MinyanLand, Finance-Focused Virtual World For Kids Goes Live
- by Tameka Kee , February 7, 2008
MinyanLand targets third to sixth graders with the standard virtual world fare of character or "Critter" creation, games and social activities. But much like all other content produced by parent company Minyanville, the idea of building a financially savvy culture is ingrained into every interaction.
MinyanLand has an economy complete with its own currency, called MinyanMoney, and Critters start off with $5,000 in a bank account--in addition to their own home worth $50,000. They are then encouraged through various quizzes and games to pay their mortgages, work to earn money, and make smart investment decisions. Critters can shop, go to the movies and restaurants, and even relocate to a new neighborhood.
"Key aspects of MinyanLand include enabling kids to understand the value of what money is and what they can do with it," said Kevin Wassong, Minyanville's president. Wassong said that parents play an important role as well, as they can participate via a Virtual Allowance program that lets them choose household chores and assign a dollar value to each task. When parents verify that their kids have completed their chores, the system will credit the Critter's bank account with MinyanMoney. And unlike some other kid-facing virtual worlds, the entire process is free. There is no subscription, nor do parents have to input real money for conversion into MinyanMoney.
"The expectation is to keep this free," Wassong said. "The fact is that the kids who need to understand finance most are the ones whose parents aren't going to pay however much a month it is to belong to a Club Penguin or buy the latest Webkinz toy."
As part of New York-based Minyanville, which has syndication deals with brands like TD Ameritrade, Yahoo and Fox Business Media, as well as its own stream of ad revenue, Wassong said that there is less pressure to monetize MinyanLand than if it were a stand-alone property. Still, the company is developing partnerships to place relevant brands in the world, like banks, car dealerships and retailers.
"There will not be advertising per se," Wassong said, "But there will be opportunities for sponsorships." At the MinyanLand movie theater for example, kids can currently see the trailer for Disney's The Game Plan.
The deal with Kaboose is designed to gain exposure for MinyanLand among moms and kids before an official marketing push begins. Visitors to Kaboose.com will find direct links to MinyanLand and signage, as well as the option to play some of the in-world games. "After they play the game, a message will come up and say, if you had played this in MinyanLand you could have earned 'x' amount of MinyanMoney," Wassong said.
MinyanLand is a completely hosted application, and kids can start interacting after a relatively short sign-in process. Wassong said that they don't collect any personally identifiable info, and parental presence is encouraged. The company spent 8 months developing the world, and teamed up with Irvine, Calif.-based VPI.net to design the environment.
