GoPets: Vacation Island (for Nintendo DS Lite)

I have a Nintendo DS Lite and have been trying out some new games on it. One I’ve been playing lately is GoPets Vacation Island. It’s basically a kid-friendly introduction to social networking by way of virtual pets. My toddler is a bit too young to really understand the concept yet but she had fun creating her “pet” with me. We are the proud adopted parents of a purple puppy. In the game, your adopted pet roams around the island and meets other pets and plays games. If you connect using the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection, you can meet other pets on the island and exchange “Iku” messages. These are picture-coded messages that you send back and forth with other virtual pet-owners. A game like this also teaches basic responsibility, because the child needs to care for his or her “pet”, as well as take initiative to care for someone else’s pet.

This is a really cute game – perfect for the pre-school to grade school-age kids. The game is rated E for everyone and makes a perfect road trip/vacation companion. We really just started playing around with it and I realize there is so much more to explore. Playing a game like this just brings me back to grade school when we used to WRITE (with pencil and paper) to pen pals across the world, or even send balloon messages with a letter attached. Funny how things change. Now you have pen pals on your handheld game console.

Oh, one thing my toddler LOVES to do on the GoPets Vacation Island game is play the balloon popping game. She’s figured out how to use the stylus pen and shoot the darts up into the viewing screen to pop the balloons and get prizes. I had a hard time getting her to put down the game after she figured that one out. :)

Overall, I think this game is worth checking out. It provides a way for your child to use his or her imagination and become social in a safe and friendly setting.