Dogz

Dogz is an offering in the long-running series of Petz games. It is the PC equivalent of the 2006 Dogz game released on the Nintendo DS but with different controls, no multiplayer and no voice recognition functionality. As with all the games in this series the player adopts a pet, in this case a dog, from one of five possible breeds, a Beagle, a German Shepherd, a Pug, a Border Collie or a Labrador Retriever. These pets can then be customised and named, or in game parlance 'adopted'.

The dog plays out in the yard but comes into the kitchen to be fed and it sleeps in a bed in the living room. There's also a bathroom where it gets washed when it's dirty. The player starts with $100 and the game screen has an icon on it for the general store where dog food and other goodies, including lifestyle items such as furniture, can be purchased. More money can be earned by teaching the pet to perform tricks and competing in shows. Also on screen are icons to check on the pet's health and status, reward it, groom it, take pictures of it, and so on. A message alert is displayed when something needs attending to, such as when the dog has made a 'mess' which needs cleaning up.

There is in-game music and in the kitchen is a radio which the player can use to change between the four available channels. The camera icon takes a picture of what's on screen and these can be saved in an album.