Part pet-simulator, part Adventure Game, Playstation Vita Pets allows you to adopt a dog. All of the usual concepts associated with pet games are in effect — ability to name your dog, teach it tricks, feed and water it, and cleaning up. The adventure component comes in with a mission to explore the nearby Castlewood forest and ruins to find map pieces, junk, accessories, and ultimately, a golden tunic belonging to an ancient king's dog.
The dogs have human voices and can comment on your lack of throwing skills, or upon the plot, or anything else that arises. You can dress up your dog (with downloadable content available from the Sony Playstation store), and there is also an Augmented Reality function which uses the back camera of the Play Station Vita, allowing you to play ball with your dog on any flat surface of your choice.
This game provides examples of:
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Some of the things you dig up turn out to be new clothes or accessories.
- Augmented Reality: One of the house doors becomes a window for this feature.
- Dismantled MacGuffin: The map, torn into pieces to prevent invaders from accessing the castle. Alongside your dog, you can rediscover pieces of this map.
- Fetch Quest: The entire point of the adventure.
- Guide Dang It!: Good luck figuring out that "going shopping" can be done from your television!
- Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence: You may need to level up your puppy's tricks and game abilities — such as the tuggy toy — in order to get past some obstacles on your quest. Particularly egregious with a fallen tree trunk, which your dog will tell you they can't jump without practice if you're still underlevelled.
- It May Help You on Your Quest: King Rufus' journal. The journal is found early on in the game, after accessing the forest, and journal pages are given in reward for completing tasks.
- Luck-Based Mission: The disc throwing game. As the levels progress, it gets harder to throw the disc any meaningful distance.
- Memento MacGuffin: Cosmo's golden tunic, buried by the king during an invasion.
- Notice This: Anything that can be picked up or manipulated (such as gates) glow green, or have little bubbles attached to them.
- Ruins for Ruins' Sake: The castle ruins in the forest.
- Rule of Three: Names for your pet and tricks must be said three times in order for them to be properly recorded.
- Serious Business: The ball game is this for your dogs. They'll snark at your poor throwing skills if you just roll the ball.
- Shop Fodder: Some of the junk your pet digs up can be sold in the TV shop.
- Virtual Paper Doll: The ability to dress up your dog could be considered this.
- Wide-Open Sandbox: You can adventure at your own pace. No hurry.
