My Singing Monsters is a Canadian 2012 video game franchise developed by Big Blue Bubble.[1] The first game of the series was published and released with help by Canada Media Fund (CMF) on September 4, 2012, for Apple iOS.[1] Ports of the game for other operating systems were later released, including versions for Android, Amazon Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Steam.[2] The game was also released on the PlayStation Vita portable console.[3] Since its release, My Singing Monsters has grown into a multimedia franchise, with a prequel, several spin-off games, books, live events and series, and a board game. On May 12, 2021, Big Blue Bubble announced that the series would be releasing its first console title, My Singing Monsters: Playground, on November 9, 2021.[4]
| My Singing Monsters | |
|---|---|
 Logo for the first My Singing Monsters game | |
| Genre(s) | Music video game |
| Developer(s) | Big Blue Bubble Yodo1 |
| Publisher(s) | Enad Global 7 |
| Platform(s) | |
| Original release | List
|
| First release | My Singing Monsters September 4, 2012 |
| Latest release | My Singing Monsters: Thumpies March 6, 2024 |
My Singing Monsters
edit
In My Singing Monsters, players collect and breed many different types of Monsters, each of which has a unique musical line that is either sung or played on an instrument. Breeding two elements of Monsters will create a new Monster species. Each Island possesses a unique set of available Monsters that together play a certain musical theme. Monsters that are present on an Island will generate various types of in-game currency which can, in turn, be used to acquire more Monsters, buy decorations, build structures, remove obstacles, and buy food for the Monsters to level up and generate more currency, and at a faster rate. There are also achievements and goals to direct gameplay, with in-game currency as rewards.[5] It is also possible to buy currency such as Coins, Diamonds, Treats, Relics, Keys, or Shards using real money. Certain currencies may be obtained for free by completing third-party offers.
Islands are the various places that Monsters inhabit, with the first Island being Plant Island. Some Islands follow the method of buying four single Element Monsters, and then breeding those into even more Monsters (i.e. Plant Island, Cold Island, Air Island, Earth Island). Other Islands require teleporting Monsters from another Island (i.e. Ethereal Island, Gold Island, Magical Sanctum, Seasonal Shanty, Mythical Island, Magical Nexus). There are also two 'fire' Islands (i.e. Fire Haven and Fire Oasis).
Other Islands have the player buy the Monsters as "statues" or "vessels", then zap Monster eggs from the breeding structures on other Islands into one of the statues to wake up the statue and hence, unlock its song and its ability to earn currency (i.e. Wublin Island, Celestial Island, Amber Island).
Ethereal Workshop involves the player attuning Meebs before being synthesized in the "Synthesizer" in order to create Triple/Quad/Quint-Element Ethereal Monsters.
The Colossingum is a combat Island where the player can do fifty main quests and/or limited ones to level up their Colossingum level or battle other players using the versus feature. Upon completing such quests, players will also be able to collect Costumes in The Colossingum.
Composer Island is where players can create their own songs with the natural Monsters and Ghazt, but Ghazt can only be obtained on that Island if the player owns My Singing Monsters Composer. There are Mirror Islands for the Natural Islands which functions as a secondary version of the associated Island, but have moderately different designs from the Natural Islands, that are mostly covered in pink sinews, similar to that of cobwebs, and have different arrangements compared to the Natural Islands. The update 4.5.0 comes with Mirror Magical Islands. Each of them have a few marks of the outer islands they represent in Dawn of Fire (eg; Light Island being Party Island, Psychic Island as Space Island, Faerie Island as Cloud Island, etc).
The distinction of My Singing Monsters from other simulation games is the "building" process of making music that is primarily driven by the use of the eponymous musical monsters. Players make their own decisions on what determines the "perfect" Island by selectively picking Monsters that they determine would improve their game overall through a combination of design and in-game currency generation. Some special Monsters or Decorations are more difficult to unlock, often requiring exclusive currencies, special events (such as holidays and in-game events), "Wishing Torches", or other special methods in order to obtain or activate them. Update, 4.5.0 introduced a new event, TitanSouls, including a new soul of Light Island's titan, called Phosphoran Phlox.
Several Monsters sing in nonsensical gibberish such as the Mammott (bum), Fwog (wow), and Toe Jammer (doo), some sing fractured or short lines in English (such as the PomPom (hey), Shugabush (yeah), and Hoola (yippity yay), and others play real-world or fictional instruments such as the Quibble (piano), Bowgart (cello), Shellbeat (drums), and Strombonin (trombone). There are also special Monsters known as "Werdos" that sing actual lyrics (the Parlsona, Tawkerr, Stoowarb, and Maggpi), as well as the Ethereal Quint, BeMeebEth. The Monsters are often designed as exaggerations of real-world animals or objects (such as the common Fwog (frog) and common T-Rox (tyrannosaurus), cartoon caricatures of monsters from folklore and mythology (such as the Epic Blabbit (jackalope) and Dragong (dragon), fusions of living creatures and instruments (such as the Floogull (flugelhorn/seagull) and Sox (saxophone/fox), resemblances to real-world people such as the Shugabush (Kristian Bush) and G'joob (Wilford Brimley), or representations of the Monster's in-game elemental makeup such as Theremind (Psychic), Clackula (Bone) and Potbelly (Plant). The rest are original designs (like the Piplash,being based on the word "Whiplash" and Yooreek),the name being based on the term "Yooreeka!" with only their names or sounds being based on something.
Some monsters work differently, for example, the Wubbox is hatched in a box form and must have all of the main Monsters on the island "boxed" into it to power it up. Most Monsters have "Rare" and "Epic" variants, both only available during specific timeframes. Rare Monsters can either be bought from the Starshop with Starpower, or bred with the same breeding combination as the Commons, and Epics have unique breeding combinations and are more difficult to obtain. Besides the variants of the Wubbox, all Rare and Epic monsters have the same sound as their Common counterpart. In addition, you can also get Seasonal Monsters, which are Monsters that only are available during special events such as the Punkleton (Halloween),Yool (Christmas), Carillong (Lunar New Year),and Ffidyll (Saint Patrick's Day).Other features such as the top Islands, Tribal Island, achievements, and friends, are also present.
Certain gameplay mechanics have been discontinued or replaced, such as the original Mine, which was replaced with the Mini-Mine that gives 1 diamond every 24 hours available on every Island. There is also a Maximum Mine available on both Plant Island and Mirror Plant Island if the player had made at least one in-app purchase that gives 2 diamonds every 12 hours. As of update 4.4.0, Mirror Islands do not use the same song as their normal island, such as Mirror Psychic Island having a different song as Psychic island.[6]
Monster Choir
editMonster Choir, the English-translated name for the Chinese (怪兽合唱团) and Korean (몬스터 합창단) versions of My Singing Monsters, are special versions of the game licensed to Yodo1 Games only for use in China and South Korea respectively. Monster Choir shares many similarities with the main game, but also features many differences, such as new Monster Variants, a new minigame, and a VIP System. The Korean version uses a completely unique UI skin, while the Chinese version uses a similar UI as the main game before Version 2.0.0. Both versions have all features of the main game up to version 1.3.2.
Monster Choir was supported independently from Big Blue Bubble, and thus these versions were not listed on its website and were almost never mentioned by the developers. Monster Choir Korea had a Facebook page where updates were given. Its last post was posted in September 2015, later being shut down in early 2023. It also has a YouTube channel that posted three trailers.
The game servers themselves had shut down sometime in late 2020. Although downloaded applications (or "apks") can still be found on the internet, they can no longer be played by any means, leaving any original content in the status of lost media.[7]
My Singing Monsters: Dawn of Fire
editMy Singing Monsters: Dawn of Fire is a prequel of the original My Singing Monsters, set in a time when the element of Fire was born. Unlike the original game which introduced the Fire Monsters to players, the main song is on "the Continent", a supercontinent land that was formed similarly to Pangaea. The Monsters are depicted as babies on "the Continent", and the starter Monsters are Noggin and Kayna. There are five sections of the Continent, unlocked at different player levels and are based on the Natural Islands from the original game. Monsters in their young form are initially raised on the Continent, each of which plays a unique tune that contributes to the musical theme. Each Monster requests a unique set of "Crafting Items" that can be used to increase their level up to 20; filling these requests will reward in-game currency plus additional benefits that can unlock additional features of the game. At a certain level unique to each Monster, the young Monsters are able to "permanently" teleport to additional Islands known as "Outer Islands" as adult Monsters, gaining new musical lines on an Island with a unique group of musical Monsters that produce an entirely different song theme. These include Party Island, Space Island, Cloud Island, and Cave Island. There is also one other Island, called Starhenge, which is the original version of Celestial Island from the original game.
Just like the main game, Dawn of Fire also has seasonal events and Seasonal Monsters which you can only get for certain times of the year, with the only seasonal events in the game currently being Spooktacle Junior, Festival of Yay Junior, Season of Love Junior, Eggs-Travaganza Junior and SummerSong Junior. Mythicals are present in the game, but can only be bred for a limited time.[8] Dawn of Fire also introduced Prismatics, which are only available during certain events, and during those events can be created by sending a Monster through the Prism Gate. Prismatics serve as the prequel's equivalent of Rare and Epic Monsters from the original game.[9]
Other games
editMy Singing Monsters: Composer
editMy Singing Monsters: Composer-serves as an app to compose custom songs using some, but not all, Monsters from the franchise. You can edit the monsters by using their notes and it creates its voice. This game also features Rare Monsters, Dipsters, Seasonals, and Ethereals, which, except Ghazt, are not available on Composer Island in the original game.
My Singing Monsters: Playground
editMy Singing Monsters: Playground is a party video game. In My Singing Monsters: Playground, players play with their friends or AI while competing in games that are set in the Monster World and can play as a few characters from the My Singing Monsters franchise. My Singing Monsters: Playground also has a physical version that is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. The game was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, and on Steam, on November 9, 2021.[4]
My Singing Monsters: The Board Game
editMy Singing Monsters: The Board Game is a board game based on the My Singing Monsters franchise. The board game was supported by Kickstarter from June 1 to 21 and was designed by Sen-Foong Lim and Jay Cormier. There are two versions of the game; the Standard Edition, which includes all of the core components, and the Deluxe Edition, which includes nine painted Monster mini-figures, upgraded components, and an exclusive expansion that features the Werdo Monsters. The board game is a worker placement game, in which the player breeds Monsters to produce more coins than other players.[10]
Teaching Guide Grade 1-3: My Singing Monsters
editIn 2018, Big Blue Bubble released an educational guide aimed towards elementary school children; Teaching Guide Grade 1-3: My Singing Monsters, which was intended to teach lessons about music using characters and concepts from the franchise.[11]
My Singing Monsters: Coloring Book
editMy Singing Monsters: Coloring Book is a digital coloring book by Big Blue Bubble themed around My Singing Monsters. The app was first released on December 15, 2016, on iOS devices.
My Singing Monsters: Thumpies
editMy Singing Monsters: Thumpies is a 2024 remastered remake of the 2010 game Thumpies. The game is a rhythm game by tapping in time to the rhythm and filling the Thump-o-Meter. The game had a hard launch on March 6, 2024, and the cost is $4.99.[12]
Discontinued games
editFurcorn's Jelly Dreams/Jammer Splash!
editFurcorn's Jelly Dreams was a puzzle game featuring characters from the franchise, and was discontinued in 2017. This eventually was remade into Jammer Splash!, which was also discontinued as well.[13]
Other discontinued games
editSeveral other games from the franchise have also been discontinued, including My Mammott, My PomPom, Fling a Thing!, the 2010 version of Thumpies, and My Singing Monsters: Official Guide.[7] Fling a Thing! and the 2010 version of Thumpies were released prior to My Singing Monsters, and references to these games can be found throughout the My Singing Monsters series.
Notable collaborations
editOn June 17, 2013, Big Blue Bubble collaborated with Disney Mobile to make My Muppets Show, a game featuring similar gameplay to My Singing Monsters, albeit with Muppets instead. The game featured five stages, each with its own song, and Muppets were obtained by "digitizing" them with a machine called HARV-E. The game was permanently discontinued on January 9, 2015.[14]
In July 2013, Big Blue Bubble announced that they had collaborated with Grammy Award-winning artist Kristian Bush from American country music duo Sugarland to create a new Monster, the Shugabush.[15][16] Bush had been inspired to collaborate with My Singing Monsters upon seeing his 11-year-old son playing the game. His cousin, Charles Moser, was a Big Blue Bubble intern at the time, so he immediately called him. [citation needed] He praised the attractive music surrounding the game, and collaborated with Big Blue Bubble to create the Shugabush. After his collaboration was featured in a news release, he said "First of all, the music in My Singing Monsters is irresistible — that's what drew me to the game. And since I love to dream big via social media, I'm so glad that Dave Kerr and his team at My Singing Monsters dreamed back. I've always wanted to let my inner monster out [...] and I think I'm finally about to impress my son."[16]
In October 2013, Big Blue Bubble signed a deal with publishing house Egmont UK as its new strategic licensing partner.[17]
In July 2017, Big Blue Bubble announced that Wind Sun Sky Entertainment will adapt its mobile game My Singing Monsters into a multi-media franchise, beginning with an animated TV series and consumer products program. Skybound Entertainment will be the distributor in all territories worldwide, excluding Canada.[18]
In March 2021, Big Blue Bubble began an 8-episode series called My Singing Monsters: Fandemonium, in collaboration with Wind Sun Sky Entertainment. The series aired exclusively on YouTube. The show was hosted by Mammott, Furcorn, and PomPom. It discussed future updates in the franchise, as well as answered community questions, and other sorts of entertainment. My Singing Monsters: Fandemonium is separate from the TV show.[19]
Reception
editKotaku described the original My Singing Monsters as a "clever combination of music and monster breeding", praising how the complexity of a song can become developed by the utility of breeding monsters, each monster revealing a new line to the song.[1][20] However, Kotaku was "a bit disappointed" with the level of complexity added in Dawn of Fire, reporting that the new feeding system hinders progress towards the whole concept of unveiling the "musical nirvana".[21]
Gamezebo and 148Apps enjoy the music in My Singing Monsters, but were not pleased with the connection issues.[22][23]
The game won the People's Voice Award for "Best Music/Sound Design" at the 2020 Webby Awards. 10 diamonds were rewarded to people who joined that week.[24][25]
References
edit- ^ a b c Mike Fahey (October 15, 2012). "A Delightfully Melodic Take on the Monster Breeding Game". Kotaku. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ "My Singing Monsters on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
- ^ "My Singing Monsters Out Today". PlayStation.Blog. August 12, 2014. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
- ^ a b Craddock, Ryan. "My Singing Monsters Playground Launches This November, And Switch Is Getting A Physical Version". NintendoLife. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ "About My Singing Monsters". MySingingMonsters.com. August 15, 2012. Archived from the original on March 12, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "My Singing Monsters - Apps on Google Play". Google Play Store. January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ^ a b "History". Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- ^ "My Singing Monsters Dawn of Fire Update 3.2.0". Big Blue Bubble. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ "My Singing Monsters: Dawn of Fire Update 2.0.0". Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ "My Singing Monsters: The Board Game". Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ^ "Big Blue Bubble: Education". Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ^ "Thumpies". Big Blue Bubble. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- ^ "Dreaming of Jammer Splash!". Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- ^ Hennes, Joe (December 10, 2014). "It's Curtains for the My Muppets Show App". ToughPigs. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ "Monster Monday: Kristian collaborates with My Singing Monsters to create the Shugabush". KristianBush.com. July 29, 2013. Archived from the original on August 5, 2013. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
- ^ a b "Sugarland's Kristian Bush dons green monster suit". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
- ^ "My Singing Monsters enters publishing with Egmont UK". licensing.biz. November 25, 2013. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- ^ "'My Singing Monsters' Heads to TV". licenseglobal.com. July 19, 2017. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- ^ "MY SINGING MONSTERS FANDEMONIUM |". msmfandemonium.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
- ^ Hamilton, Kirk (October 19, 2012). "I Love My Monsters, And Hope They Never Stop Singing". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ "They Made A Sequel To My Singing Monsters. Tell My Kids I Love Them". Kotaku. October 1, 2015. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
- ^ "My Singing Monsters Review". 184Apps. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
- ^ "My Singing Monsters Review". Gamezebo. September 10, 2012. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
- ^ "NEW Webby Gallery + Index". NEW Webby Gallery + Index. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- ^ "People's Voice Winner - My Singing Monsters". Webby Award. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2020.