Although it may seem strange, virtual pets are the order of the day and present on many people’s mobile phones. The rise of the well-known smartphones has only multiplied this trend that has been in action for some time. Much more than we can actually think. Do we all remember the well-known tamagochis and the fashion that was related to this device that acted practically the same as a real pet? From this concept, but much more developed due to the technological difference that currently exists with 20 years ago, virtual pets have only expanded and become the life companion of many people. They are ideal for those who want to avoid having to report animal abuse.
What is a virtual pet?
A virtual pet does nothing more than emulate a real pet but from the virtual world. These types of pets have the same needs as a real one, such as eating, attention, relieving themselves or different circumstances that the owner of any pet must take into account as if it were a child. The main difference is that if we opt for bad attention, or we are simply not aware of this pet, it will not have any more circumstances in real life. Even if we have not started off on the wrong foot, we can start over with a completely new one. The first precedent is found in 1996 with the Tamagochi, which managed to capture mainly children but without forgetting young people and adults. In a short time, she had sold millions and millions of her models. The operation was like that of an original pet, someone you had to put to sleep, feed him, take him for a walk and cover all his needs. Fashion was absolute and had even come to create conflicts with the real life of people.
At that time, obviously, it was unthinkable to think of a mobile that could barely call and send messages the possibility of storing a game of this type inside. For this reason, a toy was created that sold like donuts in shopping malls. However, more than 20 years later, mobile phones have many more capabilities such as sending What Sapp messages, being able to browse the Internet and even store multiple applications, including games similar to Tamagochi. As it was not surprising, the Bandai brand has reissued the traditional game previously exposed although with a much more careful aesthetic model than before. The functionality is exactly the same, although with a much more modern interface, and only available on Apple and Android devices. Another of the main evolutions of the Tamagochi is, without a doubt, Pouf. A game with a similar style that managed to capture all of the adolescent fashion, and even part of the adult population those years ago had enjoyed their little gadget. One of the keys to his success was his ability to create that nostalgia by leveraging the work of a competitor years ago. It is only available for IPhone and Android, and the operation is similar to that of any type of virtual pet application. The user must wake up his pet, put clothes on it, feed it, be with it… Almost as if it were a real pet.
Hatchie, on the other hand, is looking for a totally different model than Pouf for Android. Bet on an outdated design that also wants to awaken the nostalgic vein of users. Its interface is much more similar to that of the Tamagochi but with added value. To begin with, the user will start with an egg from which her pet will end up hatching. In this case, the application allows us to compete with other users since our pet will grow better or worse depending on the type of care we dedicate to it. Another of the applications at our disposal is very similar to the previous one, although only in name. Instead of Hatchie it is called Hatch, although the similarities between the two end here. It is an app that has really been worked on graphically, and with another of the main novelties, trying to adapt our vital habits to those of the pet. When the mobile phone is charged, the pet will automatically go to sleep. In this way, we can disconnect from our virtual pet and dedicate ourselves to everything we have to do. With the Tamagochi there were numerous problems in catering to all the needs. His state of health will be completely related to his state of mind and when he is really happy, he will show us this through dancing or sucking on the screen, among other actions. There are other types of users who are not happy with just having a pet, but want to dedicate their lives to animals. Well, in that case, Pet Shop Story may be your best option. This application aims to create a house or home to take care of different pets, as if it were a daycare center. In addition, another of its main advantages is its social part in which users can relate to each other and explain how they are taking care of their animals, exchange advice or experiences, among others. In this sense, you can get to know other people who may be sharing our same hobbies.
Benefits of having a virtual pet
All in all, having a virtual pet implies numerous advantages and benefits for all those users who decide to embark on the adventure of trying out the numerous applications related to this theme. The most prominent are:
- Have a pet to zero. Although obviously not that crowded but if we can’t afford the opportunity to have a real pet, at least we can have someone to keep us company virtually without having to pay anything.
- Numerous options to choose from. Advances in smartphones open up a lot of possibilities and the catalog we have to choose from. Many different applications to try and have a good time doing something that we like.
- Meet other users with the same hobbies. It may seem like a minor hobby, or something that many people don’t like, but the reality is that there are many users who share the passion for taking care of pets virtually. Through the network you can exchange experiences and meet people in Madrid, for example.
- Play anywhere. It can be in the office, at home, on the street or even abroad. As long as you have access to Wi-Fi or a data network enabled, you can spend time caring for pets virtually.
How to have a virtual pet:
Having a virtual pet in your possession has never been so easy for any user. The first thing we will need is a smartphone, something quite common in today’s society. Except for a few really small exceptions, everyone currently has a phone with an Internet connection. Also, we recommend that this be an iPhone or Android as most apps only support this type of operating system. If for example we opt for a Windows Phoneme run the risk of not having the possibility to download some applications. Once we have the right phone model, we basically have to go to the store based on the brand we have. If we have Apple, we will opt for I Cloud, while if we have Android we will do it for Google Play. Once we are there, we will search for the desired application and download it to the memory of our phone. It is advisable to leave free space so that the applications work correctly and cannot be blocked by lowering the level of our experiences with these applications. Once we have downloaded it, we must install it and we will have it available. The most normal thing is that it asks us to register, something we can do either through the account to one of our social networks such as Facebook, among others, or through an email that can be Hotmail or Gmail.
Once we have the applications installed, we are going to finish knowing some more types of apps to complete our particular top 10 of this type of virtual pet applications. Following the line that we mentioned before, Littlest Pet Shop offers all users who download this application up to 150 completely different pets. It is only available for Android, and as we mentioned before, in addition to feeding and caring for the pet, our objective will be to build an empire that allows numerous pets to come to us. Obviously, if we pay add-ons we will be able to progress at a better rate and achieve greater benefits in a short space of time. The Asian continent is one of the fondest of virtual pets. Tamagochi emerged in Asia and Japan, one of the most favored par excellence, has a fantastic application such as Hawaii Pet Mega. It is only available on iPhone but some of its peculiarities are the possibilities of improving our account if we pay some money in the complements and the option of synchronizing it with one of our social network accounts such as Twitter. We can certainly connect with our community as we continue to care for virtual pets. The data provided by the creators of this application is, without a doubt, really abysmal with numerous hours consumed by Japanese users with this virtual application.
Over time, other much more original virtual pet applications have appeared, leading science fiction movies to be the protagonists of this type of applications. Yes, as you read it. In Furdiburb you have the opportunity to take care of a totally extraterrestrial baby who lives on a planet outside of Earth. Plus, there’s a context behind it all. The story places us in an abandoned baby who has lost her parents and that we must take care of and prepare so that she can one day return to her real home. However, in addition to aliens and people we can also include animals with the download of the My Horse application. Many may think that the idea with this type of virtual application is not to follow the previous philosophy. Having a horse that needs to be fed, cared for and made to grow properly. It might seem so if it weren’t for the difference is that it is not just any horse, but rather our goal is to take care of a horse that is preparing to compete and win riding races. It is available for Android and the creators of the application have already warned that it is designed for children with really elaborate graphics. We end our top 10 virtual pet apps with Tiny Monsters. As in that of the aliens, in this case we have the duty to take care of little monsters that must grow and become older. In addition, food also has to be worked on. They will feed on some curious plants that we will have to plant and prepare the harvesting order to feed them properly. Without a doubt, betting on virtual pets allows us to explore a world completely different from that of real pets.
