When I heard that a little site called Club Penguin had sold for $700 million, I thought that it must be a mistake. This idea that some online community for children could sell for that much money was simply astounding. One of my professors asked me to create an academic presentation on Club Penguin, so I soon had the opportunity to answer my burning question: What made Club Penguin worth $700 million?

I signed onto the site and created my own happy penguin avatar. I was immediately struck by the cute factor on the website. It had a nice visual style that didn’t look overtly “kiddish” (i.e. exaggerated cartoon style or abundant embarrassing imitations of children’s handwriting). The colors were tasteful while remaining bright and cheerful. The penguin theme really worked – it unified the social areas and gave a nice blue and white color theme. Competitor site WebKinz is full of cuteness as well, but the bright rainbow of pinks, yellows, oranges, and purples detracts from the content.

I explored the world, expecting to find a myriad of games. I was surprised to find no advertised game signs to point me in the right direction; I had to hover my mouse over normal-looking objects like a boat or a coffee bean sack to even see the text indicating that it was a link to a game.

With such little focus on the games in the community areas, I expected the social aspect to be booming. Unfortunately, I found that a lot of my penguin peers were not very chatty. Most penguins moved quickly from one area to the next. Some penguins did seem to hang out on the screen but said very little. I tried asking a few questions and consistently did not receive a response until I asked a question a few times. The other penguins didn’t seem unfriendly; they just weren’t interested in long chats.

If all the penguins aren’t hanging around chatting, where is the draw in Club Penguin? As a non-paying member, I had little access to what appeared to be the greatest attraction: the materialism element. Penguins all over the site were dressed in flashy outfits, walking fluffy pets called puffles, and inviting each other to parties at their fancy igloos. Paying members can earn in-game currency through the minigames, which they then use to buy clothing, accessories, pets, furniture, appliances, and technology for themselves and their igloos. The penguin avatars can essentially become walking status symbols.

In order to get the currency, players must log many hours in the minigames. After playing a few of these minigames, I found that the currency was relatively easy to obtain. The minigames are mainly simple flash-based games with very basic controls. Generally, games use the mouse or the arrow keys (with or without the spacebar). I was very surprised to see that there are only about 14 games total on the website – ten single-player, four multiplayer. The games seem very easy at first but quickly become more and more difficult. Fortunately, players can continue to play the easier levels over and over and still receive the same amount of currency. In this way, it caters to a player base of all levels, but those with fewer skills will have to have more patience.

As a college student, Club Penguin does not really seem like my type of game. It is cute and fun (for about half an hour) but it’s not nearly enough to keep me coming back. What I began to realize is that Club Penguin is not a runaway success because of the social element. It’s about the status and fulfilling fantasies; kids want to build their dream homes and ideal wardrobes while playing some fun games. Maybe once in a while they’ll meet someone new, but only if they have time after playing some of those minigames again.