In 2007 my sister told me about this new website for videogames: Facebook. She showed me how to create an account and together we started playing Pet Society. I didn't like the first pet I created so I made a new Facebook-account to make a pet I would really like. I had to admit to myself that I liked bunnies more than I like rabbits; I'm sorry, my babies (I have two cats named Shiva and Dante). This second account would become my primary account and the first one I would only use to boost myself in other Facebook games. Of course, over the years I had lost track of this nifty little pet owning game but, unlike with Neopets, I never really felt an urge to return. Facebook had seemingly also turned its back on this game as it did with many others like it. Even now, when I wanted to look through Facebook's video game catalogue I had to weed through so much trash. It seems like its become a breeding ground for "those games." You know, the ones you see in all those ads that turn your brain into tapioca. Where's time when "those games" were FarmVille and the many other Ville-type games? Now its games that want to your data instead of your time and money. I prefer them taking the latter since it means I can decide whether they do so or not. Thusly, I decided to download the games that I used to play on Facebook to see if they could still scratch that itch.
 |
| My pet Saskio (2024) |
Pet Society was a game by developer Playfish which got purchased by Electronic Arts in 2009. Unfortunately they retired all of Playfish's games in 2013, wiping all of their games from Facebook. This included Pet Society, Who has the biggest brain?, Geo Challenge, Word Challenge, Restaurant City, Hotel City and Country Story which were my favorite games by them. I still don't understand how this could happen because the company was making millions before being taken over by EA. Maybe EA is to blame for Playfish's downfall (I say "maybe" but I mean "definitely") since they do enjoy putting loot boxes in their games to wring out some more money from their customers. On the other hand, we could also put the blame on the smartphone. They had gotten more accessible since 2011 and more people would visit the social network through their phones. Facebook would have special deals with mobile network providers ensuring that visiting their app would entirely be free. Sometimes they would even push it further by having a dedicated Facebook button like HTC's ChaCha and Salsa models. Most times the app would come preinstalled like YouTube.
 |
| Opening screen of Pet Paradise (2024) |
 |
| Saskio sleeping (2024) |
 |
| Saskio bathing (2024) |
Pet Society's spiritual successor is called Pet Paradise. It's available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It's almost identical to the original game Facebook game but it does have some differences. For one, there are three currencies of which two are premium but the base one isn't that easy to obtain either. Secondly, cosmetic items need to be purchased with premium currency save a few furnishing items. Lastly, it's harder to complete the challenge since it's harder to make friends. This is where the game shows that it's a nigh carbon copy of its predecessor. It heavily relies on Facebook's social network structure to function and to be fun. The only reason I would honestly keep playing is to see how much premium currency I can get without spending a dime on it. Unfortunately, the game doesn't have enough going on for me to keep playing so I think I might have already deleted it by the end of next week. To my virtual pet Saskio, I would like to apologize. Even though I named you after my deceased rabbit I feel little to no connection with you (a little bit of drama was necessary here). |
| Mall World before some alterations (2024) |
 |
| Mall World after some alterations (2024) |
 |
| My character in Mall World |
Another game I played a lot on Facebook was Mall World by Intelly Works. This is a game where you have your own boutique, you can go shopping and you can participate in fashion shows (the OG Dress To Impress?). Except for it being buggy at times, which it already was more than a decade ago, I can definitely say I have been enjoying the game. It's the managing a boutique part that really does it for me. It's what I had expected Fashion Dreamer for Switch to be like but unfortunately it wasn't the case. It turned out to be dress-up game with barely any sustenance. I have yet to play Style Savvy, or Nintendo presents: Style Boutique in the PAL region, but I imagine it more leans towards Mall World than to Fashion Dreamer from what I've read on the box (I will play them soon!). Currently I'm still waiting for my base stock to run out so I can finally get started on my very own boutique. I do think I will be playing this game for a little while because it is scratching that itch I mentioned earlier.
Thank you, and take care.
Comments
Post a Comment