A New Generation of Furbys Is Here, and They Have an App
In 1998, the first Furbys arrived on the scene. They were cuddly interactive electronic pets that became a must-have on every kid's holiday list. In just three years, 40 million of them sold.
This week, an all-new Furby launched for a fresh generation. It's called Furby Connect, so of course it has Bluetooth connectivity and its own app.
The first thing I noticed when I took it out of the box is that it is so soft. Everyone who sees it wants to pet it immediately.
Once the batteries were in, my Furby came to life. It started talking to me and dancing. It wiggled its ears, tapped its toes and wobbled back and forth. More than once, I had to set it upright after it had knocked itself over, giggling hysterically after I tickled its tummy.
It didn't take long for me to know I'd have to boot up the app. The title screen promised a colorful adventure, and it did not disappoint.
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
By the way, you can download the app for free and use it even if you don't have a Furby Connect of your own!
Once I'd connected my Furby to the app, it was time to name it. You can scroll through to select two syllables from the list provided, making the full name. I went with "Tay Toh" (as in potato), which in Furbish apparently translates to "liquid metal."
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
Next, I was given an egg to hatch. After tapping on it a few times, this little orange fluff ball emerged. Its name is Kee Bay, and it's known as the "farting Furbling."
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
It turns out each Furbling you can hatch within the game has its own unique name and personality, plus a set of likes and dislikes. Based on the Furbling Collection screen, it looks like there are 71 to collect overall.
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
To grow my collection of Furblings, I'm going to have to hatch a lot of eggs. You can get them when your real-life Furby virtual lays an egg, or by collecting enough "Egglets," which add up to one big egg. They fall out of this gum ball machine contraption, and the egg you receive is totally random.
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
But eggs don't hatch right away. You can incubate up to three at a time in these comfy chairs. Each egg takes a different amount of time to hatch. From here, it's a waiting game. So what should you do while you wait?
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
This is where the game gets super addictive. You level up Furblings by making them happy, whether that's by feeding them, cleaning them or restoring them to good health. Whenever Furblings level up, they leave a nifty box full of more food, or cleaning and healing items, plus Egglets. It's too easy to get caught in the cycle of playing this game!
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
When your Furbling is satisfied, you can't give it any more items, so it's time to let them interact with the world. By dragging them to interactive landmark in the background, they can play. This also results in a gift of Egglets and items.
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
On my third egg hatch, I met Dah Boh, the "emo Furbling." What a game!
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
My real-world Furby can also interact further with the app via Bluetooth. I can feed the Furby through a cannon in the app, and other uses activate special eye animations.
There's also an in-game toilet. Holding your Furby over your cell phone to use the toilet is really something you have to experience yourself.
(via Hasbro, Inc.)
If you've ever had a Furby before, you know that they pretty much never stop babbling. In the old days, if you needed to shut it up, you had to go through the trouble of removing its batteries.
Furby Connect has a new (and highly desirable) feature—this adorable sleep mask. Placing the mask over its eyes pushes the Furby into sleep mode whenever you need a Furby break, and sleepy Furby is so cute. There was a collective "Awwww!" in the office when it uttered "Good night, bestie" before falling asleep.
There's still a lot I have to experience with my new Furby, but I think it'll keep me entertained for a while. We could do with a Sweety High office pet.
Love this cuddly little robot? Click HERE to see a list of friendly robots that prove a robot apocalypse isn't happening anytime soon.