ToonTown Online is a massively multiplayer online game designed for kids ages 7 and older.

The game let’s players create their own Toon, who then join forces to save the world from the invading robot Cogs - humorless business robots who are attempting to turn the colorful, happy world of ToonTown into a corporate metropolis. Because Cogs can’t take a joke, Toons use cartoon gags to crack them up! Or in other words “blow” them up in a cartoonish non-violent way. A unique feature of ToonTown is that random Players can team up with each other to defeat stronger Cogs. The game is graphically the most appealing of all children friendly online games available at the writing of this review. (KidConfidence does not consider World of Warcraft aka WoW a children game…) The game offers all features we come to expect from online games such as furnishing estates, adopting a pet and the use of in-game currency to purchase items of interest. ToonTown Online let’s all players chat using pre-made sentences. The True Friends feature of the game enables players to chat openly with True Friends. Players can set this up with your “real-life” friends so they can talk online. A True Friend Code is requested from the Friends/True Friends panel in the game. This password must be communicated outside of the game (to ensure safety). Once the password has been generated in-game and delivered to friend A, it must be entered in-game by friend B within 48 hours or the password will expire. Each password is unique and can be used with only 1 friend.

ToonTown is free with limited functuality and not all areas are available. At any time players can purchase full access to the game on monthly (30 days for $9.95), semi-annual (6 months for $49.95), or annual (12 months for $79.95) subscription plan.

In our opinion, ToonTown Online is the best of all children themed massively multiplayer online games available today.

Watch our KidConfidence Video Review below and vist our ToonTown Review Page for Comments, Scores and Screenshots.

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Recent feedback suggests that we get a lot more traffic from game savvy parents then we thought. Many of these video game knowledgeable parents appear to play games themselves and want our reviews to have more depth and gaming lingo.

We created KidConfidence to help non-gamer parents find the right games for their children. We show actual gameplay footage in our reviews and try to explain the games in a way that is easy to understand, even for parents who have never played a video game before. We welcome all visitors to our site, but experienced gamers may get more from IGN or Gamespot.

The second most common question is concerning our different styles of video reviews. We are still experimenting to find a good mix between casual, informative and appealing. As a result, you will see several review “styles” in our library of video game reviews. We contemplated taking the “old” reviews of our site, but decided to leave them up for now since we feel they still provide value. We are constantly evolving our review methodology and video production and hope you’ll notice our reviews improving all of the time.

Last but not least, many of our visitors argue that SuperPaperMario, Zelda and other games we choose are not suited for children.
This is true. Every week we select games based on popularity. We found that kids ask their parents for games that are popular- but not necessarily age appropriate. So we feel it is necessary to provide coverage of many of these games, and to provide our age recommendations for each game in addition to the ESRB Ratings. However, every child is different, and only you know what is appropriate for your child. Therefore we recommend closely watching the actual gameplay footage in our reviews to determine if a game is right for your family.

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Harry Potter games have been very popular with children and parents alike. Aside from the highly anticipated final book 7 (to be released: July 21, 2007), the 5th Movie and Game are scheduled for release around the same time in July.

Parents and kids who read or listened to the Audio CD of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will know that the 5th book spends a good amount of time inside the Hogwarts castle. Previous installments had players follow a storyline with optional side quests and left little room to explore. In retrospect, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets provided the most freedom to roam around the castle and grounds, while the most recent Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire offered the least.

Luckily things are about to change…

Publisher and Developer ElectronicArts UK, started working with the movie team to construct a 3D virtual Hogwarts by getting blue prints of the movie sets, going to the exterior locations with tape measurers and high-end digital cameras, and reviewing how these locations have been translated into the movies. The finished game will feature an open world and level with no loading interruptions allowing players more freedom then ever before. To assure high detail and authenticity in all characters, EA went on to scan all faces of the cast. The game will be available on all platforms and gaming consoles starting from the old Gameboy Advanced all the way to the advanced PlayStation 3. Personally, we are looking forward to swinging our Nintendo Wii–mote at the TV. Seriously - what better input device for a magic wand then the motion-sensing Wii-mote… But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, it’s to early to say if EA got the motion sensing right or not.

To help Parents decide if the game is appropriate for their children, KidConfidence will post Screenshots and Gameplay footage before it is available in retail.

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Club Penguin is a virtual world where children can play games and interact with each other.

After choosing a penguin and giving it an identity, players can explore several different areas within Club Penguin, here they can interact with other penguins by chatting, playing games, sending greeting cards, or using emotes (emotion icons) and using a set of predefined phrases. The chat is monitored and automatically filters profane language. Penguins violating chat rules are suspended for 24hours. By helping other participants and playing minigames, players earn virtual coins, these coins can be used to buy clothing and accessories for the penguin or furniture for their igloo.

Although anyone can join Club Penguin free of charge, players won’t have the same privileges as paying members, such as buying clothing or decorating their own igloo. Memberships cost $5.95 USD per month. Club Penguin relies solely on paid memberships and can therefore guarantee an Ad-free environment.
Due to the large amount of reading and chat centric community we recommend the game for children ages 8 and up. We found that the game lacks somewhat on scope and size. We were able to explore all locations and minigames within several hours. All locations and minigames are fun, but nothing out of the extra ordinary.

In our opinion, ClubPenguin is good for a couple hours of (free) fun, but if your child wants to join - we recommend that your kid uses his or her own allowance to do so.

Watch our KidConfidence Video Review below or visit our Review Page here.

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Whyville.net was launched in 1999 as a virtual city for engaging young people in constructive educational activities while promoting socially responsible behavior. The citizens of Whyville interact with each other while participating in activities that range from science and math to art, civics, and economics.

Whyville works directly with the Getty, NASA, the School Nutrition Association, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to bring educational content to kids. The game is free of charge but features corporate sponsors such as the automaker Scion who advertises thru minigames and other in-game items. Whyvilles currency is Clams, which can be earned and spent in a variety of ways. Alternatively, Clams can also be purchased via credit card.

We noticed that Whyville is in the hand of female players – which made us wonder if male players find the educational mini games to time intensive and therefore rather turn on their consoles to enjoy simpler games…? No offense boys - we still love you…

If your child is (only) used to Xbox360 and PS3 graphics, prepare him or her for a trip back in time. Whyville truly shows it’s age when it comes to graphical presentation. The game offers a live chat and in order to keep the chat safe, players must take a chat license test and parents must print, sign and then fax or mail a chat form for their kids.

Overall, we recommend Whyville because of its educational content wrapped in an online gaming community. And as long as Whyville does not sell out to corporate sponsors, we are willing to accept its simple graphics.

Watch our KidConfidence Video Review below.

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