Assignment:

Best assignment you’ll ever have in college. Spend the week playing some Flash Games, including games on Webkinz. Write a report back on games you like & did not like. Tell me specifics as to why you liked them or not. Post to a webpage & submit the URL to this assignment.

The webkinz site seemed to require purchase of a stuffed animal to access any games, though I did check out the tour. I can see the appeal in the internet tie-in to real life objects. Like those electronic pets.

Another thing I noticed about this website and others, is a reward system. Classic conditioning causes addiction. People like results. Or something to show for their time and ‘hard’-ish work.

That is another factor that makes people come back for more is difficulty and challenge. Work off their desire to finish something they start. Though it has to seem like an achievable goal or people (especially me ) get bored quickly.

On that note:
Cat Cannon A challenging game in its own right. This game plays off more on senseless violence, which also seems to pull people in. The premise of this game is so horrible in fact that it fits in the guilty pleasures category.

Another site that I frequent is GaiaOnline.com.  (Which I imagine I can substitute for webkinz.)

The site is an avatar based forum site mostly for the anime-roleplaying community. It offers many mini games which provide a reward of gold to be used on the site. (much like I understand webkinz does.)

These games include a brightly colored jigsaw puzzle, card games, slots, a word game, fishing, and pinball.

I have always thought pinball was an ingenious game…