Although the life simulation genre technically began in 1985 with the Commodore 64 game, Little Computer People, players were able to truly start "raising" virtual creatures and characters in the mid-1990s. During this time, games like Petz, Tamagotchi, and Creatures allowed players to actually feed, groom, and interact with realistic AIs for the first time.
Since then, the genre has continued to grow with multiple digital pets, social sims, and biological sims. Out of the many games with virtual beings, here are some great examples that stand out among the rest.
Homegrown Pet
Created for the "Virtual Pet Jam" and "6ames Made Quick???" game jams, Homegrown Pet is a free short digital pet game and one of the many interesting horror titles available on Itch.io. The unnamed protagonist's pet has accidentally transformed into a small blob, so the player has 60 seconds to feed the pet a variety of different foods to get it to transform into something else before the authorities arrive.
Depending on the kinds of food the player chooses and the amount given to the pet, the player will receive one of 21 endings. Through these endings, the player will slowly learn a bit more about the protagonist's shady job and what they plan to do with the strange creature.
Goodnight Meowmie
Created in 72 hours for the 41st "Ludum Dare" game jam, Goodnight Meowmie is a short free virtual pet horror-esque game that has a similar aesthetic to many of the best RPG Maker horror titles. As an unnamed protagonist, the player must take care of the titular cat, Meowmie, by talking to them, playing with them, holding them, and feeding them. But, when the protagonist runs out of food and Meowmie gets sick, they must traverse the desolate and creepy world outside their room to find food and medicine.
Eventually, it's revealed that Meowmie recently died, and the horror aspects are a representation of the protagonist's trauma, grief, and denial over their death. By the end, the spirit of Meowmie helps the protagonist accept what happened and move on. Despite the short gameplay time, this emotional experience is extremely impactful and relatable for players who have been through the loss of a beloved pet.
Fostering Apocalypse
Similar to many Shin Megami Tensei games, the 2021 short narrative survival game Fostering Apocalypse begins with the apocalypse having already happened and the remaining humans just trying to survive in a ruined world. Unlike those games, however, the main character, a woman named Del, decides to save the bringer of evil rather than kill it or rather "her."
Despite the world having already been destroyed by a demon apocalypse, one group of humans who had survived decided that they needed to summon a second one. Del, who had noticed a fiery pillar that signifies more demons, immediately runs over to the location to kill the new demon but stops in her tracks when she notices that the demon is simply an innocent kid. After naming her Barrett, the two begin traveling together, and her choices will determine Barrett's future.
Your Amazing T-Gotchi!!
Created by indie game developer Garage Heathen, who also recently released the Twin Peaks-esque horror mystery game Who's Lila?, Your Amazing T-Gotchi!! is a 2020 virtual pet horror game where the player takes care of a green anime girl rather than a pet. Like the 2021 horror game Bubbaruka!, this title is inspired by classic Tamagotchi games and originally appears to simply be a cute, though slightly creepy, social simulation experience.
But, unlike a pet, this virtual girl is a person who needs more than this small world, and it becomes harder to ignore the disturbing implications of her being completely dependent on the player for survival. As the in-game days go on, things quickly start taking a bad turn, and it becomes more and more difficult to keep the virtual girl alive.
Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector
Released in 2014, Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector is a free-to-play relaxing mobile game where the player tries to attract cute cats to their virtual yard. Using the in-game currency of grey fish or gold fish, the player can buy various toys, pieces of furniture, and food, which will attract the cats while the player has the app closed. If the app is opened while a cat is visiting, then the player can take pictures of the cat and watch them interact with things in the yard.
After the cat leaves, they leave gifts for the player that include mementos and more fish. Although some cats will visit regardless, other rare cats will only visit if the player purchases specific items and food, which is all possible without making any in-app transactions. Even all these years later, this adorable game continues to have a strong fan base.
Viva Piñata
Developed by Rare, who are known for plenty of popular titles like Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie, Battletoads, GoldenEye 007, and Sea of Thieves, Viva Piñata is a 2006 life simulation game where players restore and tend to a garden on Piñata Island. Once the initial debris is cleared and certain requirements are met, gray-scaled piñatas begin visiting the garden, and, if all requirements are fulfilled, then they'll become garden residents and change into a full-colored version.
Besides working on the garden, housing the piñata creatures, and feeding them, players can also have the piñatas perform a "romance" dance and create more piñatas. In the following years, the game received three sequels but has been forgotten since.
Dragon Quest V: Hand Of The Heavenly Bride
Besides the Megami Tensei franchise, one of the first RPGs to allow players to recruit and level up monsters is Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, which was released several years before Pokémon Red and Blue. Originally only released in Japan and South Korea for the Super Famicom in 1992, the Nintendo DS remake was finally released in the West in 2009. The game follows a young hero and his family as they try to rescue his mother, avenge his father, and find the Legendary Hero.
Unlike most RPGs that only focus on a certain period in the character's life, Dragon Quest V has the player follow the hero from the time of his birth to the time when he is married and has two kids. Because of this, the player is essentially raising the hero along with the monsters.
Slime Rancher
With Slime Rancher 2 scheduled to release this year, now is the perfect time to play the original 2017 first-person life sim game Slime Rancher. In this game, players control a character named Beatrix LeBeau who has decided to become a "slime rancher" on an alien planet far away from Earth called "Far, Far Range."
To make a living, players will need to explore the world and find the gelatinous creatures known as slimes, which will drop "plorts" when fed the right foods. These plorts can be exchanged for currency, which then can be used to buy equipment and buildings that can, in turn, be used to collect all the unique slimes in the world.
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
While waiting for the still upcoming Digimon Survive, interested players should try the 2015 JRPG Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, which is often considered one of the best games in the Digimon franchise. Similarly to the plot of most entries in franchises like .Hack, this game follows either a male or a female protagonist who becomes separated from their real-world body while trying to log out from the virtual reality world known as EDEN.
To find the hackers that caused their real-world coma, the protagonist joins a cyber-crime detective agency and begins catching and raising Digimon. This game and the 2017 side-story Hacker's Memory were later ported together as Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition in 2019.
Pokémon
Since 1996, Pokémon has remained one of the most popular and best-selling video game franchises. Although each installment has different settings, characters, plots, and Pokémon, they usually center around the main character catching and raising plenty of unique Pokémon so that they can become the strongest.
As the mainline games have progressed, the gameplay mechanics behind raising Pokémon have only gotten more detailed. Trainers can now do things like pet and feed their Pokémon, which affects how much they love the trainer.