Review: The Fair 2014

Those prizes cost a flipper and a nonexistent penguin leg.

Source: Club Penguin Secrets

When I first heard tail that the Fair was coming back, I was rather excited.  It is after all my second favorite party franchise in Club Penguin (beaten only by Music Jam) and I had been under the assumption that its time on our site had run its course.

But, this reboot of the party - the polar opposite of the last Fair, the 2012 one, which was a carbon copy of previous incarnations - takes what sounds like a great idea and makes sure to throw in a few wrenches that make it a party that I - in a way - came to resent.

Let's start with the positives.  The rooms at the party were spectacular.  While nostalgic reappearances from previous parties were nonexistent, the varied landscapes of this party made up for it.  And, while the fact that all of the main part of the island remained undecorated was disappointing, the incredible sunset more than made up for it.

The music at the party was also topnotch.  The dramatic music in the main western room may very well go down as the best song of 2014 in my book, if not one of the best in all of Club Penguin.  It was also nice to see other returning favorites - even from outside the Fair.  However, some of the music seemed to be placed randomly.  Superhero music in a pirate room?  Don't look at me.

The prizes this year were hit and miss.  While some were really nice - like the Fluffy plush and the long-overdue game pad - others seemed like a lazy attempt at creating new content.  I mean, do we really need all those variations of cars and motorcycles, particularly all at the same event?

Not to be outdone, puffles continued their uprising by continuing to butt their heads in everything.  Along with the puffle hats, which, while creative, served little purpose and took up far too much space at the prize booth (one would have been fine), Fair attractions continued to skew towards my bitter foes.  Give it a rest, Club Penguin.

Speaking of games, this year once again proved to be more of the same.  While the revamped attractions were nice, I felt there was more to be desired.  With a Fair trying so hard to set itself apart from the rest, you'd think we'd finally get a new game to sink our teeth into.  But, alas, earwax there was not a long overdue game was not to be ours.  That being said, at least all of the ones from previous years returned in some fashion.

The attractions were nice (along with the new way to earn tickets), though they were a little simple for my taste.  They served a purpose though and I am glad that Club Penguin tried them out.  With that being said, I was hoping for more from the arcade machine.  I thought perhaps a new game would be featured there, but, alas, earw we got a sort of interesting new look at penguins that wore out its intrigue about forty-two seconds after entering the room.

But then we come to the big problems with this party.  These are the ones that change the party from beloved to infamous.

First, there was the Penguin Band.  This party was thought to be the return of the long dormant band, but ended up just being a pitstop on the way to more nothingness.  If the band would have waddled around the island like Rookie, then we would be talking.

Source: Riffy

But, that problem plays in comparison to the gimmick that was making sure we spent long periods of time online.  What I am of course speaking of are the expense prizes.  Since this has been beaten to death in past weeks, I will simply say that there was no reason for such inflation.  If this event had been in the summer, I would have a far slightly more favorable view of it.  But, in February, with papers to write and homework to do?  Well, let's just say that there is a thin line between good replay value and repetitive, tedious game time.

But the true problem with this party, the thing that will go down in my book as one of the worst decisions in Club Penguin history is the Daily Spin.

This attraction may be the most universally hated creation from the Kelowna studio in the history of the site.  It provided the only time in Club Penguin history where you had no guarantee of getting what free item stood before you.  It was, as silly as it sounds, stressful to think that time was running out, that opportunities were floating away.  Without the items (or with a chance on the outside to buy them in case you didn't get them through the game), I would be praising this wheel.  Had it only contained coins and tickets (or had the idea above been used), I would praise it as a neat little extra feature.  However, with the items up for grabs (not to mention the bad decision to let members get the useless silver tickets) this will be something of a cautionary tale going forward.

To close, I do hope the Fair returns next year with some new attractions and some refinements.  2014's party should be remembered as an event with so much potential - great art, great music, great concepts, great variety - that was brought to its knees by some faulty decisions.

As Billybob would say, Waddle On!
- Chillin43