If you have children, or are passionate about the horror genre, you have probably already heard of Huggy Wuggy. What’s happening and why is this plush making such a stir? Let’s try to analyze the situation together.
Huggy Wuggy, the blue terror of parents
As you can see from the images and the endless controversies that are branching out around this toy, Huggy Wuggy he’s not a Marvel superhero and not even a Disney plush. It is in fact a terrifying monster of a famous gioco survival horror ientitled Poppy’s Playtime – a video game, we emphasize, designed for adult players.
Think of Huggy Wuggy as a kind of muppet stuffed animal who, however, has been through a lot. A terrifying, creepy monster, a classic horror video game character. Before delving into the controversies of the last few days that have our soft toy as protagonist, let’s quickly analyze the video game which we believe to be central to our article.
The game: Poppy’s Playtime
Poppy’s Playtime is a video game survival horrorwith classification PEGI 13, developed and published by the independent studio MOB Games. Divided into two main chapterspublished on Steam after a few months, the video game in first person puts players in the shoes of a former employee of Playtime Co, an abandoned toy factory.
After receiving a letter from the staff who were believed to have disappeared 10 years earlier, the protagonist returns to the factory. Here he will find out that Huggy Wuggya large humanoid figure who serves as the company’s mascot, is actually a living being e terrifying. The players will have to proceed forward solving puzzles ed avoiding the blue mascot.
This character caught everyone’s attention, especially the little ones who, nowadays, have a facilitated internet access e piattaforme streaming Which YouTube e Twitch. On closer inspection, Huggy Wuggy is not the classic stuffed animal a parent would give their children – especially after inquiring about him.
We know though how the Google algorithm works and of each platform on the web: if a product reaches the peaks of popularity, it will somehow be redirected to the suggestions of certain people – especially people who are passionate about video games. In fact, it seems that, in some way, the character has spread not only on YouTube but also on Robloxone of the largest online play areas for children.
This character has become so popular that plush toys from various different brands were offered for sale for children, often also as a good night soft toy. However, it is normal that many parents are not happy to welcome this blue monster into their home – or on their children’s devices.
The Huggy Wuggy Problem: Why Did It Become a Toy “for Children”?
We are currently in a situation where parents are rightfully wrapped up by fear e paranoia while educators struggle to understand how this character can have so much success among children. This, consequently, led to the spread of incorrect information about the character’s purpose and on video content that inspired.
In the UK, for example, schools are warning parents of the “deceptive character”. A British principal, David Hegartywrote on Facebook:
It has been reported to me that a character called Huggy Wuggy is being viewed by our children online. The character is easily seen on YouTube channels and is a teddy bear with sharp teeth singing creepy songs about hugs and kills. In one of the videos, the bear asks the viewer to take their last breath. He is a very deceptive character, because hugs should be seen as something kind and loving.
Another UK principal, Justine Brownargues that the pupils play Huggy Wuggy in the courtyard, “hugging and whispering bad things into the recipient’s ear.”
Some adults seem to believe that the character was created with malice, with the intent of inspire real violence; his name and toy looks are one way to go evade the watchful eye of the algorithm e brainwashing children.
The problem is at the root
What many parents and adults don’t know, as uninformed e panic victimsis that the scary and violent content starring Huggy Wuggy is not in the least aimed at children.
Or better, all contents present on YouTube (we are not talking about game gameplay but these songs); TikTok and other platforms, they have nothing to do with the character why they are not related to the game. But let’s proceed step by step.
As we mentioned earlier, the character was indeed designed to scare adults; its popularity among young children and the consequent online diffusion they could not have been foreseen from the creators of Poppy’s Playtime.
Here another important question arises – and consequential problem: if a video game is designed for adults, because it is still seen by children? We would like to emphasize that when we refer to children, we are talking about children of age under 13 (therefore below the PEGI chosen by the company).
Regarding this, the State Police suggested to all parents of educate their children about the PEGI, explaining to them what it is and above all what it is for. However, the problems are various.
The first problem concerns children. Many of them I am aware of the PEGIof what it entails but simply they don’t have an actual size of the for there to be that PEGI. Similarly to this they throw themselves on the video game for simple curiositybecause the adults may have told them no, you cannot play without actually having explained the meaning of PEGI to them.
At the time, with this mechanism, we played Resident Evil 2 at the age of 6. What happened? Nothing, apart from a few nightmares at night and a consequent passion for the horror genre.
The second concerns the little attention of many parents about the online business of their children. Attention, dear readers: by this we are by no means saying that all parents do not properly supervise their children. It is clear however that many parents they fail to control their children and their internet activities.
Kids browsing adult YouTube unsupervised they will probably run into the sharp-toothed blue monster; others, however, as has happened in our country, they will of their own free will watch live streams on Twitch o YouTube where adults play the video game. In this case it is normal for them to remain slightly shaken but it is good to remember that they shouldn’t havefirst, look for that video.
We are in an age where technology it evolves at the speed of light but fortunately we have several methods available egr protect our children yes internet. I Parental Control they are here to help us and to protect our children.
In the end, however, we also feel like saying this thing. Parental Control systems are useful and make life lighter; however it is good to remember that the little ones, however, will grow up in the collectivity. They will be in contact with other children, with other people, which they could influence in a way positive o negative the way they think.
This is why we believe that the communication be the best tool for get closer to your childrento understand what is going on in their head and to help them, in a certain sense, to think for themselves. Establish a solid dialogue with your children and be present, even if you are not a fan of video games.
Does Huggy Wuggy instigate violence? Absolutely not
Many find the character inspiring games e violent actions. Sorry to disappoint you but this is one urban myth.
A child will not want to hug parents to death after seeing a video fan-made (therefore unofficial) by Huggy Wuggy; the monster it was not invented to persuade children to commit crimes related to hugging. He’s just a creepy character who, for some reason, children find it deeply compelling.
However, we also believe it is appropriate to put ourselves in the shoes of parents to understand their point of view. Adults have good reasons for worry about weird content e inappropriate which spread on YouTube and Roblox; many of them surely remember the years when YouTube actively pushed creepy content to children, sparking moral panic around the Momo Challenge, which was eventually debunked as a hoax.
Although the popularity of Huggy Wuggy is very real, children they are not brainwashed that pushes them to acts of violence; the worst the creature can inspire is a bad dream.
In the end, however, the problem is not so much Huggy Wuggy but something deeper, often fueled by the classic: “video games are bad”. We want to repeat it not only because we work in this sector and we are passionate about horror video games but also to inform the public.
Video games they don’t hurt, they do not instigate violence and certainly they won’t be brainwashed to your children.
Like everything on this planet it serves equilibriumit is quite obvious, and this applies to everyone, both children and adults.
Some advice for parents
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