Hey Dearies!
I wanted to take a trip down memory lane from my childhood. You know those videos that show pictures of stuff that we used to see, especially if you grew up in the 90’s or 00’s? Well, YouTube started pulling them up, and one of the videos was about old websites that no longer exist.
It was kinda heartbreaking, but at the same time, it made me remember what it was like to go back to being a kid and logging onto these websites with no care in the world other than having fun.
Granted, I wasn’t one of those kids who was glued to the computer; my mom was pretty strict about screen time, especially when it came to the home computer that we all shared. If anything, we spent more time outside in the backyard than on the computer as kids.
There were so many websites that I loved visiting, but there were a few multiplayer ones that were my go-to’s as a kid/pre-teen. This was before Facebook was the place to go to play online games such as Farmville, which later my mom would let me have a Facebook at 13, just so I could send her stuff she needed for her farm.
Now, not all of these websites are gone, some of them had been relaunched with a new site name and owners or they are still hanging on with a thread. I will be including the new website link as well if you wanted to check it out!
So, lets go back down memory lane!
Millsberry.com
Millsberry was one of my all-time favorite websites to visit as a kid! It was simple and yet was super fun! You had a house that you could adopt pets, buy clothes, send mail to friends, visit friends houses, and play mini games that were based on your favorite cereal brands!
It was such a simple, but yet fun game to play and it sucked when it shut down. It first came out on July 2004, sadly it shut down in December of 2010.
HOWEVER, during researching this, I found out that there is a group of people that are trying to rebuild the beloved Millsberry.com! I was shocked and so excited! If it really happens, that is going to be amazing to go back and enjoy what made Millsberry.com such an amazing platform!
I’m going to leave the link here if you want to check it out: https://www.millsberry-rebirth.com/
Fantage
This was another game that not only I enjoyed, but my siblings did as well! This was one of the websites that we would literally fight over to be able to login. Between Millsberry, Club Penguin and Fantage, I would classify as more of a kid-friendly/kid-safe for online multiplayer.
There was so much you could do, visit different places, visit other players houses, become a spy, lots of mini games, and of course my all time favorite activity, the fashion show! Granted, some of the features did require a purchase of a membership, which I never had a chance to enjoy, but honestly, the only thing it did get you was upgraded hair, clothes, or stuff to decorate your home with.
Fantage was first launched in March of 2008 and lasted until July of 2018. Its crazy to think it lasted 10 years! During researching this, I did see that there was possibly a revamp of Fantage coming back, but it doesn’t look like a site or date is saying for sure if its in the works.
I think it would be so cool for this to make a return for sure!
Club Penguin
Of course, I have to talk about Club Penguin! This was another one my siblings and I fought over to log in as! It was different from the other ones as your character was a penguin that you could dress up, change the color of, and have a pet puffle that followed you around the map!
There was a lot you could do on the island! Tons of mini games to play, my favorite was the pizza making one and also becoming a ninja as well. So many places you could visit with friends and an igloo you get to decorate as well!
It was so popular that Disney even bought it! Granted, not everything was completely free; you did have to pay for a membership for the more fancier items, but there’s no surprise there. Plus they also had secret places you could go as well, I think it was more fun exploring and finding something new every corner.
Club Penguin first launched on October of 2005 and ended up shutting down on March 2017. Which is crazy to think it lasted that long, however, this isn’t completely gone away!
After researching, I found out someone did bring back Club Penguin, but its called Club Penguin Legacy and its completely free! All of the membership stuff that locked most of the items has been unlocked and if you are interested to check out a blast from the past, I have included the link below!
The link for Club Penguin Legacy: https://www.cplegacy.com/
ourWorld
ourWorld was one of those games I got into during middle school. One of my friends was so into it, that I ended up getting into it, however, I didn’t get into as bad as a lot of people used to. I can still say, I never spent a dime on that game!
It was a very unique world were you could level up and get different features that made your character look cooler. I didn’t do a lot of exploring as you needed to be leveled up to see most of the island, but I was more focused on playing the mini games, which the more you played, the more flow you got in order to level up.
Most of the mini games were really fun to play and most of my time was spent doing that. There were a few times I got a job at a cafe, but it got boring quick, plus sometimes most of the people wouldn’t want anything to do with you until you had the “cool” features or if you had a membership for it.
ourWorld launched in April 2008 and ended up shutting down in October 2021.
SmallWorlds
SmallWorlds was an online platform that I really liked, although most of the items you had to pay to be a member in order to unlock. Now, I didn’t spend as much time on this one as I did with the others, but it was different from the other online games that I used to play.
One of my favorite things was to go to school and role-play as a student. Now, I don’t really remember if they had mini games to play, but they had a lot of locations to visit and pretty much chat with others and role-play. You could also customize your character and house as well.
I think what didn’t keep me playing was that the characters sort of looked creepy looking and there wasn’t really a way to make them less creepy unless you paid more for it. There was a lot you could do free wise, but most of these games like this wanted you to pay to make your character better looking.
SmallWorlds was released in 2008 and shut down in 2018. However, this one is also available to play online, its just under a new name.
Here is the link: https://www.smallworldslegacy.com/
Poptropica
Poptropica was one of those fun online platforms that was very centered for kids and it was, in my opinion, a safer way to play online. Yes, you could still chat, but the messages were generated or pre-written, which I think my mom liked that factor.
This was one of the websites that you could play during school that the teachers wouldn’t mind you playing during free period. Pretty much, you visited different islands and there were tasks that you needed to do to unlock items that was used to lock more of the island. Once you completed it, you went onto the next one.
It was honestly a lot of fun and there was so much you could do on there. There was also areas where you could hang out with other players on each of the different islands, but there was only so much you could say to others.
Poptropica first released in 2007, however, the game has been moved to CoolMathGames in 2024. It is also available on Steam as well, which I wasn’t aware.
Here is the link: https://www.coolmathgames.com/0-poptropica
Those were just a few of the ones that I used to visit all the time as a kid/tween. There are others, but the other ones are still active today, like Habbo Hotel or Stardoll or IMVU, just to name a few.
I’m really excited for them to bring back Millsberry, it would be so awesome to show my kids the games that I grew up playing online. I showed my oldest about Webkinz and Club Penguin and she was all excited to try it for herself.
Of course, I would be sitting right next to her when she did because, honestly, I think parents need to be more observant of what their kids are doing online and talk about how to be safe online.
Were there any of the websites on this list that you also enjoyed like me? If so, which ones were your favorites? Let me know in the comments below!
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