Viva Piñata is a video game series created and produced by Xbox Game Studios and Rare. The first game in the series, Viva Piñata (2006), was originally planned as a mobile gardening game before Rare was bought by Microsoft. It was released for the Xbox 360 and came out at the same time as an animated series made by 4Kids. Two follow-up games were released for consoles: Viva Piñata: Party Animals (2007) and Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (2008). A handheld version, Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise (2008), was also released for the Nintendo DS.

Development

Tim Stamper, who co-founded Rare, planned a gardening game for the Pocket PC around 2002. A small team of three people started

Games

• Viva Piñata (2006)
• Viva Piñata: Party Animals (2007)
• Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (2008)
• Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise (2008)

Animated series

Viva Piñata was created as a major brand. 4Kids TV agreed to make a Viva Piñata cartoon before the game was released. 4Kids chose the series from several options provided by Microsoft. 4Kids also managed the sale of merchandise related to the series. The cartoon is closely connected to the game, and its animations use the same 3D characters from the game. Each episode was reviewed by Gregg Mayles from Rare to ensure it matched the game's content. The cartoon was designed to teach viewers how to interact with the piñatas in the game. Later, the story from the animated series inspired the plot of Trouble in Paradise.