Happy 20th, Club Penguin!
In the year 2005, a game was launched that would go on to become a viral phenomenon, and a huge inspiration.
"Waddle Around and Meet New Friends"
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| Image courtesy of Global News Kelowna |
And we did just that. Club Penguin became so much more than just a penguin-themed chat room — it was a world all its own. It was a goofy, welcoming place where you could eat all the digital pizza and ice cream you wanted while dancing at every occasion and in every place. You could dress your penguin in countless combinations of silly clothing and items. Club Penguin inspired creativity and fun through its awesome parties and events, which often tied into real-world celebrations and holidays. The Halloween Party is by far my favourite, followed by The Fair and the April Fools' Party.
Club Penguin sadly shut down in 2018, but as the saying goes, “Waddle On.” And waddle on, we do.
So, Now What?
*leans in close and speaks quietly* You can still play Club Penguin today... technically.
That’s right — through the power of what I like to call “the super-nerds”, the game’s legacy lives on in the form of private servers and fan-made spin-offs, keeping that 2000s-era internet community energy alive and well.
To avoid any potential issues with a certain large company that may or may not approve of these projects, I’ll refrain from posting direct links here. But all one has to do is Google “Club Penguin,” and you’ll find them. Some of these remakes stay remarkably true to the original, complete with monthly parties, familiar items, and those iconic mini-games.
What’s really neat is that the majority of players on these spin-off servers are the same people who grew up with the game. There’s an unspoken respect among the community — if you ask, “Hey, where’s the pin?” you’ll get a chorus of “Coffee Shop!” Just stay clear of the Pizza Parlour... the drama in there is exactly the same as it was all those years ago — which, while annoying, is also kind of awesome to see. People never forget something as unique and as deeply woven into daily life as Club Penguin.
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| Is that Thin Ice: Home Edition? |
Let's go back to the mid-late 00s for a moment
It’s 2005, and it’s early November. The sky outside is grey and cold — even though it’s still early afternoon, it already feels like dusk. The computer lab is open as an alternative to spending recess out in the cool, dreary weather. You walk in and feel the warmth of thirty-plus computers whirring away, the monitors still CRTs with that comforting hum and glow.
Nearly every screen shows a snowy scene filled with colorful penguins waddling around. Club Penguin is all the rage (along with Robot Rage — but that’s for another day). The teachers groan, unsure what to make of these viral game phases that seem to come and go, but this one seems harmless enough. They give the occasional, “Your assignment is finished, right? Before you go on Club Penguin.”
The Club Penguin era during elementary school was something to behold. “Let’s go sledding!” someone shouts from across the room, and suddenly there’s a flurry of mouse clicks as a whole crowd of digital penguins moves en masse to the top-left corner of the screen, switching rooms.
There was a time — one that seemed like it would never end — when any computer, whether at school or at home, had Club Penguin on the screen. After school, it was always a race between siblings; whoever reached the computer first got to waddle around and try to tip the Iceberg.
So many cool mini-games!
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| Many epic wipe-outs on this hill! |
Sled Racing was by far my favourite of the many games scattered across that snowy island. Ice Fishing, Find Four, Pizzatron 3000, and Cart Surfer were all must-plays.
Playing the mini-games earned you in-game currency — Coins — which you could use to buy clothing, puffles, and igloo furniture or upgrades. Occasionally, there’d be free items released during parties and events.
The scramble to collect those freebies was real! Before the era of DLCs and microtransactions galore, Club Penguin kept it simple: a $6.99 monthly membership. You paid (or rather, your parents did), and you had access to everything — all the clothing items, all the igloo décor, and all the upgrades.
As a non-member, you could only purchase player card backgrounds, penguin colours, and the classic blue and red puffles. But for those of us who grew up in low-income households, we still found ways to enjoy Club Penguin just as much without the perks of paid membership — and it was legendary.
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| The fan-made versions have full membership by default, which is a bonus! |
I was dedicated!
I won’t lie — I spent a lot of time waddling around and collecting every pin, free party item, and player card background I could get my penguin’s flippers on. I’d sneak down to the computer first thing in the morning, long before anyone else was up, just to explore all the updates whenever a new party or room was released.
By the time we got to school, I had the rest of my class asking, “Where’s the new hat?” and crowding around my screen in awe. It was really cool. Club Penguin was its own little niche — a place of comfort and familiarity.
The Sad Part
As we grew up playing this goofy penguin game and watching it evolve, the world around us changed too. Games — like everything else — started becoming all about the money. Club Penguin was sold to that aforementioned very large company in 2007, and things began to shift.
While there were still plenty of cool new features, characters, mini-games, and places to explore, the game gradually started to take on that unmistakable corporate feel. Items that used to be free were now locked behind paywalls. Mini-games were chopped up and restricted by membership requirements. Even membership itself became a tiered system, with different levels offering different perks.
While clever from a marketing standpoint, it was a hard blow for the fun-loving, long-time fans. Finally, in 2018, the game shut down for good. The official version closed — but it was never forgotten.
Waddle On! & Happy 20th Anniversary, Club Penguin.
I’ll never agree with what that very large company did to the game. The original Club Penguin lives on in a special place close to my heart, preserved in memories of simpler times and snowy screens glowing in dimly lit computer labs. Every so often, I still log into one of those fan-made “super-nerd” versions for a binge of epic, nostalgic proportions — and to take in the Halloween Party, which, actually, starts pretty soon.
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| Halloween's Coming! |
As a once-dedicated Club Penguin player, I couldn’t let the 20th anniversary pass without saying something — without giving this gem of a 2000s game the attention and credit it deserves. If you share similar memories or ties to Club Penguin, maybe take a moment to waddle back into one of the fan remakes... and of course, Waddle On.
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| Club Penguin in 2025! Happy 20th, CP! |
