Archive import: Built from the Webkinz archive by content/webkinz/build.py

2026-11-12T19:04:47Z

Built from the Webkinz archive by content/webkinz/build.py

New page

{{Infobox thing
| name = Webkinz
| kind = Online world of virtual pets tied to plush toys
| label5 = Company named in the files | data5 = Ganz
| label6 = Website | data6 = webkinz.com
}}
'''Webkinz''' is an online world at webkinz.com in which the owner of a plush toy adopts it as a virtual pet. Its own name for the online part is "Webkinz World".<ref name="game-5679195be6">The game file <code>Webkinz Site Tour 2008/content/www.webkinz.com/XML/L10N/US_EN/siteTour.xml</code>, as kept in the Flashpoint Archive (Flashpoint Ultimate 14).</ref> Everything in this article comes from the files of the site that the Flashpoint Archive preserved (see [[Game files]]), most of them games from its [[Arcade]]; the official website has not yet been read, so the company's own account of Webkinz, its dates and its history are missing here.

== What the site said it was ==
One preserved file set, a tour for newcomers (see [[Webkinz Site Tour 2008]]), describes the world in the site's own words. It calls Webkinz World "The exciting online experience where your plush pet comes to life" and, at its close, "a friendly, educational and fun online community".<ref name="game-5679195be6" /><ref name="game-5679195be6" /> These are the site's claims about itself.

According to the tour, everything starts with a toy: "It all begins when you bring home your Webkinz or Lil'Kinz plush toy", and each toy comes with a Secret Code that lets its owner adopt the pet online.<ref name="game-5679195be6" /><ref name="game-5679195be6" /> See [[Pets]] and [[Adoption Center]].

== Parts of the world named in the files ==
; The pet's room : After the adoption the owner is shown the pet's room, and starts with 2000 [[KinzCash]] to redecorate it.<ref name="game-5679195be6" />
; W Shop : The shop where furniture, clothes and food for the pet are bought.<ref name="game-5679195be6" />
; Quizzy's Question Corner : A quiz with "questions for all age groups" that pays KinzCash.<ref name="game-5679195be6" />
; The Arcade : Games that pay KinzCash; see [[Arcade]] and the [[list of games]].<ref name="game-5679195be6" />
; The Tournament Arena : Where friends are challenged to a game; see [[Tournament Arena]].<ref name="game-5679195be6" />
; KinzChat : The chat program. The tour says it "is constructed, so no personal information can be shared".<ref name="game-5679195be6" />
; Friends : Friends can be invited over to see a room.<ref name="game-5679195be6" />
; Adventure Park : Named once, in the Arcade's program, in a message asking whether a player who has finished a task wants to go back there.<ref name="game-a8f8c0ba78">The game file <code>www.webkinz.com/SWF/ARCADE/arcade.swf</code>, as kept in the Flashpoint Archive (Flashpoint Ultimate 14).</ref> The files say nothing more about it.
; The dock : Where prizes from games were put; see [[Dock]].
; Webkinz Studio : A program for making short animated shows; see [[Webkinz Studio]].
; Music videos : Thirty-four animated songs are preserved; see [[Music Starz Showcase]].

The tour also promises "daily activities, weekly contests, and all kinds of surprises" and says the world "is constantly expanding, so there's always something new every month".<ref name="game-5679195be6" /><ref name="game-5679195be6" /> One part of the tour is named after "Webkinz Newz", and a jigsaw game is named after "Breaking News"; the files do not describe the news itself.<ref name="game-56b87684fd">The game file <code>Webkinz Site Tour 2008/content/www.webkinz.com/SWF/TOUR/8_webkinz_newz.swf</code>, as kept in the Flashpoint Archive (Flashpoint Ultimate 14).</ref><ref name="game-f2e73c48ce">The game file <code>Webkinz Breaking Newz Jigsaw Puzzle/content/assets.webkinz.com/swf/item/1587/sfunction.swf</code>, as kept in the Flashpoint Archive (Flashpoint Ultimate 14).</ref>

A waiting screen is preserved whose placeholder text tells a visitor "You are currently in line to get into Webkinz World!"; see [[Webkinz Queue Interface Animation]].<ref name="game-04b0c1297e">The game file <code>Webkinz Queue Interface Animation/content/www.webkinz.com/SWF/QueueInterface_hack.swf</code>, as kept in the Flashpoint Archive (Flashpoint Ultimate 14).</ref> A file named for a "Deluxe Membership" is preserved without readable text; see [[Webkinz Deluxe Membership Ad]].

== Ganz ==
The company named in the files is Ganz. A typing game's certificate says that "Lunch Letters and the Webkinz Magic W Symbol are Trademarks of Ganz".<ref name="game-1a4e855ed1">The game file <code>Lunch Letters/content/www.webkinz.com/SWF/ARCADE/GAMES/lunchLetters_hack.swf</code>, as kept in the Flashpoint Archive (Flashpoint Ultimate 14).</ref> The lettering used across the games is a typeface named "Webkinz Med" that carries the notice "Copyright (c) Ganz, 2005. All rights reserved."<ref name="game-b42a800656">The game file <code>www.webkinz.com/shared.swf</code>, as kept in the Flashpoint Archive (Flashpoint Ultimate 14).</ref> That year is the typeface's; it is not a date for the site or for any game. One game opens with the words "Webkinz Studios Presents".<ref name="game-7bf3f7701f">The game file <code>Dex Dangerous and the Lunar Lugbotz!/content/www.webkinz.com/SWF/ARCADE/GAMES/lunarLugbotz_hack.swf</code>, as kept in the Flashpoint Archive (Flashpoint Ultimate 14).</ref>

== What the files do not say ==
The preserved files give no date on which Webkinz opened, no account of who at Ganz made it, no prices, and nothing about how the world changed over time. They show what certain games and programs contained, not when those were online. The official website has not yet been fetched for this wiki; see [[Project:Sources]].

== References ==
<references />

{{Webkinz}}
[[Category:Webkinz]]

Webkinz - Revision history

Archive import: Built from the Webkinz archive by content/webkinz/build.py