Bin Weevils

Bin Weevils
Developer(s) 55Pixels Ltd
Publisher(s) 55Pixels Ltd
Platform(s) Online
Release Online Website: 2007 (Advertisement released in 2003 on Nickelodeon Inc.)

Bin Weevils is a British children's Massively Multiplayer online game (MMO), owned by gaming studio 55 Pixels. The website has been independent from Nickelodeon since 2010, after obtaining their own site in 2007. The game has won the BAFTA Kids Vote on four occasions.[1] [2] [3] [4]

History

Bin Weevils first appeared as a cartoon series on Nickelodeon in 2003. Following the success of the cartoons, an online virtual world was made on the Nickelodeon site called 'Bin Weevils'. This online game was very successful, so in 2007, Bin Weevils launched their own separate site from Nickelodeon. Although still owned by Nick, the new website featured separate pages for parents, blogs, etc. In April 2010, it was announced that Bin Weevils would be going through a massive re-vamp. This occurred a few weeks later, and Bin Weevils re-innovated the game's website along with the whole game and was no longer owned by Nickelodeon, but became owned by its own company, Bin Weevils, Ltd.

Bin Weevils Ltd began working on several other projects, and therefore the company changed names to "55Pixels Ltd". This was at the same time the company laid off 30 employees, due to a decline in sales. In January 2017, the company announced a new game, named "Weevil World", with hopes to reboot the Bin Weevils brand. Weevil World is set in a lush tropical island environment.

In May 2017, 55Pixels launched the BETA version of Weevil World, to paying Bin Weevils members, formerly known as the "Bin Tycoon Membership". The game has been well received by players in the community.

Features

Bin Weevils is based around the theme of the real creatures, Weevils. The game is set in a "bin", with numerous places being designed specifically for this theme (e.g. Flum's Fountain, Dirt Valley, and Gong's Pipenest), designed using items you would usually find in a bin, such as cardboard. Users have their own "nest" (a house or home in the game) they can customize by buying items from the 'Shopping Mall' and placing them in their nest accordingly. The user nest can have up to 8 rooms, a private cinema, a garden, and a plaza. Some of these features like extra nest rooms or a bigger garden can only be obtained by paying for a membership (referred to as a 'Bin Tycoon' membership) which offers other features for members, including the ability to purchase hats and other exclusive items.

All users have a garden in their nest, in which they can plant and harvest plants from the 'Garden Shop'. Harvesting a plant earned the user in-game money ("Mulch") and experience points ("XP") which they could use to buy more items or contribute the points towards leveling up towards the next level. The Mulch is for spending, the XP is for levelling up. There are 80 levels in total, but more are often added. Moreover, players can buy a virtual pet, known as a "Bin Pet", bed, clothes, and many other items by completing the in-game missions or you could buy that by spending real money.

Another currency, Dosh, was added, and it replaced Bin Tycoon limits and high Mulch prices in many places, although it also requires payment. From time to time, Dosh can be earned for free such as in puzzles. Dosh is not a Tycoon only currency. Users with a premium (Bin Tycoon) membership earn a monthly Dosh salary from an in-game ATM. With this Dosh they can purchase purchase hats and nest items. In the early states of the game, you would be able to buy Mulch Currency via the Membership page or earn it from games, puzzles etc - however, the ability to purchase Mulch was removed when Dosh was introduced and is the only currency available to purchase on the membership page at present.

Merchandise

Bin Weevils entered into a license agreement with the toy company Character Options to create a line merchandise based off the game.[5] In February 2012, Bin Weevils launched a magazine to celebrate their 2011 BAFTA Award.[6] In June 2012, Bin Weevils launched a trading card game.[7] In some month in 2012, Bin Weevils started Dosh coins for Bin Tycoons to trade. In October 2012, Bin Weevils launched new toys including figurines and a Nest playset. They also launched plushes and backpack clips.[8] They also released clothes.[9] Bin Weevils also has a range of books. They announced in December 2012 that they teamed up with music label Sony to create a music album called Bin Tunes. In December 2012 until January 2013, a competition was held for four children to write song for the album. In February 2013, the winners came to London at the studios to hear and perform their song. The album was released on 29 July 2013 with 12 children songs included onto the album. It was considered one of the most popular merchandises.[10] A new series of the trading card series, Good vs WeEVIL, was released in late June 2013.[11] A new software for Bin Weevils called Arty Arcade released in early 2015 and is available for PC and Mac. Bin Weevils started a new era and a rebrand with the new Bin Weevils logo released. A brand new game called Crater Craft was released in 2016.[12] The game has also won the BAFTA Kids' Vote for the Best Website category 2011-2014.

Membership

Players are able to subscribe to gain access to extra features on the site by paying for a package/VIP called "Bin Tycoon". Paying this membership opens up access to wide range of exclusive features. There are 1,3, 6 and 12 month memberships. They are able to be bought on the website, or as membership cards in stores.

References

  1. ↑ http://awards.bafta.org/award/2011/childrens/bafta-kids-vote-powered-by-yahoo-top-10s-websites
  2. ↑ http://awards.bafta.org/award/2012/childrens/bafta-kids-vote-2010-top-10s-websites
  3. ↑ http://awards.bafta.org/award/2013/childrens/bafta-kids-vote-2010-top-10s-websites
  4. ↑ http://awards.bafta.org/award/2014/childrens/bafta-kids-vote-website
  5. ↑ "Web craze's toy story; Merchandising". The Independent. p. 56.
  6. ↑ Andrew Laughlin (16 February 2012). "Bin Weevils kids' social network launches magazine". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  7. ↑ dotAgency. "404 - Toys 'n' Playthings". toysnplaythings.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "BLE 2012: New Bin Weevils Toy Collection arrives". toynews-online.biz. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "BinWeevils clothing and bag ranges to launch this Autumn - Toy World Magazine". toyworldmag.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Could YOU write the next big hit tune? - Bin Weevils". binweevils.com. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Bin Weevils Good vs WeEvil Trading Cards Have Arrived! - Bin Weevils". binweevils.com. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "55pixels - Multi award winning gaming studio". 55Pixels. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
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