''Animal Jam Classic'', formerly known as ''Animal Jam'', is a

massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...

that is developed by

WildWorks WildWorks (formerly Smart Bomb Interactive) is an United States of America, American game development studio based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The studio was assembled from game industry veterans, co-founded by Kris Johnson, Clark Stacey, and Jeff Ami ...

and recommended for kids up to the age of 12. It was launched in 2010, in collaboration with the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

. As of late 2020, there were 3.3 million monthly active users and a lifetime total of 130 million registered players in 200 countries across both ''Animal Jam Classic'' and ''Animal Jam.'' In ''Animal Jam Classic'', players can discover various facts about

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

using the game's numerous features, including mini-games, puzzles, adventures, parties, and social interactions. Due to its rapid growth, ''Animal Jam Classic'' has spawned different types of merchandise, including

figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...

toys,

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...

, board games, and a subscription box. Although ''Animal Jam Classic'' is primarily played on PC, the ''Animal Jam Classic'' universe has been expanded to incorporate most mobile devices such as

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

s, tablets, and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

devices. The most popular ''Animal Jam Classic'' mobile app spin-off is ''Animal Jam'', previously known as ''Animal Jam - Play Wild!'', which is a 3D version of the ''Animal Jam Classic'' world. WildWorks has also developed other apps that are based on the ''Animal Jam Classic'' game including ''Tunnel Town'', ''AJ Jump'', and ''Dash Tag''. In May 2020, in an event dubbed the "aMAYzing Migration", WildWorks rebranded the desktop game from ''Animal Jam'' to ''Animal Jam Classic''; as part of the event, the app that was formerly known as ''Animal Jam -'' ''Play Wild!'' was rebranded to ''Animal Jam''.

Development

''Animal Jam Classic'' was developed by WildWorks (formerly Smart Bomb Interactive) and it was launched on September 9, 2010. In 2011, ''Animal Jam Classic'' had over 1 million registered players in the game. Later, in March 2013, the game achieved over 10 million players, a milestone which was made known to all of the players in the game itself. Since then, ''Animal Jam Classics player count had grown rapidly with the game having over 100 million players as of late 2018. As of 2021, ''Animal Jam Classic'' is not available to play without the desktop app, due to the discontinuation of

Adobe Flash Player Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash) is Software, computer software for viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming media, streaming audio and vide ...

Gameplay environment

''Animal Jam Classic'' takes place in an

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

known as Jamaa, with various different

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

s and customizable animals. New players can create an animal with a name that is composed of three simple words. From that point, players can customize and move around with it in the

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...

environment. The original 6 virtual animals that could be created were the

Bunny Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit sp ...

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

Panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes use ...

, and

Koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

, though many more animals have been added. Players can customize their own dens (virtual houses) with furniture, chat with other players, adopt pets, play mini-games, purchase in-game clothing and furniture with

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

, trade items, attend parties, and go on various RPG-style adventures. There is a subscription-like membership feature available on the site that costs real money and lets players access certain exclusive in-game features.

Communication and safety

''Animal Jam Classic'' contains three versions of in-game chat, which offers various levels of restriction. Bubble Chat restricts players from typing messages but will allow them to select predefined words and phrases in a list. Safe Chat, the default setting, allows players to type words or phrases in a particular list which only the game permits, similar to a

whitelist A whitelist, allowlist, or passlist is a mechanism which explicitly allows some identified entities to access a particular privilege, service, mobility, or recognition i.e. it is a list of things allowed when everything is denied by default. It is ...

. Safe Chat Plus, which was previously available only to members but is now available for all players, allows players to type any word or phrase while being run through the game's safe chat filter. Parents can control players’ chat settings from the site's parent dashboard. One player can report or block another player for unacceptable, intolerable, or inappropriate behavior. If a player is found chatting in an inappropriate way, the player may have their chat temporarily muted or even be suspended from logging on for a long period. ''Animal Jam Classic'' is free from outside advertising and adheres to a strict privacy policy.

Educational elements

In addition to in-game nature facts and activities, ''Animal Jam Classic'' provides educational video content featuring

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

Brady Barr and

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others th ...

Tierney Thys. Furthermore, there are certain events and activities that help raise awareness for

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

problems.

Other media

Merchandise

''Animal Jam Classic'' shirts, stuffed animals, hats, in-game currency, books, and toys are sold on the ''Animal Jam'' Outfitters site. In 2013, WildWorks partnered with ''Sidekix'' to produce a set of eight stuffed animals modeled after the ''Animal Jam Classic'' avatars that can be "flipped" into a ball. In October 2015, the company named Jazwares as the main toy partner for the ''Animal Jam Classic'' brand. Jazwares began developing figures, playsets, and plush items which were launched internationally in 2016. In June 2016, WildWorks released ''Animal Jam Classic'' toys which consisted mainly of stuffed animals, figures, and toy sets. One of which is a series of toys called "''Animal Jam'' Adopt-a-Pet" which comes with a miniature figure of a pet from the game and two accessories in a den shaped box, along with an in-game item code. Since the release, four series of toys have been released so far, featuring different pets, accessories, and dens. On November 16, 2016, WildWorks launched "''Animal Jam'' Box", a subscription box that contains merchandise sent to those who would subscribe to the plan. In early 2019, WildWorks' contract with Jazwares had ended, and the company could no longer make merchandise with the company. However, the subscription box is no longer available as of spring 2020. ''

Pillow Pets Pillow Pets are a brand of stuffed toys with velcro straps which enable them to be converted from a decorative pillow into a stuffed animal. The toys are made from chenille. Pillow Pets were invented by Jennifer Telfer in 2003. They first gai ...

'' based on ''Animal Jam Classic'' in-game avatars are sold on the Pillow Pets official website, and on various online stores and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

''Animal Jam'' Academy

''Animal Jam'' Academy is a program that is directly linked to the ''Animal Jam Classic'' website. It provides users with "how-to" projects using the themes of science, technology, engineering, and

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

Mobile apps

''Animal Jam''

The most popular mobile application by WildWorks is ''Animal Jam'', formerly known as ''Animal Jam - Play Wild!'', which is a 3D version of the ''Animal Jam Classic'' universe and was released in August 2015. In February 2016, WildWorks had announced that ''Animal Jam'' had reached over 1 million downloads. The app is the top downloaded iPad educational game in 24 countries, the top downloaded game for 11 in 35 countries in 2018, and top-grossing iPad game in 54 countries. On May 19, 2017, ''Animal Jam'' won th
Google Play Awards
2017 for Best Kids' App. In early 2020, a version of ‘’Animal Jam’’ was released for personal computers, allowing players to play on

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

Other apps

On July 18, 2013, a free ''Animal Jam Classic''-based city-building mobile game called ''Tunnel Town'' was released on the iOS and Android. In ''Tunnel Town'', players raise a bunny family underground by purchasing, looking after, and raising new rabbit species. Later, in 2013, a second ''Animal Jam Classic'' mobile game spin-off was available for purchase, which was titled ''AJ Jump''. The game is centered on kangaroos, with a similar gameplay format to

Doodle Jump ''Doodle Jump'' is a platforming video game developed and published by Croatian studio Lima Sky, for Windows Phone, iPhone OS, BlackBerry, Android, Java Mobile (J2ME), Nokia Symbian, and Xbox 360 for the Kinect platform. It was released worldwid ...

. In 2018, a third game was released, titled ''Dash Tag''. In ''Dash Tag'', the player collects various animals and attempts to evade capture from a character named Misha the Panda. The gameplay is an endless runner game, similar to

Subway Surfers ''Subway Surfers'' is an endless runner mobile game co-developed by Kiloo and SYBO Games, private companies based in Denmark. It is available on Android (operating system), Android, iOS, HarmonyOS, Amazon Kindle, Kindle, and Windows Phone plat ...

and

Temple Run ''Temple Run'' is a 3D endless running video game developed and published by Imangi Studios. The player controls an explorer who has obtained an ancient relic and runs from demonic monkey-like creatures chasing him. The game was initially rele ...

Donations

The Gem donation box, which is in the game's Conservation Museum, is a way ''Animal Jam Classic'' encourages players to be more aware of the environment. A significant portion of all revenue ''Animal Jam Classic'' collected went to support worldwide conservation efforts. By June 2012, players enabled the ''Animal Jam Classic'' developers at WildWorks to contribute over $3 million to the National Geographic Society's work. The Play Wild Fund was introduced in November 2011 to allow other players to choose which animals and conservation efforts they wanted to donate to Animal Jam. In 2014, ''Animal Jam Classic'' raised $200 million for charity.

Reception

''Animal Jam Classic'' has received relatively positive reviews, with some criticism towards flawed moderation and strict limitations on accounts.

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

reviewer Dana Anderson gave ''Animal Jam Classic'' a 3-star rating, saying that the site was most appropriate for ages ten and over due to "unmonitored chat." Gamezebo reviewer Nick Tylwalk gave the site a 4-star review, which stated, "There's something for

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

lovers over a load range of ages." Jenna Glatzer on ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' described problematic social interactions on the game, including

cyberbullying Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...

scam A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

s for virtual items, and

cybersex Cybersex, also called computer sex, Internet sex, netsex and, colloquially, cyber or cybering, is a virtual sex encounter in which two or more people have long distance sex via electronic video communication (webcams, VR headsets, etc) and other e ...

. Natalie Shahmiri, WildWorks' Vice President of Marketing, provided a statement in the article on how the staff are aware of these problems and working to close moderation loopholes that allow such interactions to happen.

Awards

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website for ''Animal Jam Classic''

Official website for ''Animal Jam''
2010 video games Browser games Children's educational video games American children's websites Fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing games Flash games Massively multiplayer online games National Geographic Society Video games about animals Video games adapted into comics Video games developed in the United States