Webkinz is an online virtual pet game that launched in 2005. What makes Webkinz unique is that your virtual pets have real-world plush counterparts. Each Webkinz plush comes with a code that can be used to adopt a digital version of your stuffed friend! You can also buy or earn digital-only pets and there are many pet types that do not have plush versions, but being able to play with a virtual pet while I had the real stuffed pet next to me is always what made the game special for me.

I got my very first Webkinz - a chihuahua named Angel - for Christmas in 2007. I was at first confused and I thought the W on her paw that all Webkinz have meant she came from Walmart. Once my parents introduced me to the website and showed me that I could play with Angel in a virtual world, my mind was blown.

Webkinz was very popular when I was a kid, and a lot of my friends at school had them too. Now, most of Webkinz' playerbase is people like me - 20-somethings who never stopped playing the game. The game is still maintained, but there are no new major updates since it is coded in Flash. It's not just nostalgia that makes the game hold up for me - I really do still think it's a lot of fun! There are a lot of great minigames and I love collecting pets, decorating rooms for them, and dressing them up.

Webkinz stopped making plushies in 2019 due to poor sales. They started making plushies for Webkinz' 3D counterpart, Webkinz Next, but I honestly think they don't look very good. To me, they lack the Webkinz charm and look like knockoff Beanie Boos. My hope is that Webkinz will see that people are still redeeming many pet codes from plushies they have gotten from eBay, flea markets, specialty stores, and the like and see that there is a demand to bring the classic plushies back.