Sometimes it’s hard to have a real pet. Maybe your apartment complex is strict, or your loved ones have allergies. But you shouldn’t worry because there are other alternatives, like virtual pet apps. This is a subset of the simulation genre where you adopt, feed, clean and take care of a small virtual pet. The genre has its ups and downs, but the games are usually family-friendly and adorable. They have also seen quite a rise in popularity over the past few years. You might even recognize some of the names on this list, like My Tamagotchi Forever from the same company that made tiny Tamagotchis in the 1990s. Here are the best virtual pet apps and games for Android.
The best virtual pet apps and games for Android
Bubba
Price: Free/In-App Purchases ($0.99 – $99.99 per item)
Bubbu is similar to Tamagotchi in terms of mechanics. You start with Bubba and do various things to take care of him, such as feeding, dressing, petting and bathing him. In addition, there are over 30 mini-games. The app also includes a small fashion game element and a house builder element. These extra activities give players something to do between important things, like feeding. It all revolves around the theme of a virtual pet and connects quite well, making Bubba your perfect virtual companion.
Dogotchi
Price: Free/In-App Purchases ($2.99 per item)
Dogotchi is a throwback to the old Tamagotchi days. It has a very simple 8-bit user interface and a cute little dog to take care of. You give him injections, feed him, play with him and take care of him. The game features 12 dogs, a rearing mechanic, various mini-games and customizable colors. You unlock dogs by raising existing puppies to adulthood. There is also a cat version called Catgotchi and one with different animals called Wilagotchi. You can also try these.
Frojo games for virtual pets
Price: Free
Frojo is a developer on Google Play with many virtual pet games. Some options include My Corgi, Moy, Oliver the Virtual Cat, My Chicken, My Lil’ Dino and many more. All the games play more or less the same way, so all you have to do is choose the animal you want to take care of. All the pets are animals except Moy, who looks like a purple octopus alien creature. The games include a bunch of mini-games and little things you can do to take care of your virtual pet. All are family friendly, completely free (with advertising) and easy to play for most people.
Goodville
Price: Free/In-App Purchases ($0.99 – $49.99 per item)
Godville is one of the more unique virtual pet apps we’ve seen. You play the role of God. You have a subject that does all your work for you, including adventuring, killing bad guys, collecting loot, etc. It’s a ZPG (playerless game), which means the game plays itself. Just tell him what to do. But you can have the whole RPG (role playing) adventure experience without actually doing it yourself. The player decides things like which guild your pet joins, what quests they complete, and even whether to make them build temples for you. It’s a neat little game and surprisingly fun considering how little you do.
Hello five
Price: Free/In-App Purchases ($1.99 – $49.99 per item)
Hellopet is another unique virtual pet game. This one uses the screen overlay function of your phone and gives you a little pet. The pet is running around on your phone all the time. It can pass while you’re replying to a text message or scrolling through the app drawer. In the game you have to adopt a pet, take care of it and play small mini-games. At its core, it’s a relatively traditional virtual pet game. However, we couldn’t help but geek out when our dog ran across the screen one day while scrolling through Twitter. There are in-app purchases, but they aren’t overly necessary as they don’t affect the gameplay that much.
my Boo
Price: Free/In-App Purchases ($0.99 – $109.99 per item)
My Boo is another traditional app for virtual pets and one of the more popular. Adopt and raise a cute little blob monster. Players raise him, give him attention, feed him and customize him with various clothes. You won’t find many unique things in this one. The game does all things virtual pets well, which is why it made our list. The advertising can be a bit excessive at times, but you can pay money to make it go away. Overall it’s a decent experience.
My Tamagotchi forever
Price: Free/In-App Purchases ($0.99 – $99.99 per item)
My Tamagotchi Forever is a mobile remake of the famous little game from the 1990s. However, this doesn’t look or behave anything like the classic game. But it provides a great virtual pet app experience. Adopt your Tamagotchi and do all the usual things, including picking it up, playing with it, feeding it and cleaning up after it. This one also includes a nice augmented reality feature that ties in nicely with the game. Honestly, we highly recommend the game for its amazing AR features alone. It is a freemium game with freemium mechanics. However, with patience, you don’t have to worry about them.
Some Atsuma
Price: Free/In-App Purchases ($0.99 – $3.49 per item)
Neko Atsume is the top rated cat game. The Android Nougat Easter egg was very similar to this. Players spend their time preparing food for cats and then adopting them. The goal is to collect all four dozen cats available in the game. You can adjust the cat’s living environment and give them toys to play with. It is not a classic virtual pet game. However, there are enough elements and we really like how adorable this one is. This one is also free with Google Play Pass subscription.
For
Price: Free/In-App Purchases ($0.99 – $24.99 per item)
Pou is an older virtual pet game, but it’s also trending. It plays like most virtual pet apps. You get Pou and take care of him. This includes feeding, playing and dressing, along with some other game mechanics. It’s not complicated, which we like. You open it, arrange your Pou and that’s it. Some additional features include cloud saves, relatively frequent updates for bug fixes, and more. It’s sure to be fun, and it’s also family-friendly.
Talking Tom series
Price: Free
The My Talking Tom series (by Outfit7) is one of the most famous mobile applications for virtual pets. The original My Talking Tom had over 500 million downloads at the time of writing. There are many games in the series to choose from, including My Talking Tom 1 and 2, My Talking Angela, My Talking Tom Gold Rush and several others. You feed your Talking Tom, take him to the bathroom and even talk to him. There are also a bunch of mini-games and customizations to play with. Games are still among the best apps for virtual pets, even after all these years. We have linked the entire Outfit7 collection to the button below.