What aspects of pet games make you stick with them?

[Victorstyr]

Personally, I absolutely love earning trophies for both my pets and my account, dressing up avatars (whether human or pet), and building collections like avatars, achievements, or official item sets (think stamps on Neopets).





I’d really appreciate it if you could answer at least the first question below—it’s something I’m really curious about. I added a few more questions for fun, in case you feel like sharing your thoughts on those too!




1. What makes you stop or continue playing a game after the initial excitement?


For example, I stopped playing Flight Rising because I felt like there wasn’t much to do after a while. On the other hand, I stayed with Aywas because I fell in love with the gorgeous artwork by their talented artists. Rescreatu, though, made me hesitant to keep playing because I didn’t like the lack of between-site trading and the stress of pets potentially dying during hiatuses.





2. What are your favorite things to do on a petsite?

I have a friend who’ll stick with a game as long as there’s a house-decorating feature, and another who’s hooked if the game includes fishing. What keeps you engaged?


3. How important are Human Avatars (HAs) to you?

Do HAs make or break a game for you? If they’re included, should they serve a purpose beyond just looking cool? I’ve seen successful petsites that both include and exclude HAs, and I’m curious about your take.


4. What are your thoughts on items that change a pet’s color?

Neopets, Subeta, and Rescreatu (among others) let you use paintbrushes, potions, or dyes to alter your pet’s appearance. Do you think this system is overdone? Or is it a staple because it works so well? Would you be less likely to play a game that didn’t offer a way to customize your pets’ colors?

 

[Baw$e]

If there is large variety of pets and ways to customize your pets I'll likely stick around longer. I like to evolve my pets, and level them up when I'm on pet sites.

 

[Nomad]

Virtual pets are kind of cute, even when they are fiery creatures like dragons and dinosaurs. This is what I like about them. Other things I like are customizing pets and training them.

 

[Alicia]

There are many varieties of things that can made one to stick to a game. I will only stick to a game for a little longer if I find the customization features to be quite exciting.

 

[uptrendfinancialsignal]

One of the reason I like pet games is because I like to collect things and customize them. Bathing and grooming pets and beautifying their houses is quite entertaining to me. It is also good to see them grow and transform with time.

 

[Zani]

Virtual pets are kind of cute, even when they are fiery creatures like dragons and dinosaurs. This is what I like about them. Other things I like are customizing pets and training them.

The graphic designs are always unique and beautiful. This is what makes me play most of the virtual pet games. The makers always do a great job.

 

[uptrendfinancialsignal]

The graphic designs are always unique and beautiful. This is what makes me play most of the virtual pet games. The makers always do a great job.

I agree with you that the graphics used in pet games are actually good. But I also enjoy the gameplay aspect of it. It is so enjoyable to feed, to play with and it's even more interesting to watch them develop. This is really very much fun.

 

[Demon_skeith]

Just that you can get any pet you want and play with it without real world requirements like cleaning up after them. It's a nice thing to have.

 

[Nathicana]

1. What makes you stop or continue playing a game after the initial excitement?

What makes me continue playing: There needs to be an interesting breeding system before I'll even join. The more detailed and unique the breeding system seems to be, the more likely I will be to stick around. It should have a wide variety of mini-games to earn in-game money through as well-- and those mini-games should pay fairly.

What makes me quit: As an adult who is not comfortable talking to children at all (I do not like children) but has grown up with breeding games, I will leave if the game's playerbase is mainly children. I will also quit if it's a "collecting" game instead of a breeding game. A game that is extremely RP-heavy, or tries to force "canon stories" down the players' throats will make me lose interest real quick as well. Also, I hate social media-type things and "achievements."

2. What are your favorite things to do on a petsite?

I will only play if it's a breeding sim, so that would be most important.


3. How important are Human Avatars (HAs) to you?

I despise "human characters" or any other "player insert" things.


4. What are your thoughts on items that change a pet’s color?

Items that add mutations or change colors are great.

 

[Nomad]

Virtual pets attract the child in us, they make us relive out childhood days, that's the main attraction of virtual pets.