15 'Always Online' Games That You Can't Play Anymore

8. Club Penguin

If you were growing up in the 2000s, I'll bet my left shoe (you're not having both) that you played either Club Penguin or RuneScape. If you were like me, you played both. Club Penguin was my 'chill out' game. After an intense session of chopping down trees, mining for iron and selling my wares at the Grand Exchange, Club Penguin was my safe space where I could tend to my Puffles, tend to my igloo and hang out at the disco.

Launching in 2005, Club Penguin was an MMO that allowed you to hang out with friends, raise Puffles and take part in a wide selection of mini games and activities. And it was bliss; it was also massively popular, with over 200 million registered user accounts by July 2013.

In 2017, however, those peaceful times came to an end, with Club Penguin being discontinued to make room for its successor, Club Penguin Island. But due to negative feedback from fans and a low player count, Club Penguin Island was also taken offline a year later, in 2018. Club Penguin Island is still playable, albeit in a very limited manner, with its final update including an offline mode. 

 
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Hey, I’m Matt. I work full-time at WhatCulture's neighbours, MyVoucherCodes. I first joined MyVoucherCodes as a Deals Expert, scouring the internet, leaving no stone unturned in finding the best discount codes, sales and offers for our customers. Moving into my first home during the worst possible time (during lockdown), I understand the necessity of saving money when the purse strings are tight. Outside of saving money, I’m into video games, movies, books and music. I host and edit a video game podcast called The Retry Hard Podcast, where my friend and I go through news, reviews and video games in general. I love movies and watching how they’re made, and I’ve worked as a set decorator for a few months on His Dark Materials season 3, which gave me a massive insight into how it all comes together. I also put out music as a solo artist named Matt Kiano, where I won the award for Best Male Artist of 2025 for Radio Wigwam and have been nomiated for Best Live Act at the 2026 Radio Wigwam Awards.