An island overrun by adorable puppies – what else could you possibly want?
On the surface, Little Friends: Puppy Island is the spiritual successor to the classic Nintendogs, but once you start digging, it’s so much more.
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You’re not just playing with a virtual pet, you’re exploring a paw-shaped island littered with dirty puppies that need love and care.
It’s not really my kind of game, so for the sake of this review, I called in some help.
With the most incredible amount of enthusiasm, my 7-year-old daughter jumped at the opportunity and began to show me how to play. Mind you, she’d already clocked up an entire Sunday afternoon’s worth before I had a chance to boot it up.
Now, come with me for a play-by-play, then we can get into the technical stuff.
“Dad we can skip all of this, it’s just random messages on your phone.”
*Kid violently mashes B button*
After skipping the introduction, we were ready to play.
We named our newest companion Winter, an adorable Husky puppy, and we were off.
“What’s the shaking in the bush?! It could be a squirrel!”
It’s such a cliche, but dogs do love chasing squirrels.
A quick time event pops up on the screen. If we miss, our dog will bark and chase the squirrel from the bush, but if we hit the mark just right we’ll keep calm and carry on – granting our pup with obedience exp points.
“We hit the mark! Yay. But I kinda wanted our dog to chase the squirrel… Lame.“
One minute later.
“There’s a large tree down over the path. How will we cross?!“
“PRESS A TO JUMP”
What I thought would be a simple leap over the log for our puppy turned into a random retro mini-game featuring a superhero jumping dog.
I’ll allow it.
Moments later our puppy is starving. We must return home (already) from our walk.
Now Winter is wearing a tutu (among other things) – this game is wild.
We find a filthy wild dog roaming the island. Seems friendly enough – we take the dog.
(Is this Pokemon?)
Back at the house, we gave the wild filthy puppy a bath. Turns out it’s a beautiful golden Labrador, not a mud-covered mutt.
Walkies time again.
“Holy moly! It’s a construction pup. SO CUTE!“
THE CONSTRUCTION DOG JUST BLEW UP AND IS GONE.
Literally. It exploded into a cloud of dust. I… I don’t know.
We find a big rock that we can’t walk under. We’ll have to crawl.
Nope, turns out we need to throw a stick and make our new pup go get it.
We see a stick in the distance and head towards it.
“Ooo another squirrel in a bush! Scared the heck out of it. Yessss.”
Got the stick. We played fetch with the dog. A couple of throws and the dog’s agility leveled up – we’ll be island hopping in no time.
Another mini-game. Hmm.
And we’re off again – NO WAIT.
Another mini-game.
This is like Guitar Hero for dogs (and babies). Incredible.
“Dad our pet is dirty we need to wash it.”
I swear we just washed this dog. But anyway… Back to the house, we go.
Time to build a shop. Man, these dogs are smart.
THE CONSTRUCTION DOG IS BACK FROM THE DEAD! Thank god.
Ok. Quick break.
She’s now gone to bed. Dad’s turn.
Opening the jobs list, I can see a couple of things that need doing – including building a flying disc park. There’s no way I’m letting these go unfinished.
After completing a few jobs, unlocking some new areas and catching some more Pokémon – I mean dogs – it dawned on me that this game is actually pretty fun.
I’m a sucker for games that allow me to tick boxes and reap rewards. In this case, I’m rewarded with new pups, toys, outfits and areas.
My kid’s favourite thing about this game is dressing up the dogs. (Seriously, if these dogs were real they’d be oozing depression.)
Each dog you find is usually completely covered in mud. It’s like a ‘Colour Reveal Barbie’ (Barbies that you put in water, dissolving a coating to discover their design). You never know what colour your new pooch friend will be! So this was also super appealing to the kiddo.
Once you’ve collected a few pups, your home’s front yard starts to become overrun with different types of dogs. It’s virtual dog heaven – but not in a sad depressing dead dog way.
A lot of work goes into caring for and loving up your pups. You need to make sure they’re fed, clean, and loved before taking them out on a walk to make the most of the trip. The happier they are, the more they’ll learn and level up.
You’ll need to level up your pup’s skills if you want to complete certain jobs and gain access to new areas.
Compared to the previous games in the Little Friends series, Little Friends: Puppy Island is leaps ahead.
It feels more like an actual video game than a dog-walking sim.
There’s a loose story to discover, hidden dog idols, buildings, secrets, and new areas to explore.
I thought the mini-games were a little off at the beginning, but we really got into them – if anything they were too short!
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Visually, the game is no worse than Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Sure, the open world isn’t anywhere close to the same scale, but the textures on the grass and trees are easily comparable.
On the performance side of things, the frame rate dropped a few times, but overall it was a mostly smooth gaming experience. I found the game would slightly stutter when my pup performed a maneuver across a little river or jumped over a log.
I’m always on the hunt for suitable games for the kids, as a dad gamer I feel it’s my duty.
I never had any high expectations for this game. All I thought was, ‘They’ll like this one’.
And I was right.
Little Friends: Puppy Island is a fun-filled, family time. It’s a great game to sit on the couch and play together.
I asked my daughter what she’d rate the game out of 10, and she instantly shouted “10!”.
But after we went through it together, and compared it to a few of her other favourite games, we came to a solid and fair conclusion.
