A Look Back: January 2010 & The Cave Expedition

January 2010 was the start of a new decade for Club Penguin, so the game was going through changes and trying out new things. This was a strange period in the game, in between more classic Club Penguin and before the advertisement takeovers that would come in 2012 and change the game until it’s end.

I’m here to talk about the ambitious Cave Expedition Club Penguin held that month. Since plenty of time has past, almost 10 years to the day (January 22-29), I figured now would be the right time to take a look back on this unique event.

Background

The Mine is where this expedition took place. The Mine, along with all the other underground rooms, opened in a members only party on May 26, 2006 and everybody could access it three days later. The popular mini-game Cart Surfer opened in this room on June 6, 2006. The Mine usually didn’t have much going on and wasn’t decorated often for parties. A flood washed into the underground in 2007, but other than that, it was a pretty quiet, open room.

On January 8, 2010, a rockslide occured on the back wall. The week after a boulder could be moved revealing a cave.

Players were called to action in the Club Penguin Times to report on Friday, January 22 and start digging. It is also worth noting this is the last Club Penguin party/event to be released on a Friday, whereas the month later Club Penguin started to update on Thursdays.

The Expedition Begins

Players in the Mine were greeted by a new underground entrance which was never seen before. They could also pick up the Miners Helmet here.

The first room was the Cave Mine. To advance to the next room, players had to drill or shovel the dirt to reveal four pieces of the Amethyst Pin.

Afterwards, they could roll their mouse over the boulder to go to the next room. Also in the room, snowballs had to be thrown into the machine to keep the lights on, or else they power off.

The Hidden Lake was the next room, which had a nice design and an abandoned Aqua Grabber ship. Members could buy the Deep Sea Diving Suit for 50 coins here.

The next and last room was the Underwater room, which was members only. Players could get the Coral Reef Background here, too.

Closure

It was announced that on January 29th all three new cave rooms would be closed until further notice due to unsafe conditions. On that day it became blocked off, thus ending the event.

Re-Opening

Two months later on March 4, it was reported that puffles were going missing and suspected to be wandering into the caves. Rockhopper’s puffle Yarr was missing, as well as the yellow puffle in the Stage and the green puffle in the Night Club.

After a bit of construction, on Monday, March 15, Puffle Rescue was released in the Mine to save the puffles in the caves. The underground rooms also opened back up, in a rare case where rooms close and then re-open later. The Cave Mine permanently had the free Miners Helmet, and players could earn coins instead of amethyst pieces.

To get into the Underwater room, members had to follow bubbles created by the Giant Squid in the black puffle level of Puffle Rescue and lead to a secret area in the game which would automatically bring you to the room and collect the Moss Key Pin. After collecting the pin, players could access it permanently.

Aftermath

After the hype of the expedition and newly released mini-game Puffle Rescue, just like most things in Club Penguin, it died down substantially. The Cave Mine was mostly deserted, and the drilling was not a reliable way to get a lot of coins. The lights shutting off was also pretty annoying. It ended up being closed in November 2013, nearly four years later, and replaced by the Gold Mine.

The Hidden Lake stayed open until Club Penguin closed. It was a somewhat popular but quiet retreat. A ladder to the Forest was added in June 2010. It was also decorated sometimes, unlike the others.

The Underwater room also stayed open until Club Penguin’s closure. In April 2014, members who lost their membership could still be able to access the room afterwards, a new feature.

My Opinion

I always thought the Cave Expedition was a cool concept that took risks. However, the rooms should have been temporary. The cave rooms were very underutilized, and frankly didn’t really need to be permenant additions, in my opinion.

Halloween Maze Released!

Happy Halloween everyone! Today, Rocketsnail has completed the very first party on Box Critters, the Halloween Party 2019. The Tavern has been decorated since October 20, but today a maze was released. Enter the Tavern to get started and go to the portal on the left.

This is the maze entrance. A map is on the right if you can even see it that small.

Here’s the maze…

…and here’s the map with answers. Unlike Club Penguin mazes, like the Great Snow Maze of 2009, this is all one room with a moving screen, whereas in Club Penguin it had separate rooms.

I really like the classic decorations throughout the maze!

Eventually you will reach the finish. Enter if you dare!

Inside you can collect your Ghost Sheet, which is the first item obtained without typing a code.

Just one more thing to say…

Box Critters Easter Egg Hunt 2019!

The first ever event for Box Critters, a small and simple Easter Egg Hunt, was released last Thursday. Even though Easter has come and gone, the event is still on! Here’s a walkthrough.

In the Tavern, go by the drums for the first egg.

Go by the speaker for the second egg.

Go by the cash register for the third and final egg.

Now stand approximately on the purple dot on the stage, and wear each egg hat. You will get white, blue, and pink bunny ears.

Now you have completed the Easter Egg Hunt!

According to Rsnail, the event will be over Friday.

-Belly18

Updates that Have Happened Since the Launch

There has been a number of updates since Box Critters had a soft launch on February 9th. If you missed out, you can find what happened here:

• The hamsters originally had a different design, with open mouths and separate eyes. Rsnail changed it accordingly to his own style.

• The inventory was released April 10th. The icon was originally a green square but now is a box. It has since been expanded with more slots for items.
• New items have been coming out rapidly.
• A hamster was added to the login screen.
• A notification when you obtain a new item.

That’s pretty much all you missed!

RocketSnail’s New Project: Box Critters!

Hello penguins, or should I say hamsters?

Yes, RocketSnail is back at it again. The creator of Club Penguin, Lance Priebe, who goes by RocketSnail after the name of his game company, has been experimenting with a new game called Box Critters. Instead of penguins this time around, it is hamsters, and opened February 9, 2019. With the Club Penguin name recently becoming dead, I guess there is no better time than to release this game now. Right now, it is very reminiscent to Club Penguin that even the artwork looks the same. The game is currently growing and has a lot of potential, and I’m glad to be here to see it coming along.

So, why am I back?

Well I enjoy blogging, and I’d like to blog about the updates this little game has coming out right now, at least for now. I joined Club Penguin in July 2007 and stayed pretty much up until the end, so there’s a lot of history and experience with me. I did not play Club Penguin Island however. If you could spread the word about this site, it’ll be much appreciated. Over time I will update the site to transition from a Club Penguin site to a Box Critters site. The CP posts will still remain, however. New posts coming now, including how-to’s and the Easter Egg Hunt!

-Belly18

Club Penguin Years – Ranked!

There were a total of 11 full years on Club Penguin. Here are the best, and here the worst – all in my opinion. 2005 and 2017 are not included due to not being full years of Club Penguin. I will present the years from worst to best.

11. 2016

Alright, so the last full year of Club Penguin. Not good at all. Awful catalogs, two month long parties, repetitiveness, laziness, buggy – simply awful. It hurts for me to say these things about 2016 but many will agree it was one, if not the worst of Club Penguin. The game was in a complete demise at this point, and the team was mainly working on Club Penguin Island instead of the classic, the original game that they planned on throwing in the trash. And it all turned out to be pretty much a waste of time as CPI has now shut it’s doors. Ah well. But yes, if you ever ask me, 2016 was the worst year on Club Penguin. To be fair, the first half did alright, but the seven week long Zootopia Party and the two month long Frozen Party exactly the same as previous parties did it for me.

10. 2014

Yeah, 2014…not so much. I will say though the newly brought back Fair was really amazing and a lot of fun. The Puffle Party was also new, and the Pirate Party was good. Nothing else really clicked though. The Muppets World Tour was just a money grabber and the Music Jam was nothing like the former. This year also brought the first Frozen Party. And last but not least, Club Penguin got rid of the Holiday Party in favor of Merry Walrus. “It’s his name and his catchphrase!” The new dog and cat puffles were also introduced this year, as well as igloo backyards. Eh.

9. 2015

2015 was not that better, but is a notch of 2014. This year brought the second Frozen Party, almost exact same Fair, and the Descendants Party which had two rooms decorated in September. Also, in July 2015, the catalogs were switched to image based, rendering no more hidden items in catalogs. To be fair though, CP was still trying at the time. The Halloween Party robot story was unique, the Holiday Party was brought back, the Festival of Snow was very nice, as well as the Fashion Festival. This year also had the 10th Anniversary Party which showcased parties of Club Penguin’s past, which was very cool.

8. 2013

2013 I believe was the first real year of the ‘new’ Club Penguin, with newly designed rooms and new penguin artwork. However, it wasn’t too bad. The Prehistoric Party was 100% original to the game, as well as the Hollywood Party, Operation Puffle, and a revamped version of the Medieval Party. The Puffle Hotel also came out this year, as well as the Rainbow Puffle and the Gold Puffle. Plus, Card-Jitsu Snow was released, an in-game EPF mission happened, and the School took over the Recycling Plant. The summer of sponsored parties was not my thing though. There were four sponsored parties in a five month stretch.

7. 2012

2012 was definitely interesting. It brought the first sponsored party to Club Penguin, the Marvel Superhero Takeover in June, which I did enjoy. I did not enjoy however, the new version of the Music Jam which was a plug for Disney. 2012 also had the last original Fair and last April Fools Party. The year also started out very strong, with the Underwater Expedition and Rockhopper’s Quest. What stands out for me this year though is the Puffle Party, Operation: Blackout, the mansion at the Halloween Party, and the Medieval Party. Those were really, really good parties Club Penguin released that year.

6. 2010

So, yes, this may surprise some people. 2010 just didn’t cut it for me. For me, I always refer it to a rehash year. The Puffle Party, Medieval Party, Music Jam, The Fair, Halloween Party, and Holiday Party were almost exactly like year’s past, with the addition of new party rooms to use as their main advertising. I’m not sure why this happened, but to me 2010 was an alright year where not much work was put into parties. From the top of my head, what did happen was the Orange Puffle being released, Card-Jitsu Water coming out, the event at the Stadium for CP Game Day on the Wii, and the newspaper being redesigned. As for parties that were good, the April Fools Party saw some new things, and the 5th Anniversary Party saw some cool decorations. Parties that stand out to me though are the Island Adventure Party, Penguin Play Awards, the Mountain Expedition, and the rain storm in November. 2010 also saw the caves released and Puffle Rescue, as well as stamps. I almost forgot to mention that 2010 was a big year in May when the EPF took over the PSA and the last mission was released with the popcorn explosion. The Sports Shop also closed in favor of the Everyday Phoning Facility and new EPF HQ. So yes, that was probably the biggest thing of 2010.

5. 2011

2011 started off pretty slow. The Wilderness Expedition with the Brown Puffle was very good, but the Puffle Party, April Fools Party (besides the dimensions), and Music Jam were more or less the same. In March, Puffle Rescue and Bits & Bolts came out along with the first batch of redesigned rooms, as well as new Puffle player cards. The Medieval Party also featured battling hydras which Herbert later used in the month to attack the EPF. However, what stands out to me though is the second half of 2011. The Fair was amazing, to simply put it. The decorations were completely revamped and they put a ton of work into it. Same with the Halloween Party and the Holiday Party. The Card-Jitsu Party was also brand new and island-wide. I enjoyed the latter half of 2011 very much, and this was the last full year without sponsored parties. Its also worth mentioning the new Friends List came out this year…yuck.

4. 2006

So, yes, 2006. This is the only year on this list that I did not play Club Penguin. However, over many years I have looked at images, parties, catalogs, and newspapers to have a sense of what’s going on. I will never completely get the feel for this year though. It’s unfair to put this on the list, but it has to be done. Club Penguin was still new and growing during this year and was still extremely basic. New mini games were being released everywhere, new rooms, the first real parties like Halloween and Christmas. Rockhopper also came for the first time in October. It was growing, and that’s why it has the advantage at number 4.

3. 2007

It was hard to decide where to put 2007. But I decided here would be best. It was a very great year for Club Penguin. Pretty much every party was brand new because it was only the second year. Club Penguin got the hang of what it was supposed to do by now, and it did it well. The summer trifecta was really good this year; Summer Party, Water Party, and Camping Party. The Fall Fair was also brand new, as well as the Festival of Snow and some others. The PSA was also very active these days, and the whole community in general. Disney also bought Club Penguin on August 1, 2007.

2. 2009

Yup, 2009 is the second best. Where do I start? New Puffle Party, White Puffle, last Winter Fiesta, last and best St. Patrick’s Day Party, amazing April Fools, first and unique Adventure Party, first Penguin Play Awards, revamped Music Jam, the one and only Festival of Flight, Night of the Living Sled 3 and the Mansion, Card-Jitsu Fire, and completely new Holiday Party. Such a great and memorable year where Club Penguin still cared. That’s kind of all I have to say.

1. 2008

This will always be my number one choice. 2008. First full year owned by Disney so Club Penguin could do things they never could do before. The parties were AMAZING. Some of my favorites are the Submarine Party, April Fool’s Day Party, Pirate Party, Medieval Party (new+original), Water Party, Music Jam (new+original), Penguin Games (new+original), 3rd Anniversary Party, Dig Out the Dojo, and the Christmas Party. So, practically ALL OF THEM. The pins were small and cleverly hidden. We saw Rockhopper crash and salvage his pieces with the Aqua Grabber and rebuild his ship. We saw the Club Penguin Improvement Project where everybody turned into green puffles. We saw amazing Club Penguin Times issues that we used to look forward to reading the thoughtful pages every week. We saw new items in catalogs every month. We saw ninjas revealed and Card-Jitsu released. We saw Club Penguin toys come out as well as books and other real life products. We saw the PSA release four missions. We saw Club Penguin have an EARTHQUAKE. We saw Rockhopper come very frequently and Gary became meetable. We saw a ton of new Stage plays and costumes. We saw the Captain’s Quarters and played Treasure Hunt for the first time. We saw igloo backgrounds, new player cards, new server selection, and a new postcard system. I could go on, and on, and on.

What a great year for Club Penguin. They were on top of their game at the time, literally. So much work was put into Club Penguin in 2008. The staff truly cared at the time, and we didn’t realize until later on how great the game was back then. Those were definitely the heydays of Club Penguin, and at the time had a million accounts and almost all servers were full. It’s sad to know they’ll probably be gone forever.

What do you think of my list or where would you rate the years?

Top 5 Club Penguin One-Timer Parties

With Club Penguin Island now closed along with the classic, I think this is a time to reflect on Club Penguin throughout the years.

These are the top five parties that occurred on Club Penguin only once, in my opinion of course.

5. Camp Penguin (August 24-27, 2007)

This was a very nice, simple party. To end the summer, in late August Club Penguin held this four day party. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to have a good time, and ended up being the only one of it’s kind.

4. Penguin Games (August 22-26, 2008)

This was a very unique, interactive party the team created to coincide the 2008 Summer Olympics. Many rooms were decorated, and you had to complete three Olympic events to earn your medal. This included a marathon, swimming laps at the Cave, and a three lap event at the Iceberg. I consider this different than the Sports Party 2006.

3. Operation: Blackout (November 14-December 6, 2012)

This party was epic, to put it simply. It included Herbert trying to steal the sunlight with his laser for himself, while the island was increasingly getting darker every week and covered in mounds of snow as temperatures fell. Herbert also kidnapped EPF agents, destroyed the EPF HQ, and set the Everyday Phoning Facility on FIRE. Players had to solve new puzzle tasks each day to stop Herbert as the Director gave instructions. Plus, it was the first time Herbert was meetable. In the end, the Director was revealed to be Aunt Arctic.

This party was a massive project that had been hyped for over a year, and the hype was well deserved. It is also considered the turning point of old and new Club Penguin somewhat, at least for me and some others. Following the operation, many main rooms were redesigned and Club Penguin drastically changed in 2013. Billybob had also left Club Penguin in October 2012.

2. Festival of Flight (August 14-20, 2009)

What’s with all the good parties in August? This party was certainly one of a kind. Gary wanted to repair the windows in the Cave, but didn’t want it to flood. So, the island became airborne! Players could also travel to the Tallest Mountain by a Hot Air Balloon Ride. It was very cool party, and that’s why it’s at number two!

1. Submarine Party (February 15-22, 2008)

This party was AMAZING. So much work was put into this party, and it shows. This party was held for the Aqua Grabber being released, as Rockhopper crashed his ship and needed some device to salvage up the ship pieces. It was so nautical, and colorful, and the decorations were only seen this one time, which makes it that much more special. The Night Club was literally an underwater sunken ship! This is why it’s my number one on the top five Club Penguin one-timer parties. The game was truly on top of the world at the time.

Just a reminder these are all in my opinion. What are your favorite one-timer parties?

Club Penguin Island Ready to Close

Well then, hello everybody. Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to all US readers.

It’s been a bit over a year and a half since you last heard from me. After Club Penguin closed, I moved on with my life and had no more desire for any reincarnations of Club Penguin. Club Penguin in those last few years were really bad anyways, in my opinion. It contained repetition, no creativity, sponsorships everywhere, and a really bad chat filter. They really let it go downhill from 2013 to the end. 2013-2014 were alright, but 2015-2017 was just awful. It’s a shame.

This may be because the Club Penguin team was working so hard on Club Penguin Island. It was in development since at least 2015 and they spent so much time making teasers, blog posts, and committing most of their time to that. It opened on March 29, 2017; the same day Club Penguin closed. (I know I said I’d make a post, but oh well.) A year and a half later, CPI announces it will be closed for good.

Is it fair to call the game an utter failure? Not necessarily. But perhaps.

I was pretty surprised by this news that came out in late September. I thought it would at least go for five years or so. Yet here we are 20 months later.

I only played the game when it first came out, naturally, like everyone else did who was curious. It wasn’t my style, plus I was out of the range of their key age of players. It was time to move on. I still sometimes miss the old days of classic Club Penguin from time to time. It was a very big part of my childhood from 2007-2012. After that, not as much.

It’s a shame that this has happened though. Actually, I think it is safe to say that it was a pretty big failure. It’s awful that all these employees will be laid off right before Christmas.

I‘m not really sure what went wrong. Not enough players? Too much work for the 3D? They think it went on long enough? Too many bugs and glitches? We may never know the real reason.

Their blog is making posts right now with all the things they were planning on doing with Herbert amongst other things. So much potential…thrown in the trash. I also can’t believe they never introduced puffles or igloos. Club Penguin classic had those up and ready within months of launch in 2005. That reason also probably led to less popularity.

This seems to be the official end of the Club Penguin name. Let that sink in for a moment. Very, very unfortunate.

The game closes December 20. Thanks for playing.

Club Penguin Free Membership Day!

As a thank you for their community, Club Penguin has giving everybody a free day of membership! Thanks Club Penguin! (Although it should have been longer).

Club Penguin closes TONIGHT:

Thursday, March 30th at 12:01 am Penguin Standard Time.

A post by me will follow.

Club Penguin Final Day Reflection

For almost two months now, we knew we had a limited time before Club Penguin was gone.

Now that day is here.

Tomorrow is the last full day on Club Penguin. Last time this game was completely shut down (and only time to my knowledge) was the Club Penguin Improvement Project in April 2008 for one day when the homepage and many in-game features were revamped. Everyone was upset about that one day closure. Now it’s closing for good.

At exactly 12:01 am Penguin Standard Time (PST) on Thursday, March 30, 2017, Club Penguin will start to take down it’s servers. This is 3:01 am Eastern, 12:01 am Pacific Time. According to a blog comment response by Megg, they won’t all be taken down immediately, but that is when the process will begin. I’d expect all servers to be down by 1:00 am PST and be all but silent and locked up. If you are on during these late hours, which I’m sure true fans will be, you will receive a lost connection message box. It has already been updated since last week, and says something along the lines of thanking you for playing.

At one time, about 2008-2010, I thought to myself what would I do without Club Penguin. Sadly, I have grown and that is not necessarily the case anymore. It is also a good thing though, because if I was still in love with the game as I once was then I’d have a hard time letting it go now. This closure is sad for me, but not as sad if it was my nine year old self. I will always treasure those heydays of Club Penguin though when I was basically on it every day. It was apart of my childhood.

Onto some less depressing news, starting tonight, March 29th at 12:01 am PST, and up until Club Penguin closes at 12:01 am March 30th, EVERYONE will have unlimited Club Penguin access with free memberships! That means you can see your saved igloos from years ago, wear your favorite member clothes, and play unlimited mini-game levels – all one last time. Although it should have been the last month or something.

Say goodbye to your puffles. Say goodbye to your buddies. Say goodbye to everything on this game we have known for the past 11 and a half years. This is your last chance. It may be hard for some to not shed a tear, but Club Penguin is still continuing on Club Penguin Island and there’s free membership tomorrow!

This game has gone through many changes in it’s history, but one things for sure – it’s always been a little game we called…

Club Penguin.