Toontown was my first introduction to online gaming. I remember watching the Disney Channel as a kid and being fascinated by advertisements for this new type of experience. Plus, a game where you could be a cartoon animal and throw pies at bad guys? I was in! After playing through the free trial and begging my mom for a one-month subscription, she gave in. I was hooked, but sadly, I only ever got to play it for that one month.
Setting it Up
Playing my Steam Deck the other day, I marveled at all the games at my disposal. I don’t know what made me think of Toontown all these years later, but I had to look it up and see if it was possible to walk down Loopy Lane one more time. After some digging, I came to find out that the game is still up and running under the name Toontown Rewritten.
Toontown Rewritten is a fan-made revival of the original release. It is completely free and runs perfectly on the Steam Deck. It took me no time to download it and add it as a non-Steam game. The rerelease even has controller support, so you don’t even have to mess with any profile changes!
Finally, the best part of this is that there was no subscription tied to this old game. I just had to make an account, and I was free to play as much as I wanted! Good things do come to those who wait a couple of decades.
Playing in 2025
Once I started the game, I was instantly transported back. The bright and colorful character creation was all it took, and I was back in that mindset from 20+ years ago. After creating a chubby blue dog, I was off. The tutorial brought back a ton of memories, and before I knew it, I was throwing pies at robots and going on quests once again.
The part I really enjoyed about this was that nothing was behind a paywall. Finally, I could just keep playing, and it made my time with the game that much better. The user base seemed surprisingly active. There was a good handful of users running around for me to run into during my time in Toontown.
I could easily see how addictive this game could have been as a kid. Even now, it is hard to put it down. What was a great experience back then still holds up today. Kudos to the team that got this up and running in 2025.
Final Thoughts
Toontown was so magical as a kid, and it was great to relive that nostalgia again. Being able to do it portably on the couch, with controller support, instead of hunched over in the basement using dial-up internet made the experience all the more magical. Honestly, I can totally see myself coming back to this and have even messaged my friends about how to do it so we can relive that joy together.
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