Worst virtual pet designs or mechanics - what doesn't work?

[uptrendfinancialsignal]

We have a lot of the dreadful virtual pets that at some point ended up being a caricature. Maybe they were just poorly designed or did not have good mechanics. Which virtual pets would you say have some of the worst designs? Was it the UI that was built poorly, or was it just a growth system that was impacted by unrealistic measures?

 

[1stop]

On some pets site, whenever there is lack of regular feeding and playing with the pet, it could lead to its death. Some are even stressful and with bad user interface.

 

[cpvr]

On some pets site, whenever there is lack of regular feeding and playing with the pet, it could lead to its death. Some are even stressful and with bad user interface.

The death of a pet is mainly seen on pet simulators, where simulating the real life aspect of raising an animal is important. So, if you’re not taking care of your pet, it will more than likely pass away.

However, it’s not so common on traditional pet sites as they don’t simulate caring for an animal as much. They do, however, display prompts that your pet is hungry or needs to be fed.

This feature works well for pet simulators though. It’s also pretty common with Tamagotchi products as well.

 

[Kross]

There are some pet games that take this punitive measures to the very extreme. I have played a pet game that just missing one feeding session, the pet dies within four hours or so. That's extreme and unrealistic. Gameplay mechanics like that always make players of virtual pet games easily tire out.

 

[lens]

Some pet sites mechanics like giving severe punishments like death on abandoning pets is very horrible. That could chase players away.

 

[uptrendfinancialsignal]

One of the worst virtual pet designs or mechanics is when a pet is static with zero personality. Those kinds of pets do not react to care and that makes it uninteresting.