Neopets

Farmville, Restaurant City, Mafia Wars. These are just some of the many game applications available on the social networking site Facebook. But before the advent of these sites, gaming on the internet was definitely simpler but by no means less entertaining.

Launched in 1999, Neopets isn't just for children looking for some virtual pets to adopt. The pets aren't exactly what you'd call "typical," either. Case in point, the "pet" at the bottom of this post is known as a Kacheek.

Each adopted pet can be one of four colors: blue, green, red, or yellow. However, if you find the colors too boring for your taste, you can opt to have your pet colored using a paintbrush or via the lab ray. It's gonna cost you to do that, though.

Neopian currency is neopoints. You can earn neopoints from playing games, through random events, or through selling items in your shop. You can then spend your points on items like food, books, and weapons (for use in the battledome). You can also buy codestones to use for training your pets at the training school in order to increase their statistics.

What's the ultimate goal for playing neopets? Well, it depends on the person. Some want to collect as many different items as possible, while some aim to make their pets unbeatable in the battledome. There are also some who try to make as much money as possible, which can be stored in the Neopian bank (which has a much higher interest rate than a real bank).

Fair warning, the site is extremely addictive.

Note: Kids under 12 have to get special permission from their parents to access all the feature of the site, but they can still play Neopets Jr.

Visit the site here: