Gaia Online

Gaia Online Review

Originally released as a linklist for anime related websites, Gaia became the forum based interactive community it is today in 2004. Gaia Online has a large user base, over one million posts are made on the forums alone. The developers are rapidly expanding the site with things like customizable houses, cars, and mini games but Gaia Online is still primarily a forum and social website.

Account creation in Gaia Online is simple, players simply customize their avatar and input an email address. Verifying your email address is encouraged with a small sum of the in game currency (gold) as a reward. There are many ways to earn Gold throughout Gaia. Every forum post you make will yield a few points, playing any of the 7 main minigames is another popular method of earning gold. Gaia also encourages players the install toolbars with gold as bait but I do not recommend this. There are plenty of ways to get gold without junking up your browser.

Gaia Online is mainly a place for people to socialize but it comes packed with more features than most web based MMOs. Players can actually walk around some parts of the game world. For example, when placing a house a flash window opens where players can walk around town, socialize and build their homes. Homes can be moved, expanded, and decorated though this will require a heavy gold investment. Another recent addition to Gaia Online is the Car feature. Players can buy cars and customize them with dozens of parts and even race each other. For years Gaia has had an easy going fishing mini game but recently several others have been added; Jigsaw, Rally, Slots, Cards, Word Bump, and Pinball. Another feature which is somewhat strange is the dozens of short clips that are available on the site that are played like movies at the theaters. Players click what showing they want and a new screen pops up where they can move around the theater and watch.

Like more traditional MMOs, Gaia allows players to form guilds and keep a friends list. There is even a quest system which has players hunt down particular items throughout the Gaia world. The stores are packed with various types of clothes, hats, and other accessories to customize your avatar with. Usually you can tell how long someone has been playing by how much strange, glowing clothes they’re wearing. Gaia Online even has a player driven economy — there is a marketplace system complete with auctions and fancy charts. All told, Gaia packs quite a lot of content for such a casual site but there are some flaws. Gaia is populated with nearly illiterate kids and those who spam posts to generate gold all day. Web games like Neopets & Gaia Online are even easier to bot in than client based games. If a casual, social site with tons of interactivity is what you’re after, Gaia Online fits the bill.

Gaia Online Screenshots

Gaia Online Video

Gaia Online Links

Official Site

Wikipedia Page