Little Friends: Dogs & Cats the most boring pet simulator I have ever played

Unless you bond significantly with your painfully adorable pet, there is nothing to keep you coming back to Little Friends: Dogs & Cats. The gameplay is so shallow, one would think it an Adam Sandler character.

Little Friends Dogs & Cats is the most boring pet simulator.

A pet you can’t pat is a sad thing indeed, but a pet you can give to a child without ever having to feed it or pay for it to visit the vet is what every parent has ever dreamt of.

NintenDogs played on this theme, and was the next step up from a Tamogotchi.

This is the return of that, only now it’s on your TV as well, and made by a different developer.

You can pick your dog (and, later, some cats), name them, play with them, eventually customise your house, get the pet toys, get more pets, create a miniature pet army, it’s nice.

But, while I love Earpy, my shiba-inu with the colouration of a husky, and wish she were real, this is one of the most boring pet simulators I’ve ever played.

There is nothing to do. Perhaps this game’s best function is to trick children into thinking that pets are bad.

You can do everything this game has to offer in the first half-hour, and then you can do it in different colours.

Unless you bond significantly with your painfully adorable pet, there is nothing to keep you coming back. The gameplay is so shallow, one would think it an Adam Sandler character.

Yes, you can throw toys to your pet, but there’s no real sense of control over the throw, and the pet doesn’t really react significantly enough to make the interaction worthwhile.

You can dress up the pet, clean them by brushing (not bathing) and feed it. But there’s no real way to make a connection.

It’s like playing the Sims, but with none of the parts where you can actually create the character, or properly interact with them. Just the bits where you dress them up and say “isn’t that cute? Oh no, now they need to pee again.” How can they charge $70 for this?

Sometimes, being cute just isn’t enough.

Bottom line: A good way to convince children that pet ownership is boring.

LITTLE FRIENDS: DOGS & CATS

Overall: 2.5/5

Available now on: Nintendo Switch

Price: $69

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