We don’t NEED to love virtual pets, but we do.
I often see people saying that they play virtual pet games to “escape” from the real world, and at times I do the same. But pet sites rarely have an expansive world to immerse players in, so is it the social aspect of the site that people “escape” to then? Why not just join a social media site … why a virtual pet site?
The answer that grips many of us into these virtual worlds may lie in something known as the “Tamagotchi effect”.
As humans, our brains are capable of creating an emotional attachment. Even to things that do not actually return those feelings. Tamagotchis were the first widely successful virtual pet. There were many ways to interact and help one’s tamagotchi grow, and it felt rewarding and exciting!
However, if left unattended, a Tamagotchi would die, and the player would have to start over with another precious egg. Players would scramble to care for their Tamagotchis as often as possible, causing the game to be banned in many schools.
Perhaps because of the distraction they caused, or the toll of these pixel deaths had on their owners, many death sequences were changed to something angelic, or had the pets “returning to space” in English releases.
Players get upset when their virtual pets die! As a result, very few virtual pet games program for their virtual pets to “die”, with the exception of pet simulation games, which tend to be more realistic.
So now that the fear of constantly checking to make sure a virtual pet doesn’t die is (mostly) gone, why are we still playing?
Simply put, we grow attached to our virtual pets. We give them names, emotions, feelings, stories. Those who cannot own a pet in real life now can – virtually.
Virtual pets provide a sort of friendship, a stress reliever, a motivation. When our pets are cared for and happy, we feel good, especially when checking up on our virtual pets for the first time each day.
There’s a huge laundry list of reasons that differ for everyone. What’s your reasons?

Many discussions spring up about Virtual pets. Why not join in a few?
Written by @Oakley
I often see people saying that they play virtual pet games to “escape” from the real world, and at times I do the same. But pet sites rarely have an expansive world to immerse players in, so is it the social aspect of the site that people “escape” to then? Why not just join a social media site … why a virtual pet site?
The answer that grips many of us into these virtual worlds may lie in something known as the “Tamagotchi effect”.
As humans, our brains are capable of creating an emotional attachment. Even to things that do not actually return those feelings. Tamagotchis were the first widely successful virtual pet. There were many ways to interact and help one’s tamagotchi grow, and it felt rewarding and exciting!
However, if left unattended, a Tamagotchi would die, and the player would have to start over with another precious egg. Players would scramble to care for their Tamagotchis as often as possible, causing the game to be banned in many schools.
Perhaps because of the distraction they caused, or the toll of these pixel deaths had on their owners, many death sequences were changed to something angelic, or had the pets “returning to space” in English releases.
Players get upset when their virtual pets die! As a result, very few virtual pet games program for their virtual pets to “die”, with the exception of pet simulation games, which tend to be more realistic.
So now that the fear of constantly checking to make sure a virtual pet doesn’t die is (mostly) gone, why are we still playing?
Simply put, we grow attached to our virtual pets. We give them names, emotions, feelings, stories. Those who cannot own a pet in real life now can – virtually.
Virtual pets provide a sort of friendship, a stress reliever, a motivation. When our pets are cared for and happy, we feel good, especially when checking up on our virtual pets for the first time each day.
There’s a huge laundry list of reasons that differ for everyone. What’s your reasons?

Many discussions spring up about Virtual pets. Why not join in a few?
Written by @Oakley
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