tHE gAMEPLAY
BarbieGirls.com gameplay was based on the three main themes of the site: Fashion, Fun and Friendship. As such the online world's main focus was playing as a digital fashion doll: costumizing and dressing up the avatar, adopting pets, buying items to decorate their room and then to enjoy and explore the online world and make online friends. To have even more fun players could play mini-games which would help them win more of the game's currency: B Bucks.
b cHAT / sUPER b Chat
To comunicate with each other all players could use two different types of chat: B Chat and Super B Chat. B Chat was right away available to all players and was a list of already made phrases about different topics that players could choose to use such as simple grettings and questions about each others and answers and questions about new updates on the site or even about their own Barbie Girls MP3 player device. Super B Chat would let players write their own messages but in orther to do that they needed their parents permissions (which was sent through an email confirmation button). Super B chat had a lot of words censored in orther for the site to be safe and age appropriate to children. Secret B Chat was only available to V.I.P. members as it required a Barbie Girls MP3 player device (online subscriptions couldn't have access to this type of chat). Two players would need to connect their Barbie Girls MP3s on the same docking station and use the Barbie Girls software that came with the MP3 to add as Best Friend. After that the two players could have conversation in their rooms (best friends only could enter the room) free of the censorship of Super B Chat.
Add Friends
As Friendship was a key part of Barbie Girls, players could befriend each other add any player to their friends list. Having them added as friends would make available the option to send them mail or gifts (if they were V.I.P. to another V.I.P. member) and to know whenever they were online (added friends would have highter chance to meet in the same server of each hangout (Barbie Girls didn't have the option to choose a server like many other online worlds of the time). Players could also block a user or report them to the site. There would also be notifications for best friends who connect their MP3 players (and had Secret B Chat).
MY Phone
My Phone was a feature in Barbie Girls which wasn't much advertised but was present since the site's launch. Each player had a "phone" which could be costumized in five different colors and had six option buttons for functions: Sending mail and checking their inboxes (official emails from BarbieGirls.com were sometimes sent advertising some events), Checking their friends and best friends list and seeing which were online, Picking a ringtone for the phones notifications, Picking a color for the phone, Searching for a friends name to see if they were online and to add them as friends. There was also the option for help on working with the phone.
Games
On the main Barbie Girls interface was also a direct link to the Game Arcade. The mini-games were one of the most engaging features on the site as it was were players would spend the most time playing, and were the main source of winning B Bucks, the site's fictional currency. There was in total 16 games (3 V.I.P. only) available through the arcade or across different hangouts as direct links. There were also special type games such as Design Idol, Sparkle Coaster Race which were multi-player competitions or activities such as Club Beauty which required two players. From time to time special events were held at the website which also gave access to treasure hunts and small activities available for a limited time.
MY Closet
My Closet was a type of inventory for players items (which could be bought, special items or gifts from other players). Players could check it to see what furniture they had to decorate their rooms and click on them to add to their rooms. Users could also check in another tab what fashions and accessories they had. There was the extra functions of sending gifts, where one only needed to drag them to the Give a Gift tab and send them to a friend with a message. Players could also recycle items they had too many or didn't want.
MY character
My Character was were players could edit their characters. Choose a Look: players could choose their skin colors, hairstyles, eyes and lips and pink it's colors. There were exclusive hairstyles, lips and eyes for V.I.P. members only. Dress up: Players could pick tops and bottoms. Non bought items could have it's colors changed and patterns picked, plus different sleeves could be chosen for certain tops. Accessories: the final part was were players could pick their shoes and add extra accessories such as purses, accessories (earrings, necklaces and bracelets could be weared at the same time) and other accessories (just as hair accessories and glasses). Players could save their looks and also print them if they wished. V.I.P. members could also edit their fab facts page.
MY room
My Room was a direct link to the players room. The rooms where located on Total Girlhood and could be edited by the players such as picking the wall paint and type of floor. The view from the balcony could also be chosen. While basic members had a limited number of future to decorate their rooms, V.I.P. members could buy more furniture at Furni Fever and adopt pets at B Posh Pets to have one in their rooms. V.I.P. members could also have up to 5 guests in their rooms or select which guests to enter.
map
The Map showed the world of Barbie Girls, divided into four regions: Shop-a-Mallics the go to for shopping and makeovers plus hangouts to chat and make new friends. Extreme DreamPark was for the players who wanted a bit more fun and magic in a theme park plus exclusive themed games. Paw Pawlooza was for the pet lovers, with pet stores and exclusive games with the pets. Total Girlhood was the world central, were players could catch the latest news on the website and was more community based like visiting players rooms. The map got updates through the years with new hangouts and stores being added with time.
my Trophies
My Trophies was a new gameplay feature added on 2010 were players could collect gem badges for different achievements and with those complete collections to win exclusive prizes and trophies if they were V.I.P. . The badges were divided by Fun type, Fashion type and the unreleased Friendship type. New badges were added as time went on and some collection were limited time available for certain events. Players could also check each other badge collections next to their Fab Facts.
special Codes
Special Codes were a feature not much used by Barbie Girls players but it was useful for certain events and to receive items or B Bucks. A unique numbered special code was given with each add-on packs for the MP3 players in orther receive the special clothing pieces or unlock unique pets plus extra B Bucks, only for V.I.P. Members. Other codes were given through events such as the first 2009 Mystery Hunt and on the Inspire Girls campaigns which unlocked exclusive clothing items to all players. Other codes gave B Bucks, which could sometimes be found on other Mattel owned websites on special ocasions.
Help
The Help button gave players the classic starter tips to begin their Barbie Girls adventure and to be ready to explore the world and make new friends.
Shopping
Barbie Girls being a online world "designed" by Barbie had a big focus on shopping, in which players could express their style through their avatars or by decorating their rooms. In orther to go shopping players had to go to a specific store (all stores where on Shop-a-Mallics except for B Posh Pets and Twilight Woods) and click on the items displayed in orther for the dressing room to appear with the full catalog, or just the catalog in B Posh Pets and Furni Fever. Players could try items and picks it's colors and patterns in some cases and then add them to their shopping bag were it showed the B Bucks total. Clicking on Buy Items would show the Check Out image with the Barbie Girls Sales Attendant telling if the player had enough B Bucks or not and to finish buying the items.