''My Singing Monsters'' is a 2012 video game franchise developed by
Big Blue Bubble
Big Blue Bubble, Inc. is a Canadian video game company headquartered in London, Ontario founded in 2004 by industry veteran Damir Slogar, Renata Slogar, and Claudette Critchley. The company has developed over one hundred games and gained intern ...
and published by
Canada Media Fund
The Canada Media Fund (CMF, french: Fonds des médias du Canada - FMC) is a public-private partnership founded on April 1, 2010 by the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canadian cable industry. It is used to fund the creation of original ...
.
The first game of the series was released on September 4, 2012, for
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
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 ...
.
Ports of the game for other operating systems were later released, including versions for
Android,
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 ...
Kindle Fire
The Amazon Fire, formerly called the Kindle Fire, is a line of tablet computers developed by Amazon. Built with Quanta Computer, the Kindle Fire was first released in November 2011, featuring a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS techn ...
,
Barnes & Noble Nook
The Barnes & Noble Nook (styled nook or NOOK) is a brand of e-readers developed by American book retailer Barnes & Noble, based on the Android platform. The original device was announced in the U.S. in October 2009, and was released the next m ...
, and
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
. The game was also released on the
PlayStation Vita
The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...
portable console. Since its release, ''My Singing Monsters'' has grown into a
multimedia franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...
, with a prequel, several
spin-off games, books, live events and series, and a
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a comp ...
.
On May 12, 2021, Big Blue Bubble announced that the series would be releasing its first console title, ''My Singing Monsters: Playground,'' on November 9, 2021.
''My Singing Monsters''
In ''My Singing Monsters'', players collect and breed many different types of Monsters, each of which has a unique musical line that is either sung or played on an instrument. Breeding two elements of Monsters will create a new Monster species, which depends on what levels the breeding Monsters are. Each island possesses a unique set of available Monsters that together play a certain musical theme. Monsters that are present on an island will generate various types of in-game currency which can, in turn, be used to acquire decorations, remove obstacles, build structures, undo the removal of obstacles, and buy food for the Monsters to level up and generate more currency. There are also achievements and goals to direct gameplay, with in-game currency as rewards.
It is also possible to buy currency such as Coins, Diamonds, Treats, Relics, Keys, or Shards. Certain currencies may be obtained using additional features.
Islands are the various places that monsters inhabit. Some islands follow the method of buying four single elements, then breeding those into even more monsters (i.e. Plant Island, Cold Island, Air Island). Other islands require teleporting monsters from another island (i.e. Ethereal Island, Magical Sanctum, Seasonal Shanty). Other islands have the player buy the monsters as "statues" or "vessels", then zap monster eggs from breeding structures on other islands into one of the statues to wake up the statue (i.e. Wublin Island, Celestial Island, Amber Island). The Colossingum is a combat island where the player can do quests to level up their Colossingum level. Players are also able to collect Costumes in The Colossingum. Composer Island is where players can create their own songs.
The distinction of ''My Singing Monsters'' from other simulation games is the "building" process of making music that is primarily driven by the use of the eponymous musical monsters. Players make their own decisions on what determines the "perfect" island by selectively picking monsters that they determine would improve their game overall through a combination of design and in-game currency generation. Some special monsters or decorations are more difficult to unlock, often requiring exclusive currencies, special events (such as holidays and in-game events), "Wishing Torches", or other special methods in order to obtain or activate them.
Some Monsters sing in nonsensical
gibberish
Gibberish, also called jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense. It may include speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords, or language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to outsider ...
(such as the ''Mammott'' (bum), ''Fwog,'' (wow), and ''Toe Jammer'' (doo)), some sing fractured or short lines in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
(such as the ''PomPom'' (hey), shugabush (yeah), and ''Hoola'' (yay)), and others play real-world or fictional instruments (such as the ''Shellbeat'' (
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
) and ''Bowgart'' (
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
)). There are also special Monsters known as "Werdos" that sing lyrics (the ''Parlsona'', ''Tawkerr'', ''Stoowarb'', and ''Maggpi''). The characters are often designed as exaggerations of real-world animals or objects (such as the common ''Fwog'' (
frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
) and ''T-Rox'' (
T-rex
''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...
)), cartoon caricatures of monsters from
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
and
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
ology (such as the ''Epic Blabbit'' (
jackalope
The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns. The word ''jackalope'' is a portmanteau of ''jackrabbit'' and ''antelope''. Many jackalope taxidermy mounts, including the original, ...
) and ''Dragong'' (
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
)), fusions of living creatures and instruments (such as ''Floogull'' (
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
/
seagull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...
) and ''Sox'' (
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
/
fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
), resemblances to real-world people (such as the ''Shugabush'' and ''G'joob''), or representations of the monster's in-game elemental makeup (such as ''Clackula'' and ''Potbelly''). Some monsters work differently, for example, the Wubbox is hatched in a box form, and must have all Natural Monsters on the island "boxed" into it to power it up (Rare and Epic Wubbox take Rares and Epics instead, as well as make different noises) Most Monsters have "Rare" and "Epic" variants, which are only available to obtain during special events.
In addition, other features such as the top islands, Tribal Island, achievements, friends, battles, and special events are also present.
Certain gameplay mechanics have been discontinued, such as the Mine, which was replaced with a Mini Mine, and a Maximum Mine on Plant Island if the player had made at least one in-app purchase.
Monster Choir
''Monster Choir'' was the Chinese and Korean version of ''My Singing Monsters'' published by
Yodo1
Yodo1, Ltd. is a Chinese mobile game publisher based in Beijing. Founded in November 2011, it is headed by co-founders Henry Fong and James LaLonde as chief executive officer and chief growth officer, respectively, and publishes games with a focu ...
, which has since been discontinued. It features additional gameplay modes and functions.
''My Singing Monsters: Dawn of Fire''
''My Singing Monsters: Dawn of Fire'' is a
prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term " ...
of the original ''My Singing Monsters'', set in a time when the element of Fire was born. Unlike the original game, the main song is on "Continent", a supercontinent land that was formed similarly to
Pangaea
Pangaea or Pangea () was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous approximately 335 million y ...
. There are five sections of the continent, unlocked at different player levels and based on the Natural Islands from the original game. Monsters in their toddler form are initially raised on Continent, each of which plays a unique tune that contributes to the musical theme. Each monster requests a unique set of "crafting items" that can be used to increase their level up to level 20; filling these requests will reward in-game currency plus additional benefits that can unlock additional features of the game. At a certain monster level, unique to each monster, toddler monsters are able to permanently teleport to additional islands known as "Outer Islands" as adult monsters, gaining new musical lines on an island with a unique group of musical monsters that produce an entirely different song theme. These include Party Island, Space Island, Cloud Island, and Cave Island. There is also one other island, called Starhenge, which is the original version of Celestial Island from the original game. ''Dawn of Fire'' also introduced Prismatics, which are only available during certain events, and during those events can be created by sending a monster through the Prism Gate. Prismatics serve as the prequel's equivalent of Rare and Epic monsters from the original game.
Other games
My Singing Monsters: Composer
''My Singing Monsters: Composer'' serves as an app to compose custom songs using some, but not all, monsters from the franchise.
My Singing Monsters: Playground
''My Singing Monsters: Playground'' is a
party video game
Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Lillia ...
. In ''My Singing Monsters: Playground'', players can compete in games that are set in the Monster World and can play as characters from the My Singing Monsters franchise. ''My Singing Monsters: Playground'' also has a physical version that is exclusive to the
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
, that released on November 9, 2021.
My Singing Monsters: The Board Game
''My Singing Monsters: The Board Game'' is a board game based on the My Singing Monsters franchise. The board game was supported by
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
from June 1 to 21 and is designed by Sen-Foong Lim and Jay Cormier. There are two versions of the game; the Standard Edition, which includes all of the core components, and the Deluxe Edition, which includes nine painted Monster mini-figures, upgraded components, and an exclusive expansion that features the Werdo monsters. The board game is a worker placement game, in which the player breeds Monsters to produce more coins than other players.
Teaching Guide Grade 1-3: My Singing Monsters
In 2018, Big Blue Bubble released an educational guide aimed towards elementary school children; ''Teaching Guide Grade 1-3: My Singing Monsters,'' which was intended to teach lessons about music using characters and concepts from the franchise.
Discontinued Games
Furcorn's Jelly Dreams/Jammer Splash
''Furcorn's Jelly Dreams'' was a puzzle game featuring characters from the franchise, and was discontinued in 2017. This eventually was remade into ''Jammer Splash!'', which was also discontinued as well.
Other discontinued games
Several other games from the franchise have also been discontinued, including ''My Mammott'', ''My PomPom,'' ''Fling a Thing!,'' ''Thumpies'', ''My Singing Monsters: Coloring Book'', and ''My Singing Monsters: Official Guide''.
''Fling a Thing!'' and ''Thumpies'' were released prior to ''My Singing Monsters'', and references to these games can be found throughout the ''My Singing Monsters'' series.
Notable collaborations
On June 17, 2013, Big Blue Bubble collaborated with
Disney Mobile
Disney Mobile is an American division of Disney Consumer Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, that designs mobile apps, content and services.
History
In August 2000, Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) entered the mobile content mark ...
to make ''My Muppets Show'', a game featuring similar gameplay to ''My Singing Monsters'', albeit with
Muppets instead. The game featured five stages, each with its own song, and Muppets were obtained by "digitizing" them with a machine called HARV-E. The game was permanently discontinued on January 9, 2015.
In July 2013,
Big Blue Bubble
Big Blue Bubble, Inc. is a Canadian video game company headquartered in London, Ontario founded in 2004 by industry veteran Damir Slogar, Renata Slogar, and Claudette Critchley. The company has developed over one hundred games and gained intern ...
announced that they had collaborated with
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
-winning artist
Kristian Bush
Kristian Merrill Bush (born March 14, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Bush is one half of the country music duo Sugarland with Jennifer Nettles, and was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim with Andrew Hyra ...
from
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
duo
Sugarland
Sugarland is an American country music duo founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of singer-songwriters Jennifer Nettles (lead vocals) and Kristian Bush (vocals, guitar, mandolin). They were founded in 2002, at which point Kristen Hall (vo ...
to create a new monster, the ''Shugabush''.
Bush had been inspired to collaborate with My Singing Monsters upon seeing his 11-year-old son playing the game. His cousin, Charles Moser, was a Big Blue Bubble intern at the time, so he immediately called him. He praised the attractive music surrounding the game, and collaborated with Big Blue Bubble to create the ''Shugabush''. After his collaboration was featured in a news release, he had said "First of all, the music in ''My Singing Monsters'' is irresistible — that's what drew me to the game. And since I love to dream big via social media, I'm so glad that Dave Kerr and his team at ''My Singing Monsters'' dreamed back. I've always wanted to let my inner monster out
..and I think I'm finally about to impress my son."
In October 2013 Big Blue Bubble signed a deal with publishing house Egmont UK as its new strategic licensing partner.
In July 2017 Big Blue Bubble announced that Wind Sun Sky Entertainment will adapt its mobile game ''My Singing Monsters'' into a multi-media franchise, beginning with an animated TV series and consumer products program.
Skybound Entertainment
Skybound Entertainment is an American multiplatform entertainment company founded by Robert Kirkman and David Alpert.
History
Skybound Entertainment is the company behind the long-running comic, '' The Walking Dead'', created by Robert Kirkman ...
will be the distributor in all territories worldwide, excluding Canada.
In 2021, Big Blue Bubble began a 7-episode series called "My Singing Monsters: Fandemonium", in collaboration with Wind Sun Sky Entertainment. The series aired exclusively on YouTube. The show was hosted by Mammott, Furcorn, and PomPom. It discussed future updates in the franchise, as well as answered community questions, and other sorts of entertainment. My Singing Monsters: Fandemonium is separate from the TV show.
Reception
''
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History
...
'' described the original ''My Singing Monsters'' as a "clever combination of music and monster breeding", praising how the complexity of a song can become developed by the utility of breeding monsters, each monster revealing a new line to the song. However, ''Kotaku'' was "a bit disappointed" with the level of complexity added in ''Dawn of Fire'', reporting that the new feeding system hinders progress towards the whole concept of unveiling the "musical nirvana".
Gamezebo and 148Apps enjoy the music in My Singing Monsters, but were not pleased with the connection issues.
The game won the People's Voice Award for "Best Music/Sound Design" at the 2020
Webby Award
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...
s.
References
{{Reflist
External links
My Singing Monsters official website
IOS games
Android (operating system) games
PlayStation Vita games
Simulation video games
Video games developed in Canada
Video game franchises introduced in 2012
Video game franchises
Music video games
Big Blue Bubble games