Innerstar University (lost "My American Girl" flash-based MMO; 2010-2015)

The homepage of InnerstarU.com.

Status: Lost

Innerstar University, often abbreviated to Innerstar U, was a toys-to-life virtual world game released by American Girl in July 2010^[1] as a tie-in with the My American Girl line of dolls. The Flash-based MMO game could be accessed with a code included with the purchase of a My American Girl doll. On May 21, 2015, it was announced that the game would close on November 5, 2015.^[2] Upon its closure, the game became inaccessible and no playable version exists.

Gameplay

Membership was free, but required a sign-up code. A "doll code" was included with the purchase of a My American Girl doll and would allow users permanent access to the game. In addition, a "star code" was included with each of the Innerstar University tie-in books which would give users 2 weeks of access. The avatar of users who signed up with a "doll code" was a 3D version of the My American Girl doll that the code came with, while users with a "star code" could choose between all the dolls for their avatar. To create a username, users were prompted to pick their doll's name from a dropdown menu. This would generate a username consisting of the doll's name followed by a string of numbers (e.g. Emily123).

The in-game map of Innerstar University's campus.

The game's map had 13 separate areas, including dorms, a student center, sports center, and shopping area. Each area had 1-3 minigames (excluding the shopping area, where instead users could buy room decor and fashion items for the user's avatar based on real outfits available for My American Girl dolls at the time). Users could talk with one another in the campus areas and play the minigames together. Eight of the areas had an "Innerstar Guide", an NPC that provided information about the area. In addition to social activities and minigames, users could "check out" a selection of American Girl books and read them in-game.

Availability

On May 21, 2015, American Girl announced through the Innerstar University blog that the game would close on November 5, 2015. No archive of any part of Innerstar University is available. An Innerstar University Rewritten project was begun by a group of Discord users in 2021; however, it does not appear that they recruited any programmers and the project became dormant early on.^[3]

There were sixteen choose-your-own adventure Innerstar University tie-in books featuring the Innerstar University guides. Each of these books had online-exclusive endings that are no longer accessible following the closure of the game.

Gallery

Screenshot showing the description of the Pom-Pom Power game, featuring the area's guide, Riley.
Screenshot of the in-game shopping area, Shopping Square, showing the area's guide, Isabel.
Screenshot of "enrolment" (sign-up) in Innerstar University showing drop-down name choices.
Screenshot of avatar closet.
Screenshot of customizable player dorm bedroom.
Image from American Girl Facebook page upon announcement of the game's closure. Features the 8 in-game guides.
Screenshot from the Real Spirit Center area.