Homeschool Crew Review: Wiglington and Wenks Virtual World

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Wiglington and Wenks is an online virtual world for travelers aged 7 to 14.  It is meant to be a safe, educational site for kids to learn and play.  Children travel all over the world and through the ages, searching for famous historical people.  These people, from Buffalo Bill to Beethoven, have lost their memories and can recover them only if players find various clues about their lives. Along the way, children play games; buy islands, clothes and pets; build houses; explore; and learn about ‘historical people, animals, plants, inventions, items, architectures and countries.’ The whole experience is meant to encourage both knowledge and creativity.  Two videos are available on the website to introduce you to this world. 

Although W&W is a very new virtual world, it’s already making a big splash. It’s huge, and growing constantly, with many new areas being added in 2010. 

Educational aspects of the program include the historical figures, the search for interesting artifacts associated with these figures, the geographic locations, and some of the games—such as identifying jungle birds.

You start off with a free subscription, and if you like W&W, you can pay to become an Elite Quest Traveler.  Elite Quest Travelers can access more of the virtual world, play more games, find more people, and buy better islands, clothes, and pets. 

There is a parent control panel, but it was out of service while our family was reviewing the game.  When I wondered about this, Wiglington and Wenks informed me that they had disabled it temporarily while they are ‘working closely with a child safety organization, trustE, to gain COPPA recognition by reworking some systems.  Inside this panel you will be able to turn off the chat feature as well as prevent the child from participating in open chat.’  The parent control panel should be available again in a few weeks.  In the meantime, there is an Ignore button on each player’s card that allows a child to ignore bothersome or rude players.  Such players can also be reported to the moderators.  Other safety features include blocking exchanges of phone numbers and email addresses. 

Our Experiences and Thoughts

It took my children, who were completely new to virtual worlds, a while to figure out how to use various aspects of the program.  Some written instructions would have helped initially.  Once we got the Elite Quest Traveler’s membership, they were able to access more of the virtual world, play more games and find more people. 

Two of our children really loved this game, and played it avidly right from the start.  However, after a bit more than a week, our computer would no longer let us play.   The kids were sad, but I felt relieved.  Because my children were no longer glued to W&W, I no longer felt guilty for introducing them to such an absorbing computer game.  Instead, the little girls learned to weave, and everyone enjoyed the world outside.   

When Mr 14 fixed the computer, W&W worked again, and my first thought was, “I’d better not tell the kids!” And that, I suppose, shows just what I think of the program. 

I did tell them it worked again, but we also put strict limits on it.  We no longer treated it as an educational program, because it isn’t really.  Instead, we classed it with other computer games, and allowed it only on weekends, and then only for a very limited amount of time.  This is mainly because the whole concept of living in a virtual world is not something that appeals to our family.  

Miss 7 tried to chat once in a while.  Occasionally I noticed some other people making comments that I did not appreciate, and I’m glad she could not read them easily.  My other two children ignored the chat feature completely, and I was happy about that.   In a few weeks it should be possible to turn the chat feature off, and that will be a huge improvement to W&W.

Although the age range is nominally from 7-14, W&W also appeals those older than 14.  If I wanted to play virtual world games (which I don’t) this would be a good choice since it’s fun, clean, pleasant, nonviolent, full of games, and has an interesting plot.  I could easily see my crowd of university buddies from 20-odd years ago enjoying something like this after a difficult exam.

As is usual with secular games, there are some elements that not everyone will feel comfortable with.  I didn’t like the skull islands, the idea of magical time warps, the evil Count who caused all the trouble, the idea that huge amounts of ‘stuff’ is important, and the upcoming emphasis on Buddha.  In fact, I wasn’t even comfortable with the videos on the homepage, but I didn’t watch those until after we had started to explore W&W.  The game is nicer than the videos and has no violence that I noticed.

W&W aims to encourage children’s knowledge and creativity.  However, for my children, it encouraged playing computer games.  Some of the games are slightly educational, but I found that my children actually learned very little for the amount of time they spent on this program.  On the other hand, they assured me that they will never forget that Darwin sailed on the Beagle.

W&W is a great choice if you are looking for an online game for your children. There’s lots of fun, and even a smidgen of learning.  If, however, you want your kids to really learn, take them to the library and museums, let them watch films, and help them do internet research, but do not rely on this program. 

For the opinions of other moms, please visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog.  To see for yourself, sign up for a free account here. 

To Purchase

An Elite Quest Traveller subscription to Wiglington and Wenks costs $5.99 US for one month, with lower monthly rates for longer-term subscriptions. You can also purchase virtual credits and money, rather than earning them by cleaning up the Amazon, identifying birds, and playing other games.

Disclosure Policy:   As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received a free one month Elite Quest Traveler subscription in exchange for our family’s honest opinions.