//Quick design breakdown of the Tamagotchi r1 idea, with a focus on using the hardware for a more involved play.
Rabbit x Tamagotchi has come up a good amount in discussion on minigames for the r1, I wanted to share some design thoughts on what could be done! Before building a Tamagotchi-like game, we need to understand how Tamagotchi plays, what makes it fun, and where Tamagotchi falls short. Tamagotchi isn’t the only virtual pet game we can take a look at, the DS has many successful titles in the genre as well. Outside of consoles/hardware, web based games like Neopets and Webkinz had their own healthy and active player bases. Each different pet game brought its own unique characteristics to the pet game genre.
//The following are AI summaries, apologies if there are any missed key features or any errors in the summaries.
Tamagotchi
Overview
Tamagotchi is a handheld digital pet simulation game created by Bandai. The game was first released in Japan in 1996 and quickly became a global phenomenon. The core concept revolves around nurturing a virtual pet from an egg to adulthood, requiring players to attend to its various needs.
Player Interaction
Players interact with their Tamagotchi through a small, egg-shaped device with a simple interface consisting of three buttons. The primary interactions include:
- Feeding: Players must feed their Tamagotchi to keep it healthy. There are typically two types of food: a meal and a snack.
- Cleaning: Tamagotchi produce waste, and players must clean up after them to maintain their health and happiness.
- Playing: Engaging in mini-games or activities to keep the Tamagotchi entertained and happy.
- Discipline: Players must discipline their Tamagotchi if it misbehaves, which can affect its growth and development.
- Health Care: If the Tamagotchi gets sick, players need to administer medicine to cure it.
Goals of the Game
The primary goal of Tamagotchi is to successfully raise the virtual pet through its life stages, which include:
- Egg: The game starts with an egg that hatches into a baby Tamagotchi.
- Baby: The baby stage requires frequent attention and care.
- Child: As the Tamagotchi grows, it enters the child stage, where it becomes more independent but still needs regular care.
- Teenager: The teenage stage involves more complex interactions and care routines.
- Adult: The final stage, where the Tamagotchi can potentially mate and produce a new egg, continuing the cycle.
The ultimate goal is to see how long the player can keep the Tamagotchi alive and to unlock different character evolutions based on how well it was cared for.
Success Factors
Tamagotchi’s success can be attributed to several key factors:
- Nurturing Instinct: The game taps into the human nurturing instinct, providing a sense of responsibility and accomplishment as players care for their virtual pet.
- Portability: The small, portable design allowed players to carry their Tamagotchi everywhere, making it a constant companion.
- Simplicity: The simple gameplay mechanics made it accessible to a wide audience, including children and adults.
- Novelty: At the time of its release, the concept of a digital pet was novel and intriguing, capturing the interest of many.
- Social Interaction: Tamagotchi could connect with each other, allowing players to interact and share their experiences, fostering a sense of community.
- Cultural Impact: The iconic design and widespread popularity made Tamagotchi a cultural phenomenon, further driving its success.
TLDR
Tamagotchi really set the standard for what goes into a pet game. Bottom line you must feed, play, and care for the needs of your pet. It was an ultra simple design with 3 buttons, creating a restriction that allowed the key design pillars to shine through. The simplicity also helped it excel with its target audience – primarily children – becoming a legendary gadget. Tamagotchi are even still around today, with anime spinoffs and a dedicated collectors community.
//Argo
Neopets
Neopets is an immersive, online virtual pet game where players can adopt, customize, and interact with Neopets in the vast world of Neopia. Launched in 1999, it quickly became a beloved platform for millions of users worldwide. Here’s a comprehensive description of Neopets, covering its gameplay, player interactions, and the factors that contributed to its success.
Gameplay
Neopets offers a rich and diverse gameplay experience centered around virtual pets called Neopets. Players can adopt these pets, customize their appearance, and take care of their needs. The game is set in the fictional world of Neopia, which is divided into various regions, each with its own unique theme and activities.
- Adoption and Customization: Players start by adopting a Neopet from a variety of species. They can then customize their pet’s appearance using items like clothes, accessories, and paintbrushes.
- Pet Care: Taking care of Neopets involves feeding them, playing with them, and ensuring their overall well-being. Neglecting a Neopet can lead to it becoming unhappy or sick.
- Mini-Games and Quests: Neopets features numerous mini-games and quests that players can engage in to earn Neopoints, the in-game currency. These activities range from puzzles and arcade games to more complex adventures.
- Battledome: Players can train their Neopets and engage in battles in the Battledome, a combat arena where Neopets fight against each other or computer-controlled opponents.
- Exploration: The world of Neopia is vast, with different lands to explore, each offering unique items, shops, and challenges.
Player Interactions
Neopets fosters a strong sense of community through various interactive features:
- NeoBoards: These are forums where players can discuss various topics, seek advice, and share their experiences.
- Neomail: A private messaging system that allows players to communicate directly with each other. Players must become Neofriends before they can send Neomail.
- Guilds: Players can join or create guilds, which are groups centered around common interests. Guilds have their own pages and can host events, discussions, and competitions.
- Trading Post and Auctions: Players can trade items and Neopoints through the Trading Post or participate in auctions to buy and sell rare items.
- Contests and Events: Neopets regularly hosts site-wide events and contests, encouraging players to participate and interact with the community.
Success Factors
Several factors contributed to the success of Neopets:
- Engaging and Diverse Gameplay: The wide range of activities, from pet care to mini-games and quests, kept players engaged and coming back for more.
- Strong Community: The interactive features like NeoBoards, Neomail, and guilds fostered a sense of belonging and community among players.
- Customization and Personalization: The ability to customize Neopets and create unique identities for them appealed to players’ creativity and personal expression.
- Nostalgia and Longevity: Neopets has a multi-generational appeal, with many players returning to the game for nostalgia. Its longevity and continuous updates have kept it relevant over the years.
- Monetization and Revenue: Neopets successfully monetized through advertising, in-game purchases, and subscriptions, ensuring its financial sustainability.
In summary, Neopets’ combination of engaging gameplay, strong community features, and effective monetization strategies made it a successful and beloved platform for millions of players worldwide.
TLDR
Neopets put more of an emphasis on community building and navigating multiple gameplay loops through a web based interface. I was quite young when I played so forgive me if I get any details wrong, but I remember it being a treasure trove of new activities to discover, minigames to play, and items to collect. Customization during the flash/web game golden age was a huge factor for me though I gravitated toward fantasy games like adventure quest way more.
//Argo
Nintendogs/Ninten-Pet Clones
Nintendogs is a real-time pet simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld console. Released in 2005, the game allows players to care for and interact with virtual puppies. The game was a massive success, praised for its innovative use of the DS’s touch screen and microphone.
Key Gameplay Features:
- Touchscreen Interaction: Players use the DS’s touchscreen to pet, brush, and wash their virtual dogs.
- Microphone Use: The built-in microphone allows players to call their puppies and teach them tricks by voice commands.
- Activities: Players can take their dogs for walks, play fetch, and participate in competitions such as agility trials and disc-catching contests.
- Customization: The game offers various breeds to choose from, and players can buy accessories and toys for their pets.
- Real-Time Clock: The game uses the DS’s internal clock to simulate the passage of time, affecting the dog’s behavior and needs.
Interaction with Digital Pets:
- Training: Players can train their dogs to perform tricks and commands, which are essential for competitions.
- Care: Regular feeding, grooming, and playing with the dogs are necessary to keep them happy and healthy.
- Social Features: The game supports wireless connectivity, allowing players to interact with other players’ dogs.
Success Factors:
- Innovative Use of DS Features: The game effectively utilized the DS’s unique hardware capabilities, providing an immersive experience.
- Appeal to a Broad Audience: Its casual and engaging gameplay attracted a wide range of players, from children to adults.
- Replayability: The variety of activities and the ability to collect different breeds and accessories kept players engaged.
Nintendogs + Cats
Nintendogs + Cats is a sequel to the original Nintendogs, released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. It expanded on the original concept by adding cats and utilizing the 3DS’s new features.
Key Gameplay Features:
- 3D Graphics: Enhanced visuals with 3D effects, making the pets appear more lifelike.
- New Breeds: Additional dog breeds and the introduction of cats, each with unique behaviors.
- Augmented Reality: The game uses the 3DS’s AR capabilities to bring pets into the real world through the camera.
- StreetPass: Players can exchange data and interact with other players’ pets via the 3DS’s StreetPass feature.
Interaction with Digital Pets:
- Similar to Nintendogs: Players can train, care for, and play with their pets using the touchscreen and microphone.
- Cat-Specific Activities: Unique activities and toys for cats, such as chasing laser pointers.
Success Factors:
- Enhanced Features: The addition of cats and new breeds, along with improved graphics, provided a fresh experience.
- Utilization of 3DS Capabilities: The game made good use of the 3DS’s new features, such as AR and StreetPass, enhancing interactivity.
TLDR
The Nintendo pet games were peak pet games when I was a kid. The “gimmick” factors (I use gimmick here endearingly) of the DS gave the games this connection no other pet game had. It was as if the screen was this magical window into a new world. In the imaginative mind of a child, Nintendogs was magic. No other game at the time had this adjacency to the real world, and it showed in the ip’s success.
//Argo
Petz: Dogz 2 and Catz 2
Petz: Dogz 2 and Catz 2 are pet simulation games developed by Ubisoft, released for various platforms including the Nintendo DS and Wii. These games offer a different take on the pet simulation genre, with a more adventure-oriented approach.
Key Gameplay Features:
- Adventure Mode: Players control a puppy or kitten on a quest to save the world, completing tasks and solving puzzles.
- Customization: Players can choose the breed, gender, and name of their pet, though these choices do not affect gameplay.
- Tasks and Quests: The game includes various tasks and quests that players must complete to progress the story.
- Village Building: Players can create and customize a pet village, guiding their pets through various adventures.
Interaction with Digital Pets:
- Training and Care: Similar to Nintendogs, players can train their pets and take care of their needs.
- Adventure Elements: The game includes more structured gameplay with specific goals and challenges.
Success Factors:
- Unique Blend of Genres: Combining pet simulation with adventure elements provided a unique gameplay experience.
- Engaging Storyline: The quest to save the world added depth and purpose to the pet simulation mechanics.
Conclusion
The Nintendogs series and similar games like Nintendogs + Cats and Petz: Dogz 2 and Catz 2 have captivated players with their innovative use of handheld console features, engaging gameplay, and broad appeal. These games successfully blend pet care with interactive and immersive elements, making them beloved titles in the pet simulation genre.
TLDR
I have no hands on experience with this one but it felt right to leave the description in. Design liberties can still be taken with virtual pet games, and adapting it into a puzzle/adventure game goes to show how open ended the genre can be. I’m also pretty intrigued by the idea of the village system. A colony sim/god game might fit in with the virtual pet genre well. Think ant farms, fish tanks, etc. Instead of focusing on maximizing an individual pets happiness and care, you have to manage the overall care of the colony.
//Argo
//End AI summaries.
Virtual Pet Games for the r1
Virtual Pet games are quite different from most genres of games and require designing them with lots of intentional choices from the start. As stated in the past, the r1 also requires a different approach to game design. Looking back on the descriptions of the few pet games I listed, a key feature is the nurturing of your pet. The user must care for, enrich, and manage their virtual pet to keep them happy and healthy.
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, games were limited by both hardware and software. The modern age removes a lot of those barriers, though having limitations in place will inspire unique and engaging designs. Because we are designing around access to AI, we should also consider how AI can influence the user. Traditional virtual pet games do not allow for the pet to properly influence or communicate with the player; however, with an LLM we can provide more complex interactions and meaningful influence on the player. The traditional pet game becomes a give and take of enrichment.
Influence on the player comes with a heavy responsibility. As designers, we make the choices that direct what experiences the player is having with our game. In the context of a virtual pet, players will be building relationships with their companion(s), these relationships should be beneficial to the user’s lifestyle. One primary focus of my design is providing the user with positive educational feedback from the interactions they have. This could be done in multiple ways such as providing facts about the users interests, rewarding the user for a healthy lifestyle/activities, helping the user learn a new language, or teaching the user real world facts about the species of virtual pet they are raising.
Theming
From a general view, a decision must be made for the types of pets users can raise. We could go the Pokémon route and let players raise monsters, the Tamagotchi route with various fictional creatures/characters, the Ninten-pet route and let players raise real creatures, or we could do something entirely new. Keep in mind the types of gameplay we want to implement, with a bare minimum of feeding, playing, and cleaning. Multiplayer functions like contests, battles, and trading are strong potential candidates for features, fitting in a bit better with the fantasy/monster types of creatures.
Speaking of multiplayer features, I feel StreetPass from the 3DS is a really powerful tool for a virtual pet game. To be completely honest, I have no clue how it works, and as far as I know it used specific hardware to enable the StreetPass function. In @Afaces Bits from Rabbits using a system similar to Geocache is brought up. Opposed to StreetPass rewarding the player for passing users who also have a StreetPass device, the locations people interact with their pets at can be saved. If two users interact with their pets in the same general location, some social/multiplayer event could take place. These aren’t necessarily needed functions for a pet game, but I personally enjoy the flavor it adds and allows players a new way to show off their pets.
For now I say using the Pokémon-esque design, with fantasy monsters and characters, provides the best structure for a pet simulator. It leaves a lot to be explored with creature design, and allows for the project to scale up with battle/breeding mechanics later on. As always with creating iterative games, its important we don’t follow too close to the source material.
Extra Notes
UI
A big thing I wanted to add was some UI ideas I have. The r1 isn’t really intended for gaming, especially because we really only have a single button to use. This is one of the big restrictions we have to work around with the designing process. If we continue to avoid using the touch screen, we will have to find an analogue solution to this issue. With some creative menu choices, we can start to open how many options a user has to interact with the gameplay.
Once the user “opens” the game, I would expect the device to stay in this game mode until either: the user chooses an exit game button or the rabbit is reset (5 PTT presses, in the case of a failure in the program this avoids soft-locking users in “game mode”). Starting out, the users device is upright. I expect this to be some sort of pet selection menu, with a list of your owned pets to scroll through. You scroll with the scroll wheel, and select with the PTT button. We could start building multiple menu layers, but I would rather avoid layering too much and instead use one of the unique aspects of the device.
The r1 is square, no matter what way you hold it the overall form factor will remain the same. We can use the rotation of the device as a secondary menu select option. The PTT button could open a “stats” breakdown, and the rotation could transfer the player to a new screen. We can have 4 screens in total, each with their own menus or buttons to cycle through.
Screens 1,2, and 4 can be considered the standard “handheld” modes, while screen 3 can be reserved for more menu/setting intensive options. I say this mostly because screen 3 requires two rotations from the default position, which is quite awkward in standard use.
Other References
Many ideas have been discussed in a few different threads, most are in the Mini-game for the R1 and my own Game Design for the r1 Superthread. Among the comments, some of my favorites include using the other features of the r1 to provide resources for your pet (more details on a similar system in the superthread).