Habbo Review

My initial response to the mobile version of Habbo Hotel being released was, "is that thing still going?" Well apparently yes, it is, and it's just as popular as it ever was. My last encounter with it was back in my early teens, when I thought nothing of joining an open chat room and spouting rubbish for everyone to hear.

For those who don't know, Habbo Hotel is a hugely popular online community with a near-infinite number of fully customizable, user-built rooms for people to explore and chat in. From mock Starbucks and popular game shows, to luxury pads and swimming pools, users are free to let there imaginations run wild.

Once they're set up with a username and a Habbo (character) who's ready to go, players are free to customize their avatars and go about exploring the rooms available, or creating one of their own. Once inside a room, they can interact with other guests by chatting out loud or privately, sharing gifts, playing games, and adding users as friends to later check out their rooms, too. Habbo is heavily moderated and has several privacy options to keep users safe when online.

One feature that has always divided opinion about Habbo is the fact that real money must be spent on furnishings. That's not to say that there can't be lots of fun had just chatting and playing games with others, but unless they opt for one of the coin packages, players will definitely be getting a lesser experience. Due to the smaller screen space, the text and on-screen keyboard can make things look cluttered, and rooms look positively ugly as they load up, but besides these minor issues, Habbo runs excellently.

If the idea of projecting oneself onto a cutesy little avatar is still weird to some people, then this app probably won't change their minds. However, it'll definitely please current users and has real potential to attract new ones thanks to its brilliant interface, accessibility, and absolute freedom of creativity.