthouse" mission, players may donate 750 coins to receive a 'free' T-Shirt. Another example was the Christmas Tree: after selecting a decoration, a player received the 'Tree' pin. Rockhopper provides a free item of clothing each time he arrives. You can also read Rockhopper's secret journal that contain his travels across the seas for free. Players who pass the Secret Agent test receive a free Spy Phone and are able to participate in secret missions, which provide more free items. Successful Tour Guide applicants get a free hat to identify them.

Rockhopper

Main article: Rockhopper (Club Penguin)

Rockhopper is a pirate who sails the seas on his trusty boat, the Migrator; he arrives at Club Penguin near the Lighthouse every two months and brings new items for players to buy. In past months, he has brought a pirate's eye patch, and other items. Most recently, Rockhopper brought new red puffles to Club Penguin. With their arrival came the option for non-members to have up to two puffles, instead of one, and for members to have up to twelve puffles, rather than a maximum of ten.

Hidden locations

The Dojo is hidden beneath the distant mountain at the top of the map. Players need to click on it to obtain access to the room.

The Iceberg is the larger of two white 'islands' in the top right corner of the map. It is rumored that the iceberg may tip when enough penguins are on it. This tipping rumor was acknowledged in the "Cheers to the New Year" article in Issue 64, page A3 of The Penguin Times, dated January 4, 2007 in which Aunt Arctic wrote "I'm determined to see the Iceberg tip in 2007!".

The Mine Shack is right behind the Plaza on the map.

The HQ is only accessible by secret agents.

The Ninja hideout is only acessible by ninjas

Ninjas

It is believed that there is a secret group of penguins called ninjas. It is believed that only Billybob and some other moderators are ninjas. If at the homepage of club penguin, clicking on the "n" in Nightclub reveals what the ninjas look like. Not much else is known about the ninjas.

Moderators

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Club Penguin's HQ, as seen on Google Earth.

All Club Penguin areas are monitored by large teams of Moderators who ensure players are not using vulgar or bad language. Players' ideas for adding to the game and making it more fun are accepted by Moderators, who also help keep hackers from interfering with the game or cheating. Moderators must be at least 18 years old, pass a criminal record check, and live in or near Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

Secret agents

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A screenshot from the Secret Agent HQ

Secret Agent status is available to all players, whether members or not, who have played for at least 30 days and have not been banned. These "agents" are encouraged to inform players of upcoming events and guide new members around the game. They are also asked to help keep Club Penguin safe and report anyone who is being disruptive or using offensive language; agents are not, however, official moderators.

Headquarters

The Agent Headquarters (HQ) is a Club Penguin location accessible only by Secret Agents, who can teleport there by clicking the Spy Phone in their player card inventory and then "Visit HQ", or by entering the right-most dressing room in the Sport Shop. The Headquarters has 21 TV screens with images of most accessible places on Club Penguin, each of which is only a click away. To the right of the TV's is a board containing a message (changed every two to four weeks) with hints and tips about activities on Club Penguin. In the bottom right corner are a book and a folder. The folder includes missions for Secret Agents; the agent handbook is titled "The F.I.S.H." (Factual Informative Spy Handbook).

If a player is in the Headquarters and he/she is searched by a buddy, that buddy is informed the player they are looking for "is hiding".

Missions

Secret agents are able to perform randomly occurring "Top Secret Missions." Successful completion of such missions yields items for the player card inventory. Two current missions, which require secret agents to use their imagination and logic, include:

• 'Case of the Missing Puffles', in which Aunt Arctic, local news reporter for The Penguin Times, has lost her green and purple puffles and the player must get them back.

• 'G's Secret Mission', in which agent 'G' gives the player a new sled which must be tested; when it fails, players need to test their survival skills.

Upon successful completion of the missions, secret agents earn a Burning Log medal and the puffle medal. Players who deliver the pictures of the puffle (Case of the Missing Puffles) earn a letter from Aunt Arctic. Those who make a fishing rod (G's Secret Mission) receive a letter from G. Though these missions take a lot of effort, it is rewarded well.

Tour guides

This project began January 26, 2007 with the intent of helping newcomers find their way around Club Penguin. To become a tour guide, a penguin must first be at least 45 days old and no more one ban (or sufficiently good behavior after more bans). Being a member is not required. To apply, one goes to the Tour Booth in the Plaza and takes a quiz. The eight-question quiz determines one's knowledge such as where things are located, puffle facts, game play, and so forth. Answering seven out of the eight questions correctly wins a tour guide hat, which can be found in one's clothing inventory. Only those who have passed the test and have the hat are official tour guides. When a penguin wears only the tour guide hat and waves, a "Tours Here" sign appears. Another option while wearing the hat (with or without other items) is giving pre-written messages about the current room. To do this, one clicks the Messages icon, selects Activities, then clicks "Give a Room Tour". Messages about the room will then appear. Some rooms do not have such pre-written messages.

Items

There are 13 penguin colors, from which players can choose and use as often as they want. They are: Lime Green, Light Green, Dark Green, Orange, Peach, Red, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Brown, Black, Pink, Yellow, Purple, New colors are generally introduced at members-only parties. Lime Green is the latest color to be made available.

Many backgrounds are available, with two to four new ones every month. Backgrounds can be viewed when anyone clicks on a player's penguin, and can be bought by non-members.

Pins are in the top left-hand corner of a player's lookup and are free for anyone, but disappear every second week. In one issue of the newspaper, a special pin - Christmas Tree Pin - was given out costing 50 coins.

Flags are similar to pins though are only available to members; they appear in the top left-hand corner of a player's lookup.

Clothes are for members only, except for the items given out for free at parties and on the pirate ship.

Furniture is for members only and can be used to design and decorate a player's igloo.

Flooring (introduced January 19, 2007) is a new feature for members only. There are currently four different floors to choose from.

Members' igloos can be upgraded into many different styles. Some igloo styles are themed for recent parties, such as the Bamboo Hut or Log Cabin. Igloo upgrades range from 1000 to 4800 coins depending on the style.

Chat

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Screen shown when a banned player tries to log in

Club Penguin provides two options for inter-player communication. Ultimate Safe Chat allows players to select phrases from a list, similar to old text-adventure games. With Standard Chat, players may type any message, subject to censorship by a word filter. Each game instance (server) offers one particular type of chat.

A player who swears can expect to face an automatic 24-hour ban. Though some swear words do not result in such an auto-ban, there are teams of moderators who supposedly review any chat that takes place on the site, and players caught using inappropriate language could be banned afterward. Players caught hacking Club Penguin are banned for a much longer time period. After 3 to 5 bans, a player is banned indefinitely – at least several years.

Newspaper

Main article: The Penguin Times

Club Penguin has a weekly newspaper, delivered every Thursday. It contains a number of things happening around Club Penguin. It has featured games, comics, and more. The basement of the Dance Club in the Town contains an archive of newspapers from the last 5 weeks.

Puffles

Main article: Puffle

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A typical blue Puffle

Puffles are small fluffy creatures which each player may have as pets; they're available from the Pet Shop in blue, green, pink, black, purple, and red. Non-members have access to the blue and red puffles and may have no more than two; members may adopt up to 12 puffles. When a player logs out, each puffle saves in its current position and is exactly the same upon the next login. Health, Rest and Energy levels must be full for a puffle to take part in actions.

Puffle history

Puffles were added to the game in January 2006. There were originally four puffle colors: blue, pink, green and black. Purple (added in August) and more recently red puffles (added in December) were later made available for adoption. Puffle names are no longer visible to others, because players were giving their puffles vulgar names.

Care and Feeding

Puffles need to be fed with pet food which costs 10 coins. Snacks (cookies and gum) and baths can also be bought for 5 coins each. A happy puffle will do a trick when given a treat. If not fed, puffles won't sleep, take a bath, or play, and will refuse to be walked. Continually neglected puffles will run away after four logins. Puffles expect to be fed after a walk and will otherwise get upset. A recent change in Club Penguin is that each puffle will react differently to water; some will take a short bath.

Personalities

There are six different types of puffles, each with a different personality.

• Blue Puffles are mild tempered and content. Their favorite toy is a ball. Blue Puffles are special because anyone in Club Penguin can adopt them.
• Pink Puffles are very active and cheery. They love to exercise by jumping rope or playing on their trampolines.
• Black Puffles are known to be a little mischievous and off-tempered. However, they love to play and make a great pet for anyone who likes a little bit more personality. Black puffles turn into a ball of fire when fed, but it doesn't hurt them.
• Green Puffles are very energetic and playful. They like to clown around on their unicycles or play with their propeller caps.
• Purple Puffles are lots of fun to have around. They enjoy blowing bubbles and are terrific dancers, but they can be a bit fussy, especially at mealtime.
• Red Puffles are adventurous and enthusiastic and have a continuous big toothy smile. Their favorite toys are bowling pins and a cannon. Red Puffles originally came from Rockhopper Island. Like blue puffles they also can be adopted by anyone on Club Penguin.

Walks

A relatively new feature is walking one's puffle. Players may walk around Club Penguin with their puffles, who will also do a small dance when their player dances. If more than one of its Energy, Health or Rest stat's is under 50%, the puffle will not join the player for a walk. Otherwise, walking a puffle may be done by going to one's igloo, clicking on the puffle's player card then clicking on the leash. When being walked, a puffle displays to the right of the penguin on the player card. Secret agents (only) will see their teleporter lying next to the puffle. Puffles may be returned to the player's igloo home, where they reside when not being walked.

Bathing

Another new feature, on the puffle's playing card, players can buy a bath (for five coins) which is taken immediately. Bathing raises a puffle's Health and Rest stat's.

Minigames

Main article: Minigames (Club Penguin)

Various minigames are available for play within Club Penguin. Single-player games, which generally earn the player more coins, include Astro Barrier, Ballistic Biscuit, Bean Counters, Cart Surfer, Ice Fishing, Jet Pack Adventure, Puffle RoundUp, and Thin Ice (introduced on December 19, 2006). Multi-player games in Club Penguin include Find Four, Mancala, and Sledding, which reward players with up to roughly 20 coins per game. In most single-player games, one tenth of the final score is the number of penguin coins received. These coins can be used later to buy puffles, clothes, penguin colors, etc. Games are located throughout the Club Penguin World. The game Cart Surfer is slightly hidden on the mini-map, and can be accessed by clicking on the snow directly above the Plaza and right of the Snow Forts. Players may collect up to 600 coins per game, which takes about two to three minutes, making Cart Surfer one the best sources of coins.

Coin pay per game

Astro Barrier, Ballistic Biscuit, Bean Counter, Cart Surfer and Thin Ice all pay 1/10th of the final score; if a player gets a final score of 2000, he or she will receive 200 coins. Ice Fishing pays 2 coins per fish and a 50-coin bonus for the big fish, which can be caught by using a regular fish. In the Puffle Roundup game, scoring is calculated by multiplying the number of puffles caught with the time left (in seconds).

In Jet Pack Adventure, the coins the player receives is equal to the amount of coins collected during the game plus an additional coin reward for remaining fuel; players may collect up to 800 coins per game. If each of the five levels is ended with zero coins and zero fuel, the player is considered a highly skilled pilot and rewarded with a 1000 coin bonus.

Multi-player game winnings are as follows:

Sled Racing

1st Place: 20 coins
2nd Place: 10 coins
3rd Place: 5 coins
4th Place: 5 coins

Find Four

Winner: 10 coins
Loser: 5 coins

Mancala

The player gets the same amount of coins as the stones he/she captured.

Other multiplayer games

Though most games earn the player coins (1/10th of the final score), some games do not; they include:

• Ice Hockey (located in the ice rink)
• Snowball Fights

Both these games can be played in teams, and buddies commonly have a hockey team as well as a snow fight team. Such teaming is fun but does not earn coins.

Glitches

Club Penguin is known to have occasional glitches during game play. An example would be the "walking on the Lighthouse walls" glitch. Another glitch occurred during the first day of the New Year fireworks, when players found that penguins could walk on the water around the iceberg.

Some glitches are intended by the game developers and others are removed after their discovery.

Membership

Paid subscription

Players who become members (by paying $5.95 every month, $29.95 for six months, or $57.95 USD for a year) get many benefits. They may buy anything from shops, own multiple puffles, enjoy early access to new parts of the game, buy furniture for their puffles, and have access to all puffle breeds. Members also have access to Members only Parties hosted by Club Penguin.

Non-membership

Club Penguin provides a non-membership option. Although such play is free, it does not include all of the benefits of being a member. Non-members may still buy colors and player-card backgrounds, and can go anywhere (except during member parties) as well as play games. Non-members may also receive and use items given out at parties that are sometimes thrown for all players. Non-members may buy one red puffle and one blue puffle or two blue puffles or two red puffles.

External links

• Official Club Penguin Website
• The Club Penguin Wiki