''Faunasphere'' was a
browser-based
massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, although t ...
developed and published by
Big Fish Games
Big Fish Games, Inc. is a casual game company based in Seattle with a regional office in Oakland, California, owned by Aristocrat Leisure. It is a developer and distributor of casual games for computers and mobile devices.
In 2016, the company ...
centered around cleaning up a world filled with
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...
via an animal
avatar
Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...
.
Players took on the role of a caretaker who would raise and breed "fauna", which appeared as fantasy versions of common
domestic animals
This page gives a list of domesticated animals, also including a list of animals which are or may be currently undergoing the process of domestication and animals that have an extensive relationship with humans beyond simple predation. This includ ...
. ''Faunasphere'' gameplay was largely based on socializing, community building and building up one's own home base, or "faunasphere" rather than taking part in active combat with enemies or other players, with game sessions often taking only a few minutes, in contrast to other MMORPGs of the time. The game's servers were shut down in 2011 when its publisher deemed it "economically unviable" to continue supporting.
Gameplay
In ''Faunasphere'', players took on the role of "caretakers" terraforming a world of floating landmasses with toxic or polluted environments. To facilitate the terraforming effort, caretakers controlled colored animals termed "fauna" created through
gene splicing. Fauna were directed to "zap" toxic waste, pollution, and toxic creatures created from the pollution in order to complete
quests
A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. It serves as a Plot (narrative), plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult Travel, journey towards a goal, often symbolic or Allegory, allegorical. Tales of quests figure promine ...
and earn the game's free currency, Lux. Players used different fauna to explore different areas, as each had its own gathering abilities. Lux and the premium currency Bux (purchased with real money) were used to buy items used to customize and upgrade one's own fauna and the faunasphere, a private island that friends could be invited to.
Accumulating Lux also filled the "egg meter", which once full created an egg that can be hatched to create a new fauna to care for; the process was comparable to gaining
experience points
An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...
.
Goals in the game included participation in community missions, which required the use of the "totem" in a player's faunasphere to create one of 12 components to contribute to a community building machine. Once complete, community projects added features to the game world as a whole.
Emphasis was placed on socialization and community building in ''Faunasphere'', as many tasks were easier when done with others, and just visiting a faunasphere provided useful items and Lux from the totem, which was given to each player upon starting the game.
Later areas of the game required the use of "gene food" to access inhospitable areas or to simply change a fauna's appearance, which was obtained through quests, crafting or purchasing it from vendors or other players.
Release and post-release
Reveal and demo
''Faunasphere'' was first revealed at
PAX 2009 as a project of Toby Ragaini, lead designer of
Asheron's Call
''Asheron's Call'' (AC) is a discontinued fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows PCs, developed and published by Turbine Entertainment Software. Though it was developed by the Turbine team (with Mi ...
and Director of Game Development at Big Fish Games. In contrast to Asheron's Call, which took place in a
heroic fantasy
Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of ...
world and focused on combat against monsters, Faunasphere was described as a "non-violent, adorable eco-friendly MMO"
that "takes the most unique and compelling elements of
nowiki/>Webkinz, Neopets">Webkinz.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Webkinz">nowiki/>Webkinz, Neopets, and Virtual world">virtual worlds
A virtual world (also called a virtual space or spaces) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal avatar and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its acti ...
in which players were tasked with raising fauna and destroying pollution. A freemium model of pricing was integrated in the game from its launch, with players having the option to purchase extra fauna and upgrades to their personal faunasphere with "bux".
though it would remain in closed beta until its launch in late 2009.
version made available February 2010.
player group, offering shorter play sessions and a "kid-friendly atmosphere".
On February 15, 2011, Big Fish Games announced that ''Faunasphere'' would be discontinued on March 15, 2011, citing an unsustainable use of resources to maintain the game. Players were refunded of all purchases made after January 14th of that year, and many were directed to a
thread where caretakers could exchange contact information with those they had met through the game.
As the first effort by Big Fish Games to develop an MMO, ''Faunasphere'' received attention upon release,
but was not critically received or analyzed until after the server shutdown. The game was used as an ideal example of a virtual world that expanded the perspective of players and their connections to objects within the game similar to connections to real-life animals or "fauna", which exacerbated the emotional impact when those objects were taken away through the game's closing.
A thorough study of ''Faunasphere'', its players, and the ramifications of its shutdown was published by
and Jason Begy in 2015.