Virtual pets, often called digital pets or artificial pets, are a type of computer generated companions for humans. Children and adults alike enjoy keeping free virtual pets and creatures for fun and companionship. There is often no set ‘goal’ to a virtual pet game and all that must be done is to look after the pet into old age. Realistic animations are used to make these virtual pets seem real to the ‘owner’. Some of these virtual pets never die and most never reproduce. Some animal rights activists (such as PETA) argue that keeping a virtual pet is fantastic for people thinking of getting a pet as they come to realize just how hard it is and how much attention must be paid to a little creature. This article will explain the basics of virtual pets, which an emphasis on make your own virtual pet and free downloadable virtual pets.

Make your own virtual pet

There are heaps of free sites out there that let you make your own virtual pet. Many people choose dogs to look after, but some of these sites let you choose from hundreds of virtual pets and creatures. Making your own virtual pet is a lot of fun and is really easy to do. You usually get to choose exactly what your pets looks like, from the size and color of the skin and eyes. Many ‘make your own virtual pet’ sites encourage you to choose weird and wacky creatures to look after. Some of these sites have ‘adoption agencies’ where you breed virtual pets together to create some strange looking animals that are adopted by willing users. Other sites focus on combat and have you breed pets to fight other players.

Free downloadable virtual pet

Finding a free downloadable virtual pet is not hard. Heaps of sites offer already made virtual pets for you to download. Others let you choose what your virtual pet will look like and then download it to your desktop. Some websites have you download a program to create artificial pets whenever you want. When trying to find a free downloadable virtual pet it is important to check that the site you are downloading from is reputable and there are no viruses or spyware hidden in the download. Always run an anti-virus and an anti-spyware scan after you download anything. Most sites offering a free downloadable virtual pet are totally harmless and are completely trustworthy.

‘Owning’ a virtual pet can be a lot of fun and teach valuable life lessons to everyone. Many parents use them to teach their children exactly what is involved in raising an animal. Common features of virtual pets are…

  • Training the pet where to go the toilet, how to sit, how to stay etc.
  • Dressing the pet
  • Feeding the pet and making sure it has water to drink
  • Virtual pets always seem to complain when they have needs, such as hunger, thirst or sleep!
  • Competition between pets
  • Meeting other pets
  • Responses to both calling and touching the pet

Some people are worried that having virtual pets may cause children and adults to lose their touch with reality. However, there is still a lack of research to support these claims. Others argue that virtual pets are nothing like real pets and really teach children no life lessons. However, I think that virtual pets are just great fun to have and are totally harmless. Spending too much time with virtual pets, in preference to making human friends, is probably the only danger with keeping a virtual pet and this is considered a very unlikely scenario.