Pet Society: Not just a child's game.

Image from Playfish Blog

It all seems so easy, a child could play it. Visit friends, feed your pet, play with your pet in the hurdles, clean them regularly, it all sounds too familiar. It's like the online version of the Tamagotchi we all also used to be so addicted with. With the new Tamagotchis coming out, pet social networks isn't really a new thing. Tamagotchi now have built in infrared to be able to get into different homes.

My pet visiting other pets

For kids in the higher age group, you could also compare this to the Sims. Only this time, they're not human. You're not being their god and telling them what to do, you're being their owner, talking care of them and playing with them. How this game may attract Sims fans, is the ability to design a totally empty house, to make it suit your needs. Make it feel homey for you. You can place different colors of wallpaper, and flooring. Get different appliances, furniture and food, and place it in your maximum of 6 room house. Below are the rooms I've designed for my pet.

The Boy's Bedroom

The KitchenThe Living Room

The Girl's Bedroom

The Garden

Now for the older population, you may think, what more is there in a game that could get us hooked into it? One word: SHOPPING. How else do you think do people get the things that they want. For the kids it teaches them responsibility, only get the things you want. In Pet Society, it is very much patterned to real life shopping situations. You work hard for a day, but you can't really get it all in one day. There is only so much you can do in one day, and so much you can earn.

Unlike Sims, buying the things you want in Pet Society is much more complicated. There are different shops available in Pet Society: Luxury, Furniture, Clothes, and Food. Every Monday, new things arrive to the shops. Some things are kept for good, while others only stay for a weeks time.

This is where the more advanced players come to play. It's not just a simple buying of objects to fill your room, it is buying and selling and acquiring all that you want. As there are things that only stay for a week, if you've missed them, sorry you can't buy them. This is where the rare objects come in. Things that only came out during the Halloween Season, Christmas Season, Thanksgiving, or Valentines Day. To acquire these, you have to take part in the forums and actually win or trade. There are those roaming around, some people buy a dozen of these things, then sell them once they become rare.

In a way it is sad, we are already living in a world where money matters. Games are supposed to be an escape from reality. Where the poor and the rich go hand in hand. Sure, the poor can be rich in the game, sucks if the rich is poor in the game. haha. Real economic matters are really reflected in this game. Even concepts such as Supply and Demand are reflected. These certain rare objects don't become that expensive unless you see that almost all the people playing the game are really working hard to get them.

But this is not all there is to it, Pet Society is not just about greed, or inflation, or supply and demand. Fortunately, Pet Society also gives us hope. It also reflects the spirit of giving, of appreciating, and of passing things on to those in need. I've been currently active in the forums for a few weeks now, and I've come to observing a few things. There are still really a lot of great people out there. It may be something so simple as giving things out to a virtual game, but I'm sure it already brings out a whole day's worth of a big grin. :)