white, pink, gold, blue; with different icons for each animal
Manufacturer
Gamze
Pet type
Basic
Programming
Custom
Release year
Unknown
I have seen a dog, cat, frog, and a penguin in this line so far. They’re fairly rare and go for a lot, but they seem to have very nice animations and are pretty fun. They are controlled by a touchpad on the front that acts similar to the classic iPod controls, with four directions in the shape of a d-pad.
These are a pedometer pet that come with a map that the slime will travel through as you walk. How cool is that? They also feature a good number of the usual functions you’d find in a vpet. Tinkerville has a good review of how they work here: https://tinkerville.cutthatout.com/pedometer/dragonquest
In addition to the classic pet care functions, you will help the pet traverse a map that features seven different terrains by walking with it and letting it log your steps. There are grid-based maps included with the instructions, and you can chose which direction you will walk on this grid using one of the menu functions. As you walk, the pet traverses this map and you can reference where you’ve gone by looking at the coordinates it’s located at. Some of these locations will have secret items and locations, like caves, as seen in this reddit post, but I can’t tell whether or not they’re randomized or set.
There are different items you can use throughout the game to give your pet a hand up in battles or dealing with different terrain. This is needed because different slimes will take a different number of steps to cross different terrains depending on how well they are equipped to handle them. Some slimes cannot cross water without warp items, for instance. See the charts here for a reference of which slimes can do what: https://arukundesuguides.weebly.com/map-movement-and-secrets.html
Here’s a guidebook that goes over strategies in depth and talks about how the pet works. Unfortunately it’s only in Japanese, but I will try to translate and upload an alternate version soon.
Thanks to the weebly site I’ve linked above for the instruction book scans. Again, these are only in Japanese so I will try to translate and upload alternates soon.
There were also a few follow-ups released under the names Arukundesu 2 and Arukundesu Returns. More info to come about those soon!
Yuki Penguin is another pet in the Dinkie Dino line that lets you raise a penguin. It will turn into different kinds of penguins depending on how you care for it, and includes temperature features and addition to the standard vpet care functions. Guide here: VirtualPet.com Tamenagerie guide here: http://www.tamenagerie.com/instyuki.html Penguin-keeper over on Tamatalk, who collects penguin vpets, has also run through this one on their thread here: https://www.tamatalk.com/threads/penguin-keepers-zoo.194908
Riku Riku Chan is a vpet in the Dinkie Dino line that lets you raise a little human boy. Gameplay is mostly focused on educating the pet and making sure he remains happy and responsible. It even has an art class and a simple drawing function! Tamenagerie has a guide for this here: http://www.tamenagerie.com/rikouinstr.html
Red, blue, white, yellow, green, green translucent
Manufacturer
Unknown/various
Pet type
Basic
Programming
Dinkie
Release year
Unknown
In the US, these seem to have been distributed by a company called Innotronics, but I cannot find out who distributed them in Japan. They are dinosaur pets that are notable for having weather and training functions, and several care-based growth trees. Notably, the menu icons for these pets run vertically up the sides of the screen, rather than on the top and bottom of the pet.
VirtualPet.com has a guide for this one here: Puppy Micropet. I have also seen this branded as “MicroPet” from Bluetech, and the instructions seem to reference that branding regardless of which version you get, so I’m assuming it was the original.
While the screens on it look similar to Nanos, the ROM has its own unique programming. There is a points system included that you’re meant to maximize in order to get a “good” ending. Here’s an excerpt from the instructions going over how the scoring works:
Scoring You can get up to 60 points per day for each of the Happiness, Health, Hunger, Sleep, and Over/Under Weight values, if you keep them at the ideal values at the end of the day. You also get 1,000 points for paper training your pet, and 200 points for each of the 4 tricks you teach it. You can also get points by beating your pet at playing the Ball game, but sometimes you should let your pet win, because it makes it happy.
Running Away If you don’t take care of your pet’s Health, Happiness Feeding and Watering, or if you are a bad ownder, your pet can run away. If it runs away 3 times for the same reason (i.e. no water), it may run away for good!
There’s only one game, and it’s a custom one, called the Ball game. You control a hand with a ball on the left side of the screen, and you can move it up and down to where the dog is standing on the right. You can throw the ball wherever you like, and the dog will try and catch it. It also displays a count of how many times he’s caught it in the upper right hand corner, which keeps track of your score. I like the idea behind this game because, while it’s less intuitive than the left-right game, it’s a lot more like playing with a real dog.
The instructions pamphlet nicely includes screenshots of each of the dog’s reaction screens so that you don’t have to do any guessing about how it feels.
The pet ages up for the first time on day 3, and then after that every two days. The pet will die of old age on day 23. At that point, you’ll be able to see if you got a bad or good ending, depending on your score. This is of course assuming he hasn’t run away before then.
The meters are fairly unique. They run vertically and increase one pixel at a time, for a total of 7. This way they’ve been able to display 3 per screen, with the icons at the top above each meter.
Note that there’s no indication of sickness with this pet, such as a skull icon or anything. The attention icon will light up, but other than that there’s no visual cue. Also, Tama Pichu on Youtube (see videos section below) notes that you must always let the various animations complete, otherwise they won’t be counted towards the pet’s meters.
Honestly while I’m reticent on the pet sprites in this one, I really like all the menus and icons. They’re all really unique! Ok nevermind I take that back. IT HAS DREAMING SPRITES. SO CUTE.
Instructions on puppy selection: …puppy’s face by pressing the CANCEL button. To choose one of the puppies, select its face, then press the DO button to see its Personality screen. From there, press the DO button. You have now selected your puppy!
Puppy 1: Male, strong willed and angry, very smart, bad temperament, health OK Puppy 2: Male, not too smart, very happy, health not so good. Puppy 3: Female, sickly, very smart, happy, poor health Puppy 4: Female, dumb, very happy, health OK
NAME YOUR PUPPY Once you have chosen your own Micro Pet Puppy, you need to name it. Select each letter by going through the…
PAPER TRAINING As you observe your pet at home in Wander Mode, you will notice that within 30 minutes after eathing, it starts acting like it needs to “do its business”. Before your pet “needs to go”, it will wander back and forth and then squat on the right side of the screen. When it really needs to go, it will walk more near the centre of the screen and squat. Now Hurry! Press the DO button before it is too late! If you do this successfully, you will see the puppy get picked up and placed over the “papers” in the lower right hand side of the screen, where the puppy will then “do its business”. If you successfully catch your pet seven times out of any 8 in a row, your pet will be paper trained! Smarter pets learn this quicker. (Puppy 1 and 2, must be cause 3 times out of 8, Puppy 2 and 4, must be caught 5 times out of eight.) From then on, it will only “do its business” on the papers, AND it than can be taken outside for walks. If you don’t catch your pet in time, it will “do its business” off the papers, and can never go for walks.
This is a virtual pet based off of Cepia’s Zhu ZHu Hamster toyline. I grew up seeing the toys everywhere, but I didn’t know they had a virtual pet too. I picked up one of these a while back, because they are all fairly cheap right now, but I haven’t run it yet. Rest assured, I will update with details once I do!
Based on an object from the anime Fushigi Mahou Fan Fan Pharmacy. This pet lets you collect different types of spirits from the anime and have them practice magic, which is a variation of the left-right game. The spirit collecting uses a slot game, which you play in order to get different seeds. You can then combine them in different ways to get different types of spirit characters. In addition to this, you can also use the pet to tell your fortune in the areas of dating, help, money, fashion, and friends, or have it dance by pressing different combinations of buttons. After the spirit leaves, you get a grade based on how well you treated it.
This particular pet is designed to pick up radio waves in the air and translate them into characters or messages on the device (though they probably don’t have anything to do with the original messages being sent; I assume it’s just a complicated random number generator). However, because they were designed for the Japanese market and their devices–and because it came out in the 1990s–it apparently only reacts to microwaves in the United States. Nonetheless the extremely dedicated hobbyists over at Tama Talk have rescued a bunch of instruction manuals and info about this pet and you can find it here:
Although very cute and popular within the virtual pets community, this one isn’t really a traditional virtual pet. Gameplay is centered around collecting different cute little bobas, which you can then make into drinks to sell in your boba stand. It has a very unique color screen, which is slightly translucent. This lets you see behind it to the straw that sticks out of the top, and acts as another control method for the pet. It’s a really neat effect!
Functions
Search for more bobas – This takes you to a screen with some selections: you can chose the type of liquid you would like (you will start with one, but others will be unlocked as you play), the ice level you’d like, and your sweetness level. Once you’re done, press the middle button, and you’ll be taken to a screen with many bobas swirling around. Move the straw to stir them into a frenzy, and one of them will be selected and stand out. You must press the straw down when it floats within the circle on the screen to start catching it. When the screen zooms in on the selected boba, push down on the straw to suck it up. But not too hard! Let go before the meter goes into the red, and move the straw to shake off the other bobas. Repeat until you’re successful. Once the boba has been caught, you’ll be taken to a screen that will tell you whether it’s new or not.
Customize your bobas – This lets you change the liquid and bobas on your home screen. There is a maximum of 20 that can show up, but you can switch them out at any time. If you don’t check on them for a while, they’ll shrivel up and look sad, so give them a shake with the straw to make them happy.
Games – There are a total of six games, and only two of them are unlocked when you start. Here are the ones I’ve seen:
* Catch game; catch the good bobas, avoid the bad ones as they fall (available at start)
* Use the straw to add straws to drinks as they go down the conveyor belt (available at start)
* Simon says with 3 directions
* Sweep the store and earn coins
* Matching card game
* Unknown - I have not yet been able to find out anything about the last game
Each game can net you a total of 200 coins, which you can then spend in the store for ingredients.
Shopping – The store lets you buy ingredients for your drinks
Blender – the blender lets you make drinks. Chose the boba you’d like to make it with, and if there are any required ingredients for its drink, it will tell you here. Add the needed ingredients, and press the middle button. Then you’ll need to move the straw back and forth to stir it up. When the drink has been made, you’ll be told whether or not it’s a new drink, and if so it will be added to your shop.
Book – This is a log of everything you’ve unlocked so far
Settings – self explanatory
A few more notes
Getting new ones seems to be random, so rather than using a guide you’ll just have to keep trying
The bobas are all rated between 1-3 stars, which indicates how common they are. 1 is the most common, and 3 are the most rare.
You can upgrade your store as you go along and earn more coins, starting with a small stand, and going all the way up to a huge building.
There are 5 “stages” of drinks that start with easy (only require 1 ingredient), all the way up to hard (requiring several). Drinks that you have made will go up for sale at your stand, though I don’t think there’s a selling/simulation mechanic here. In order to progress to the next stage, you will need to make all the required drinks for each stage.
