**** Pet Society - WAY too good for the kids! **** (playfish.com)

Member Name: malibu_jenny

Product:	playfish.com
Date:	09/03/09 (695 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hours of innocent fun!

Disadvantages: No real-time interaction, eventually you'll reach level 34.

HOW I GOT A PET:

"What are you doing?" I asked The Boyfriend's Little Sis as she hunched over the laptop to an accompaniment of beeping and clinky music. "My pet" she said in a distracted manner "is competing in the hurdles...." I looked over her shoulder to see a cute two dimensional cartoon with coloured hybrid animals bouncing all over the shop. Did I want to join? No, anything called Pet Society was sad.

About five minutes later, I was online, creating a cute little blue pet. Little Sis helped me out, giving me pointers on choosing the best outfits. Once you've created your pet and started playing, you have to spend your hard earned Pet Society coins to change your look - it pays to get it right the first time.

The Boyfriend ran into the living room, sloshing two cups of tea about "NO, NO" he shouted, "you can't have the name Isambard!". I didn't want the name Isambard, that's what I'd called our real life goldfish. Why would I want that name? Well, turns out he'd used it for his evil looking pet on Pet Society.

IT'S ONLY A GAME:

I thought I just wanted to have a quick race in the stadium, jump a few hurdles... but looking round my cartoonish little pet house, the place seemed so bare. I had a couple of free items to welcome me, a chair and a tv, but before I knew it, Little Sis had taken me shopping for more. There's a DIY store where I bought blue wallpaper and carpets, a little supermarket so that I could feed my pet (who, like me is vegetarian) and a few more places including a café.

Okay, enough. I didn't want to play anymore.... She could go back on the webcam and chat to her boyfriend on msm. I was just going to drink my tea. The resolution lasted until our nightly 'before bed facebook check' when I couldn't resist clicking on it again. This time, I noticed MyDogs eyeing me suspiciously... I turned the sound off before he realised we were neglecting a real pet to play with an imaginary one.

I took my little pet round to The Boyfriend's yellow Isambard and clicked on 'fight'. This is the only nasty interaction and no real fisticuffs were exchanged, just a little light pushing. But I got coins for visiting him. And everyone else. And some more for winning races in the stadium. By the next day, I'd bought a set of shelves at the DIY store and I was putting up my trophies for skipping, Frisbee and softball.

Guy at Work listened to me waxing lyrical about Pet Society; he joined up in a moment and his pet Mr Grumpy immediately kissed me and hit The Boyfriend. I swore blind I would only stay on Pet Society until I got my pet a little goldfish swimming in a bowl. Now I'm saving for a fitted kitchen and I treasure a pink teapot. Oh, yes financial management is a must.

FEATURES:

As well as playing house, there are numerous mini-games in Pet Society. If you bounce the ball or skip enough times you get another trophy and some more coins; if you win a hurdles race against your friends, you get some more paw points and coins. It's also a social game as you invite friends round and leave them notes. Little Sis is now back home in Spain and we leave each other messages and send gifts whilst vying for points.

The only thing missing from Pet Society is real-time interaction. For example, if my pet goes to Mr Grumpy's house and wees on the sofa, Mr Grumpy cannot see us, even when he's home..... so you feel a bit like an invisible burglar who can't steal anything.

MY OPINION:

This bouncy, creative little addiction is the best argument I've seen for letting a kid play online - you get items for your house, love your friends and you can't always win. No pervos can talk to you as you only see your real friends, even they can only leave notes for you. You learn to save money, practice your interior decorating and be kind to others. I've tried the adult versions, but they can't compete with their dull emphasis on realism; this is an escape to two-dimensional innocent cartoon fun and a release from the stress of the real world. First thing in the morning, our office is alive with a running commentary on the previous evening's Pet Society. Have you seen my new sofa? Did your pet poo in my house?

HOW CAN I GET A PET?

If you want to zoom through the clouds to your own little house amongst the pink trees, play online at:
http://www.playfish.com/?page=game_pets
Or add the Pet Society application to your Facebook account.

IS THERE A COIN CHEAT?

Here's the great news, hours of keen googling have yielded nothing on this. I'm delighted to find that I can't ruin it for myself and everyone else. Yes, if you go the bank you can buy more coins through Paypal, but you'd be daft to pay real money for imaginary furniture. Below are the ways I've discovered to earn more coins:

Walk around; Coins are often hidden in the trees
Visit friends: A first visit of the day to each friend gets 20 more coins
Log in every day: You can check your lottery winnings, which can be anything up to 1000 coins
Race: Winning a race gets you another 30 coins
Paw Points: Getting to the next level by gifting and visiting will earn you coins
Hop skip & Jump: Get all the football, skipping and Frisbee trophies for more coins
Mystery Boxes: Bit of a gamble... sometimes the 50 coin boxes have expensive items in them which you can sell.

THE FINAL WORD

Usually Facebook applications are much of a muchness; a tedious list of mis-spelt questions to determine whether you are the reincarnation of Alexander the Great or a mind numbing quiz on 80's TV. At best they provide three minutes of time filler. This bouncy, creative little addiction deserves its own website. Here's to lots more from Playfish.

Summary: Get a pet and live the dream.