Ximboland: The Dress Up Game of Your Childhood, For Adults

If you were a young girl during the 2000s and your parents let you use the family room computer, you probably either saw deeply disturbing things way too young or just played cute games--maybe even both! If dress up games in particular bring you great nostalgia, this article is for you.

To clarify, I don’t just mean online games that had a dress up element, like Club Penguin or Fantage, or even Pixie Hollow or Moshi Monsters. Although, if you miss the last two, you’re in luck. We The Pixies is a fan-made recreation of Pixie Hollow that will let you make a fairy to go play Bubble Bounce in Dewdrop Vale right now. Moshi Monsters Rewritten is also a playable rewrite of--you guessed it--Moshi Monsters. If these options are enough of a nostalgia overload for you, then go to them, and be at peace. But if you’re mourning games that were made specifically for our ten year old fashionista selves to play dress up, continue on.

If you scour the Internet for these kinds of games, you’ll find that the genre never died. Girls Go Games is still up and kicking. The problem is that most of the older games on here and other sites are no longer playable because they are flash games, and Flash Player is no longer supported by Adobe.

The newer, playable games for this category can be fun for a minute, but ultimately lack nostalgia as they tend to have you dressing up Elsa and Anna in current day fashion. These miss the mark because Frozen wasn’t released until I was already a teenager, and I’m not sold on the cringey outfits that come from the wrong decade. (It is mortifying how old this makes me feel.)

So, the old games don’t work. The new games are for a younger audience. Where does that leave us, young adults still chasing the mindless fun of the online dress up genre? Worry not, for I offer you a solution that highlights the fun of dressing up while eliminating the factor of lurking on sites made for those who are currently children: join Ximboland!

Ximboland is an adult dress up game with thousands of clothing, makeup, and wig/hairstyle options for your bimbo (or himbo) avatar. The in-game currency is easy to collect through simple actions like voting in fashion fights, or winning fights yourself. It’s also a very friendly community, whether you’re talking to people in the forum or reading kind comments on your own bimbo’s profile. Ximboland feels uniquely close-knit compared to other online games; all questions and problems that players have are quickly addressed, and players can even create their own clothing items to be considered for the shop.

The game is free to play unless you want to pay to become a “senator” to participate in the game’s politics, among a few other perks. Those who choose not to do so aren’t at any major disadvantage though, especially not in terms of the game’s focus point of dressing up. I’ve been playing since May of 2022, and I have soared through the rankings despite never putting any actual money toward the game, so I know it’s fun and easy either way!

(Edit: I became a paying senator in May of 2023, both to support the site itself and because I can justify spending a few dollars every month for a game that I play almost hourly. Now that I have experienced the game paid and unpaid, my stance that non-paying players aren't at a disadvantage remains the same! The senator role is truly just appealing to those who use the site endlessly like I do, and it is for those who want to be more in the loop with the politics of the game.)

During the 2000s, Ximboland existed under another name, so it may already be familiar to you. Prior to 2015, the site was called Miss Bimbo, for the English version, anyway. It was adapted from the French game Ma Bimbo.

Miss Bimbo received heavy criticism back in 2008 because it was not specifically for adults at the time, and parents were uncomfortable with various aspects of the games like usage of the term “bimbo” and the inclusion of cosmetic surgery. Parents worried that the game would have a negative impact on their child’s body image, especially as children were less likely to grasp the satirical nature of the game as a reflection of unrealistic beauty standards.

The game’s rebrand remedied most parental concerns. Well, the fact that the game is no longer for people under the age of 18 basically satisfied all parents, but other elements of the game were also adjusted to steer away from negative body image. With Miss Bimbo, food was necessary to keep your bimbo from becoming too thin, while too much food would make your bimbo fat. With Ximboland, there is no function of feed your bimbo, which takes out the questionable worries of whether the in-game relationship with food could negatively impact someone’s real world relationship with food and eating. Now, if you prefer a plus size bimbo or want to alter your body--bigger boobs, elf ears, a different skin tone--you can take your bimbo to "Mr Chops" for some cosmetic surgery or simply buy the body modification from the “Skins” section of the shop.

Despite some inappropriate outfits, Ximboland is ultimately a wholesome game. The community is great, with players who always offer compliments rather than tearing each other down. The monthly fashion contests (and several smaller contests in the forum) keep the game interesting, and weekly rankings bring a competitive element to the game for those who want a bit more than just the dress up itself.

Though I didn’t discover Ximboland until 2022, I’m now drawn to it daily for the dress up nostalgia it provides, while at the same time being a creative and safe space for me as an adult. If you want to return to this genre of gaming without imposing yourself on a site aimed at children, Ximboland is the perfect place. If you do join as a result of this, send a message over to the bimbo named princesspixie, and I’ll add you to my Favorite Ximbo list.