Dizzywood starts a little surprisingly -- once you've signed up (making sure you have your parent's permission, as it's your "parent's" e-mail address confirmation is sent to) and selected a server (one of four, and you can choose your server each time you log in) you're immediately sent into the world as a generic avatar.

Landing in "Presto's Grove", the starting point for all new players in Dizzywood, I began by talking to Presto, the anthropomorphic raccoon that the grove is named after. Presto serves as the initial tutorial to the world, advising new players first how to alter their appearance (through Preso's Wagon, but actually just as easily by the massive "change your look" button that makes up part of the interface), then how to customize their clothes (by winning them from the clothing game at the Clothing Wagon, and then purchasing them from locations that sell them). After that, players are largely free to explore the world as they see fit.

Dizzywood isn't a huge world, but it is, like many others, one where you can be at a loss where to begin once the tutorial is over. Presto does give some advice -- to check out the Magic Mystery Wagon; help his "trusty assistant" Chanjo; find a skateboard; and to explore Tanglevine Jungle.

The Magic Mystery Wagon gives each player one chance a day to win something, so I immediately headed there and won, quite excellently, a skateboard! I'd already managed to strike off two of his recommendations with only one click! Of course, I was very lucky to win a skateboard on my first try -- in the days since, I've won such (completely useless) wonders as moldy cheese and a used toothbrush.

Chanjo's problem was similarly simple -- to find his missing tools strewn around Presto's Grove, which largely consisted of simply wandering about until I saw them. The rewards for this effort was one of the unique aspects of Dizzywood -- emotes, which in themselves aren't too remarkable, but in Dizzywood you have to earn them through games and exploration. Although my new ability to wink and give high fives wasn't especially thrilling on a personal level, I can see how the effort to find new emotes could be rewarding in itself.

I couldn't help but then waste some time playing the game initialized by clicking Chanjo's machine. A version of the Zookeeper match-3 mechanics (try and match 3 of a specific item to win) I used the opportunity to raise enough money to buy a new top from the Clothing Wagon (a striped long sleeve t-shirt) before I headed off to Tanglevine Jungle.

Tanglevine Jungle is only one of the many other locations in Dizzywood -- other locations include Presto's Edge, Skytown Skatepark, Farthing's Meadow and more. Each of these locations tend to feature some games to play, but also puzzles to solve using the environment. Tanglevine Jungle is a great example of this. While I could happily have whiled away the time playing the game Force Field with the wandering salamander sprites (a twist on Pong) with a little exploration I found a pair of pillars that granted me the power of levitation -- which I then used to levitate over a nearby river. There, I was able play more games (a game similar old Game & Watch game Fire with a frog, and a variant of hangman with a stone coffer) but also, with further exploration, I found the ability to make myself invisibile and received an opal idol from a ghost!

The opal idol is an item which, if I continued to explore, would eventually allow me to unlock the "zap" power, but it's there that I decided to give my exploration of Tanglevine Jungle a rest and see the rest of the world. Dizzywood has many players enjoying the world in a similar fashion -- trying to solve its puzzles, but also taking time to just explore and interact with other players.

There are several locations and events to foster this kind of play. For example, players are currently being asked by Dizzywood's wizards to travel to Wildwood Glen, where they must plant and raise trees to restore it. In order to help trees grow, players have to hover their mouse pointer over the trees, and trees grow much faster when friends work together on this task. The world has featured many other events, such as a winter festival, Valentine's Day, and an egg hunt.

Other social aspects of the world work as most do, with a "buddies & blocks" list for friends and players the user doesn't wish to talk to, and a red whistle on screen at all times for players to report anyone they think is acting in an unacceptable manner.

Dizzywood is an interesting experience -- while the world has more structure than many social MMOs, with powers to unlock and quests to embark upon, players are given as much leeway as possible to take part in them or not. It's possible that this could lead to players interested in one format or the other could become disappointed, but I think there are good reasons why Dizzywood should continue to develop in interesting ways for all players, and I'll talk about them in the upcoming conclusion.