Fantage (www.fantage.com)
© 2010 Fantage
Update January 2012: Fantage is starting a school initiative where kids can play math, reading and geography mini-games, and schools can compete for prizes. You don't need to be a subscriber in order to enter the contest. Update July 2010: Fantage now offers 25 Flash-based games and adventures that allow you to earn stars to use to shop for items. Fantage, or "fantastic age" is a responsive, safe and no-fail MMO that resembles Club Penguin back in the good old days, minus the penguins. It is a case study in ease of use. The Fantage theme is a bit like Disneyland with nine-themed areas, including a castle, a forest, a lighthouse, uptown, downtown and others. In each you can chat (freely but filtered) with others, invite others to become friends, decorate your room, or play 11 Flash-based games. There's always something to do. First launched in 2007, Fantage looks like it was inspired by Club Penguin -- there's even a lighthouse and a very similar chat process. Everything is easy to manage, from the registration process on. We liked how quickly our avatar moved from one place to the next. The games vary in quality, but generally offer one player arcade-style action with public leaderboards. These include moving through a maze, popping bubbles and catching bugs. Some are poorly leveled, but you can always exit. The sound can also start looping, but fortunately there's a mute. As with other virtual worlds, you quickly learn that some things, like upgrading your room, require becoming a premium member for $6/month and up. When we tested the service, it was already crowded at 8 AM EST, making us think that Fantage is popular in other time zones. If you're looking for a mainstream children's MMO with no surprises, Fantage is a good place to start.
$6, Windows, Mac OSX, Internet Site
Teaches: logic, typing, some creativity, spatial relations
CTR Rating: 88%