Game review: Pets Fun House

Yet another pet-themed time management game! Sadly, Pets Fun House isn't nearly as much fun as Pet Shop Hop was. In this game, you own a pet shop of sorts. You not only sell pets but you also sell pet food and other items. However, it is the pet part that is annoying. Instead of selling already-grown pets to customers, you must raise each pet from a puppy/kitten. You also must decide which breeds will be popular (based on "market information" they give you) so you will have the correct breeds at the correct age when a customer wants them. This is impossible. If the game tells you that dalmations are popular and you stock with mostly dalmations, customers will demand cats. And you can't change the breed on the fly since you have to raise them to an appropriate age.

I'm sure the developers were looking to mix a Sims game with a time management game. It just doesn't work here. Unless you have enough slots to have at least one of each breed on hand at all times (and you don't), it's impossible to keep your customers happy. They should choose which type of game they wish to make and stick with it. Mixing genres doesn't always work and this game is proof.

Game review: Pet Shop Hop

Lately, a lot of pet-themed time management games have relied on grooming pets. You wash a dog, cut its hair then give it back to the owner. Pet Shop Hop is a pet-themed time management game but it is completely different from the others. Instead of grooming a pet, you are trying to sell them. However, you still need to feed each type of animal and clean their cages/tanks/pens. At the same time, you need to make sure you find the right pet for each customer. It sounds like there is a lot of work involved in playing this game. There isn't really. Your character doesn't move for the feeding and cleaning actions so there isn't time being wasted with her just wandering around the store. She only moves when she is preparing an animal for a customer. While this may seem like it's not a big deal, it is. Most games force the player's character to wander around the "game board" for every single action. This usually ends up making the player aggravated because the character doesn't move fast enough to fit everything in within the alloted time. Customers get angry because your character is busy in the corner feeding the fish or something. By allowing the feeding and cleaning to be done by the player without the character moving, the player can accomplish those tasks while the character is moving to a tank or cage to prepare an animal for the customer. We don't have to wait for the character to do something.

I did enjoy playing this game a lot. It's a slightly different take on the time management type of game but it makes all the right changes to keep it interesting and fun instead of aggravating.

Music review: Cats - Journey to the Heaviside Layer

Artist: The cast of CatsAlbum: Cats soundtrack (1982 Broadway Cast) Release date: 10/82 Video link: Via YouTube

Lyrics: Up, up, up, past the Russell Hotel Up, up, up, up, to the Heaviside Layer

Up, up, up, past the Russell Hotel Up, up, up, up, to the Heaviside Layer

Up, up, up, past the Russell Hotel Up, up, up, up, to the Heaviside Layer

Up, up, up, past the Russell Hotel Up, up, up, up, to the Heaviside Layer About the song: A lot of people think Cats doesn't have a storyline. That's untrue. Cats is about a group of cats getting together to decide which of them will be reborn into a new life. A majority of the songs are simply introductions to the various cats who are in the running for the big rebirth.

Journey to the Heaviside Layer is the big piece for the play. Yes, Memory is the most famous song but Heaviside Layer has the biggest production value. The choice has been made and now that cat (I won't give spoilers!) is basically going to heaven. In most productions, this song has a lot of smoke and white lights coming from the ceiling as Old Deuteronomy and the chosen cat are lifted to the ceiling. It's a quiet song. There aren't a lot of lyrics and the singing is very hushed. This is a religious experience for the cats. As such, the song is set as a sort of hymn. Sadly, this is not the ending song for the musical. In my opinion, it should be but I wasn't consulted when the play was written.