Review
Nooja is a musical MMOG designed for a younger audience where you can make friends, play, dance, party, and explore the magical planet of Nooja. 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 that also contains a sophisticated fictional universe and storyline, activities, non-playing characters and many additional features akin to those found in popular MMOGs.
During the opening tutorial, players embark on a journey in their spacecraft across the Great Groove Galaxy, fleeing the cacophony generated by the noisy, 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.
Your child will develop and personalize their own avatar by playing mini-games that can be accessed by clicking on musical crystals or by inviting other players to practice sessions. By playing games, your child will 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. Your child can use a wide variety of graphic smiley’s in-game to show when they're angry, sad, surprised or even in love; they can also show off their dance moves and music abilities in a variety of child-friendly mini-games. 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.
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 kids 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.
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 in a safe, comfortable and protected environment.
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