I met with Kenny Rosenblatt of Arkadium at the Casual Games Conference in Seattle in July. Kenny had moderated a panel on marketing to teens and tweens; his opening line was: "How do you attract teens and tweens? Give them cool free stuff!" And he gave me a closer look at some of the cool stuff he gave away at the end of the panel — the U.B. Funkeys (I didn't win the raffle for that starter kit). U.B. Funkeys is Arkadium's latest collaboration with Radica Games, a subsidiary of Mattel. They are physical toys, as well as vehicles for online access to various parts of Funkeystown.
The passion for collecting things is found in humans, as well as animals, and having something that can be touched and held is key for children. U.B. is a USB critter that plugs into your computer, and each Funkey (Fun Key. Get it?) provides you with access to different areas of Funkeystown, a virtual playground that exists 24/7. U.B. stands about 7-inches tall, and each of the vinyl Funkeys are about 4-inches tall — just about fist-sized for a child. They are colorful and cute. The Funkeys have contact plates on their feet and will stand on the back of U.B., making connection there and transmitting data to the base.
As you switch Funkeys, your avatar on screen changes into that particular Funkey. Kenny had quite a collection of different coloration and types — Pandas, flower guys, lions — to show, and at first shipment, there will be 42 different Funkeys available at $4.99 each, and new batches of Funkeys will be released at different intervals.
Of course, like any collectible, some Funkeys will be released in smaller quantities than others, fueling a secondary after-sale collectible market. Excellent marketing strategy, even if my first reaction was: "Bastards! If it wasn't enough that kids will nag their parents for more Funkeys, you're going to make some of them rare." Still, as a reward system, they are tangible. There's no monthly subscription fee, and each Funkey will give you indefinite access to the areas it unlocks.
The starter set consists of U.B. and two Funkeys (for $19.99). Set up U.B. by installing the software, installing the patch and launching the program. Voila! You are in Funkeystown! So what is there to do in Funkeystown? You explore, play mini-games to accumulate coin and attain high-scores. One of the Funkeys you get in the kit will unlock a building, and the other will unlock one of three zones. Kenny walked me around Funkeystown. We entered buildings by switching out Funkeys. Most buildings or areas will give you some sort of clue as to the Funkey you need to access it, but some portals will only tell you what Funkey is needed the first time. Why?
"We want to build the community," Kenny said. "We want players to ask and help each other on the forums."
I expect that some trading will also take place and parents tracking down the hard-to-find Funkeys for themselves ... um, I mean, their children.
Each access point allows you to play mini-games and purchase unique items with which you can decorate your crib. Your crib is instanced and can be accessed from anywhere, anytime. Apart from decorating your own private space, you can also display your high-score game trophies in your trophy room and play collected mini-games in your games room. We wandered around Funkeystown a bit more, watching other Funkeys stroll around, and then we ran into the evil Henchman. Oh, no! He started shaking down Kenny's Funkey, and Kenny responded by clicking on the mouse quickly to try to get away. Phew ... he didn't shake that many coins out of his Funkey's pocket that time. How many coins can he steal at a time?
"Not many. Up to 20," Kenny said.
There are no other violent altercations or any kind of combat in this world — just the evil Henchman that you can see coming and simply have to avoid.
Where can we find U.B. Funkeys? Kenny informed me that Mattel had already shipped the game to about 20 test retail stores, and although the Web site is still in a "yet to come" stage, the plan is to advertise the game via such channels as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel, displays in toy and game stores, as well as character tunes that will be downloadable via iTunes.
The game is targeted toward 8- to 12-year olds, but as I handled the pirate, ninja and alien Funkeys, I predicted ages 6 to 15 (and 40+ women like me). The online world is also too cute for words and is visually appealing to younger children (as proven by my 5-year-old niece pleading with me to play the game when she saw the screenshots), as well as to this old woman. I have my USB "rocket launcher" plugged into my computer and ready to shoot foam missiles at my nephews and nieces. I can see, in my mind, U.B. sitting on my desk and a row of Funkeys across the shelf as I continue to be the "coolest Aunty" of all!
The former head of developer relations for the Stratics Network, Carolyn Koh has years of experience covering the MMORPG genre. Carolyn first started playing games such as Pong & Moon Buggy on the 8086, and arcade games like Ms. PacMan, Centipede, Red Baron and Joust before graduating to text muds through University computers and Doom on the LAN in the Engineering department after office hours. She claims she didn't frag the guys. Carolyn enjoys reviewing casual games and children's games for us. She also maintains a staff blog commenting on the emails crossing her desk that touch on the gaming industry in one form or another.
cool stuff
mon fils joue a funkeys, mais depuis qu'il a acheté les personnages suivants :DRITF WAGGS PTET ET VLURP; il ne peut plus jouer car en cherchant une mise a jour, on lui dit "we are sorry, but our funkey engineers cannot find the nevv update on our servers". que faut t-il faire pour qu'il puisse continuer ce jeu qu'il adore? please help me !!!!.