Club SpongeBob (VW)

Club SpongeBob is a massively multiplayer online game involving a virtual world containing a range of online games and activities, created by PI use cartoon avatars in the style of sponges, octopuses and starfishes from the show. The avatars can be customized by buying outfits and accessories from the in-game shop. Free memberships are available but people if pay to play, they can unlock exclusive features such as pets, exclusive clothing, house customization and more. The game came out of beta on March 6th 2017, and released for the Nintendo Switch on October 20th 2017, with Xbox One and PS4 versions released on 29th June 2018. The game also released on the Picon as a launch title on November 23rd 2018. Retail releases of the game contain two years free membership, updated graphics and exclusive items. All versions of the game, except the old Flash version (explained below) and the PS4 version feature cross-compatibility.

On March 12th 2018, PI announced a game-changing update featuring full three-dimensional graphics, a fully updated open-sandbox world, extensive house customization, a full platformer game mode and many more. This was released on June 29th 2018 along with the Xbox One, Picon and PS4 versions, as well as a brand-new PC version entirely (as the old one wouldn't support the update). The Nintendo Switch version would be updated to have the update too, with the platformer mode being free to the console versions, even without a membership. Additionally, it would be made mandatory for members to have a Picon Online account (even if they're not playing on the Picon) and the subscription would be shared. The online flash version would still be supported, but would only continue to receive new items, room decorations and downgraded missions.

On June 29th 2018, the release date of the three-dimensional expansion, a spin-off titled Bikini Bottom: Battle Royale was announced. It is supposed to get a PEGI 12 rating, and will support Club SpongeBob save data.

NPCs
NPCs, referred to in-game as mascots, are characters who help drive the story of events and can be met at them. NPCs can be recurring or be one-time.

Events
Every month the virtual world is decorated for a certain theme/event. Players can get exclusive items and meet NPCs.

2017

 * February 1 - March 6: Beta Testing
 * March 6 to April 6: Welcome Party
 * April 1: April Fools
 * April 7 to May 1: Spring Party
 * May 1 to May 2nd: May Day
 * May 3rd to May 8th: Break
 * May 4th: Star Wars Day
 * May 8th to June 8th: Jellyfishing Party
 * June 8th to July 5th: The SpongeBob n' Stuff Movie Extravaganza
 * July 5th to July 10th: Break
 * July 10th to August 10th: Future Party
 * August 10th to September 1st: Summer Party
 * September 1st to October 1st : Back to School Party
 * October 1st to November 1st: Halloween Party
 * November 1st to November 6th: Break
 * November 1st to November 2nd: Day of the Dead
 * November 5th: Bonfire Night
 * November 6th to December 1st: Mountain Climbing Party
 * December 1st to December 31st: Christmas Festival

2018

 * December 31st to January 5th: New Years 2018
 * January 5th to February 5th: Snowball Party
 * February 5th to February 14th: Break
 * February 14th to March 14th: Valentine Disco
 * February 15th: Annoy Squidward Day
 * March 14 to April 1st: Jellyfishing Party 2018
 * March 17th: St. Patrick Star's Day
 * April 1st to May 1st: April Fool's Party
 * May 1st to May 10th: Break
 * May 10th to June 10th: The Great Krusty Bake-Off
 * June 10th to July 31st: Karate Showdown
 * June 29th to July 9th: 3D Expansion Party
 * August 1st to September 1st: Beach Party
 * September 1st to September 8th: Break
 * September 8th to October 31st: Time Machine Party
 * October 31st to November 24th: Halloween Party 2018
 * November 24th to December 30th: The Great Present Heist
 * December 30th to January 5th: New Years 2019

Exclusive Items
There are many items that can be collected during events, such as the beta hat from the beta testing. These don't include items given out by mascots. All items can return at a later date, such as the skeleton costume appearing in the 2017 Halloween Party and the Day of the Dead Party. Some items are freebies and some are not.

Places

 * Conch Street
 * SpongeBob's House
 * Squidward's House
 * Patrick's House
 * Krusty Krab
 * Krusty Krab Interior
 * Chum Bucket
 * Chum Bucket Interior
 * Town
 * Pizza Castle
 * Clothes Shop
 * Fancy!
 * Plaza
 * Coffee Shop
 * Stage
 * Pet Shop
 * Dojo (opened during the Karate Showdown)
 * Bikini Village
 * Sandy's Treedome
 * You and Your Friend's Houses
 * Mrs. Puff's House
 * Mrs. Puff's Boating School
 * Boating School Exterior
 * Secret Agent HQ (opened during the Future Party)
 * Jellyfish Fields (opened during the Jellyfishing Party)
 * Goo Lagoon (opened during the Beach Party)

​Snails
The Spring Party introduced pets, known as snails. These can be bought from the already existing pet shop where there colours (whether shell or 'skin') can be customized. Despite this, non-members will have to pay to get any colours other than the ones of SpongeBob's pet Gary later this year.

​Houses
Houses were also introduced in the Spring Party and allow players to buy furniture from an in-game catalogue to place in their house, which is in the style of a pineapple, tiki head or a rock. This all requires a paid membership. Players can choose whether they want their home to be private, only visit-able by friends or visit-able by everyone.

During the 3D expansions, house customization became similar to that seen in The Sims, and 'plots of land' were introduced, allowing players to create whatever they want.

​Mini-games
The Jellyfishing Party introduced mini-games. These were the Krusty Krab mini-game, Boating School mini-game, Theater mini-game and, obviously, the jellyfishing mini-game. Mini-games are games that can be played inside Club SpongeBob to earn coins to buy new stuff.
 * Krusty Krab Kooking
 * Boating School Racing
 * Theater
 * Jellyfishing
 * Touch Typing Disco (replaced with Button Mash on console releases, added during Halloween 2017)
 * Karate (added during Karate Showdown)
 * Bikini Bottom: Battle Royale (added June 29th 2018, with the 3D expansion)

​Secret Agents/Platformer Game Mode
The Future Party introduced the secret agent gimmick where players can become secret agents and go on missions every other month. The mission is normally linked to the event that takes place in that month. All secret agents receive a secret agent uniform. The secret agent feature and missions aren't announced by the PI staff so players need to find out the stuff themselves.

Missions were announced to come to an end on June 29th 2018, and the last mission titled 'Operation: The End' released in January 2019. All previous missions became re-playable and missions were replaced with a platformer game mode with new levels each event.

Wishing Well
During the Summer Party, a wishing well was added to the plaza. Its initial purpose was to get players to donate their virtual money which would be converted into real money to help Stefán Karl Stefánsson (Robbie Rotten's actor in LazyTown and shared voice role in SpongeBob n' Stuff) recover from his cancer but more charities have been added since.

Servers

 * Beach
 * Benidorm
 * Bikini
 * Bucket
 * Burger
 * California
 * Chum
 * Hawaii
 * Money
 * Nemo
 * Neptune
 * Nick
 * Patty
 * Pineapple
 * Plan Z
 * Rock
 * Stephen
 * Tem
 * Tiki
 * Tropical