VirtuaCreature
Year: 2021
Rating: E
Time Played: 41.3 hours
Back in the ‘90s, the digital pet craze led by the Tamagotchi toys taught kids how to take care of a pixelated animal. These pets needed basic things like food, entertainment, and attention or their mood would deteriorate. They could even “die,” which was a threat that kept kids playing with them regularly throughout the day. While this fad has since faded away, there are still remnants of these digital pets around today. One such example is the game VirtuaCreature—a hybrid between Tamagotchi and Pokémon.
The simple graphics of VirtuaCreature brought the vibe of Tamagotchi to my computer and Steam Deck. There is also the option to battle these creatures in a rock-paper-scissors style battle that pulls at least a limited influence from Pokémon. These creatures evolve given enough experience through training and battling, but they also have a mood that can sour if you let them get too hungry/full or lose too many battles. It can be difficult to improve the creature’s mood, but knowing what helps and what doesn’t (which isn’t clearly explained) makes it easy enough to train the creature to the maximum level.
The biggest problem I have with this game is the “countdown timer” mechanic that you usually see in plenty of free-to-play games. Sure, this game was free, but it’s designed to keep you coming back and continuing to play. Since the creatures’ stomachs empty in real-time (much like Tamagotchi did), I needed to check in with them a few times a day to make sure they were well fed. After a while, this game became a chore, and I hadn’t even realized until I sunk a ton of time into it. So, if you want to recreate the stress of keeping a digital pet alive, then this is the game for you.
A digital pet game that might be a bit too addicting, I give VirtuaCreature 3.0 stars out of 5.
