We went cold on virtual pets the day our Tamagotchi slapped us with a negligence lawsuit. However, a new game for iPhone and iPad may just tempt us back with its polished graphics and promises of personality.
It’s called Pocket Creatures, and is the work of Tactile Entertainment. The game has you starting with a mysterious egg, out of which hatches your critter. From then on, its evolution is down to you: bombard it with love and affection and it’ll be a gentle soul, but treat it mean, and it’ll turn into a nasty little bugger with a grudge against the world.
The game part involves exploring a virtual island to find food and interact with other creatures, while unlocking outfits to dress it up as a ninja, pirate, angel or countless other things. There are elements of god-games too, as you earn powers to control the inhabitants of the island.
It looks beautiful, and we can see the ability to customise the island’s look by breeding plants appealing to the Farmville generation.
However, that comparison highlights something that’s missing from Pocket Creatures: social features. Wouldn’t it be more fun if you could send your critter off to meet those of your friends, and wreak havoc on their islands?
Even so, if you’re in the market for a modern-day Furby on your iDevice, this £1.79 game is worth a look.
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