Does anyone remember playing Nintendogs on your Nintendo DS? The cute little yaps you’ll hear when your virtual puppy bounds across the room when you sign in, drawing out your pup’s walking path to squeeze in as many presents to collect on your walks… Those were good times! The new age of gaming may have moved on from the heyday of virtual pet simulator games, but many fans are still hoping for another similar game. Enter the Little Friends series with their new Puppy Island game, which was recently launched in June 2023!
A Brief Overview
Developed by Big Blue Bubble and with publishing support by Fireshine Games and Imagineer, the Little Friends series pays a direct homage to the all-time favourite virtual pet game. The game starts as you arrive on an idyllic island to puppy-sit at your friends’ summer abode. With your friends’ husky pup (which you’ll get to name as if it’s your own), you’re suddenly thrust into setting up new island attractions, taking in stray puppies and caring for them through various missions you’ll receive on your trusty smartphone. With all the managing skills required for this game, it gets pretty fun – so let’s dive right into the review!
Caring For Your Pup
There are a few things that you can do in Little Friends: Puppy Island when caring for your puppy: feeding it, playing with it, giving it rubs, dressing it up, bathing it and bringing it on walks. Each pup has its own needs bar, telling you when it’s hungry, needs rubs, tuckered out, or needs a bath. It’s a simple mechanism that works, and we like that!
When petting your puppy, use your mouse/ Joycon as your virtual hand to give it pets. You’ll also be able to get it to perform tricks, too. We like that if you rub certain areas, you can get it in adorable positions (for example, rubbing its chest would bring it to rear its front paws). Bathing your virtual puppy is similar, too – use your controller to work the soap suds through its body until it’s clean.
Dressing your puppy up gives you the ability to provide a personal touch! Choose from hats, glasses, collars, tops, bottoms, and shoes to make your dog look extra spiffy. One cool thing we found out is that depending on where you buy your clothing and accessories, you can get special items available only in that location!
We love that you can play fetch and tug of war with your pup to keep it entertained with various toys, from balls to frisbees. Playing with them increases their happiness and can help improve their agility and endurance skills. However, one thing that could be improved with the feeding mechanics is that instead of choosing between wet or dry dog kibble for your pup and just idly watching it gobble it down, it’ll be more interactive to have another option to feed it treats.
Building & Exploring The Island
Bringing your virtual pup on walks is the game’s biggest feature, and through a series of conversations with your friend that you’re pup-sitting for, you will receive tasks to expand and explore the tropical island. The game starts you out at the Friendly Forest, and as you progress through the story, you’ll unlock more locations, such as the beach and the maze garden.
Upon completing these exploration missions, you’ll need to go on errands to locate building materials. Of course, you’ll need a helping hand – that’s where the adopted pups come in handy! Each job requires a certain skill level, which can be gained by walking and training your puppy.
Pups can earn agility and endurance skill points by running on walks, crossing blockages and playing with the frisbee. One special feature for crossing blockages is that different obstructions have a unique timed minigame. Another feature that we think is rather enjoyable is the optional side quests, such as the photo-capturing missions and unlocking the island’s hidden secret by activating various dog statues scattered across the island.
Meeting Stray Pups & Finding Collectables
While you’re on walks at the various locations around the island, you’ll probably spy a little orange icon of a dog on your mini-map. That means a stray puppy spawned in the location, and you can walk your dog over to meet up with it and bring it home. Once your pup spies the lost pooch, you’ll have to slowly crouch up to it and participate in a short game of speed-clicking a random key on your keyboard. It’s rather easy to bring a new pup home, and you can call it yours after you give it a nice scrub and name! What’s fun is that there are 9 breeds to become friends with, and in each pedigree line, you can meet pups with various types of coats and skill levels.
Another thing to look out for is those golden ‘sniff paths’ that sometimes occur on your walks with your pup. These frequently lead to goodies such as new toys, accessories, and even in-game currency. This feature has a super adorable animation and the option to praise your pup for a job well done, and it reminds us of how, in Nintendogs, your pup can collect presents too! On the other hand, when your pup passes by a bush or a tree, it may trigger a quick obedience mini-game (speed-clicking a random key) that adds to your pup’s obedience skill. As your pup’s obedience skill increases, it can do more high-level tricks!
Our Verdict
Compared to the previous Little Friends instalment and Nintendogs, Little Friends: Puppy Island has taken virtual pet care and gameplay a step further by incorporating quests that will keep gamers entertained for longer, and we’re here for that! Yes, the quests may seem repetitive, but with each new location discovered, there’s an element of surprise when you meet stray pups randomly that’ll make you want to collect them all.
We highly recommend downloading the game’s free demo to test the waters, and for those who are already looking forward to the nostalgia trip that is Nintendogs, just get the game!
Where To Download?
Little Friends: Puppy Island is available on the Nintendo Switch and your personal computer. You can buy a physical copy of the game on Amazon or the digital version via the Nintendo Store for the Nintendo Switch, and on PCs, download the game via Steam. All versions of the game retail at $39.99.
