Pokipet - Raise virtual pets

My girlfriend & I have had this app for a couple months now and it’s started to cause me literal panic attacks. I put the pet asleep right before I go to sleep so it wakes up when I am at work. I don’t have time to check my phone at work so of course the pet gets severely neglected for 5+ hours. In attempt to keep it cared for, I set timers on my phone for every hour or so to check on them. I will maintain full hearts, and it still manages to get sick more than 4 times a day & drain my coins. But I don’t have time to play the stupid mini game every 30 mins or sit down and play the game for hours and stock up on coins for the work week to keep him medicated. I just want to get off work and relax but no, I have to sit and play the stupid games and check that pet every 30 minutes to keep it “happy & healthy”. I can’t sit down and play other games without it crying to me that it’s sick, when I fed it meds like an hour ago and filled its hearts 20 mins ago. If I wanted this much responsibility I’d just get a real pet. As bad as I feel for our pet, I’m going to have to start putting me first & purposely leaving the pet neglected for hours/days because I can’t risk checking my phone at work 10+ times to keep a fake dog happy. Don’t get me wrong I love our pet. But ugh, having to earn 1200+ coins a day & playing that mini game over & over every single day has driven me insane. I feel like a real dog would be less of a toll on my mental health.

I love this app so much! It’s so much fun to be able to connect with my partner and take care of our little Pokipet! Best part is that you’re not bombarded with ads or constant glitches like other similar apps and can take the time to genuinely enjoy playing. My only critique is that I wish there were more options available for customization. You are able to buy collars and hats as accessories, but there is limited selection as they cycle through the same ones every few days. Would love more options for collars and hats as well as possibly other clothing items (sweaters, boots, etc.). You’re also able to select a house and carpet for your pet, but there is only one option for each. I would love it if you were able to customize it to your own choice of color and/or pattern. There’s also only one game to play within the app which isn’t a huge issue for me but could be potentially boring for other users who want to use the game more actively rather than just to take care of their pet in the app. Overall, I love this app; however, I feel like with the potential it has, it could be improved in many ways. I would definitely recommend it regardless of my few criticisms and would 100% have given it 5 stars if there was more variety and customizations.

let me start this review by saying i absolutely adore this game-- HOWEVER, i do think it can be predatory in terms of its' in-app purchases. the entire issue around pets getting sick is incredibly annoying, and seems to have spiked in frequency since i decided to first spend money on the game. me and my partner have two pets, and take care of them every day, but they get sick /constantly/. it seems as though if we leave for more than 3-4 hours, they always get sick. it's especially annoying when you don't have the funds to heal them from being sick. a cost of 300 coins is huge for that, and when they are sick, you can't even really do much. when a pet is sick, the game bars you from doing anything you usually can to earn coins. treats, water, exercise, food, etc. it's all unavailable. the only things left then is the minigames, waiting around for 25 free coins to be available every few hours, or buying coins with your real money. the toy minigame becomes impossible after about level 10, and again, the free 25 coin gift is only available every few hours. this means that its almost impossible to heal your pet for a good long while when you don't have the digital funds for it without using your real money to purchase coins. again, i love this game, but one of my pets has been sick for days and my partner and i havent been able to heal him, nor will we have the funds to get his care bars back up for awhile either. its annoying. please fix this.