My Pet Shop - Review

My Pet Shop
Ages: Everyone

All pet-themed games instill in the players the responsible care of animals. And so there is feeding, grooming, exercise, play and attention to the emotional needs of the pet. How a game works with this formula is what makes the game a success.

In this game, the player has a life beyond the pet store. There are many people to interact with and sites to visit - a town with stores to buy items for your pets - food, accessories, clothing; a housing district and apartment complex, a number of wooded and outdoor places to hunt for pets; a park, plus additional environments that I haven't unlocked yet.

The pet care has been integrated into your life in Green Town. You meet people and fulfill their pet-related requests. Hunting for pets is a main task but then there is buying food and pet items, and finally sleep to complete the day. Pets are captured by coaxing the pet from the bush by stepping forward and back until the pet comes close enough for you to get it. Pet interaction, grooming, feeding and training is done with stylus movements.

A wonderful accommodation for players is the ability to vary the speed of the text displayed on the screen, something that should be incorporated in every game that puts text on a screen. Clearly this is a game for those who are still in the cuddly stuffed-animal stage. Because the games has so much going on and many screens with lots of icons a little assistance from parents will help. And they might enjoy it too.


Fun Factor: Lots to do - After a long while - it feels repetitive.
Female Factor: Cute girls - sometimes bossy.
Player Friendly: Good manual, plenty of in-game help. Game parses itself out in little pieces, which could be confusing.

Reviewed by: Editor - 04/09

  • My Pet Shop
  • © Taito/Square Enix
  • Platform(s): GBDSDS
  • To Order: DS http://www.amazon.com/ $29.99