Nooja

Introdução

 

Características

• Safe environnement for kids
• A magical, musical universe to explore
• Musical tribes and very expressive avatars
• Sophisticated chat and social networking
• Free to play, no install or download

Review

Nooja was released in France early 2010 by the French publisher Kazago Entertainment. Like Club Penguin or Moshi Monsters, it caters primarily to a young 8-12 audience. Like many other virtual worlds, Nooja is a playful mix between a social network and an online game... but it also contains a sophisticated fictional universe and storyline, activities, non-playing characters and leveling with some MMO-like characteristics.

During the opening tutorial, players embark on a journey in their spacecraft across the Great Groove Galaxy, fleeing the cacophony generated by the noisy, stupid Larsen monsters that have taken over their planet. Thankfully, their intergalactic voyage enables them to discover Nooja, a planet that is yet unaffected by the chaotic activities of the Larsens.

Players develop and personalize their avatar by playing mini-games. These can be accessed by clicking on musical crystals or by inviting other players to practice sessions. By playing games, players earn "notes" which can be traded for clothes, fashion accessories or special skills such as new dance moves.

Nooja includes some pretty cool social networking functionality. Kids can use a wide variety of graphic smileys in-game to show when they're angry, sad, surprised or even in love. They can also show off their dance moves. The filtered in-game chat allows private or group conversations and there's an in-game mail system that can be used to communicate with friends when they're not online.

Consistently with its story-telling ambitions, Nooja is also a rich environment that players are encouraged to explore. There are lots of well-characterized bots called Pioneers who propose in-game activities, provide fashion advice and help players repeat mini-games. As they progress, players can also explore the landscapes of Nooja, discover mysterious devices built by the Pioneers and start to understand Nooja's mysterious past...

While it's still in beta, Nooja is a very high quality, original production that provides a very different experience from other products in this space. Its 2D avatars are very expressive and engaging and the variety and quality of the animated smileys make the in-game chat a great experience. Nooja's cartoon-like visuals and decors, its variety of non-playing characters and its whacky musically inspired narrative make it a very original, fun universe.  The emphasis on group interactions (players are encouraged to practice together, player activity can change the decors as well as help keep the Larsens at a distance...) and the tightly moderated environment create a very positive atmosphere for kids to discover multiplayer online gaming.  While still missing some functionality, Nooja is an original concept, a musical hybrid virtual world/MMORPG which kids, tweens and parents should find very entertaining.