3D Pets: Splat! The Cat

Windows - 1997

3d Pets: Splat! The Cat is one in a series of nine virtual pets released by Neechez Innovation Limited. All the games play in a similar manner. When installed the player has two new programs in the Windows Start menu, hatch.exe and, with this game, pcpet.exe. All creatures are first hatched, there are nine cats to hatch but only one can be alive at a time and the game only allows the player to hatch egg number one when the game is first played. Each virtual pet needs at least ten minutes attention per day and if treated well it lives for sixty days at which point it becomes an egg again at which point a new egg is hatched and the process of training begins all over again. The game screen consists of a background around which the cat moves, in the upper left is a fish skeleton which is a hotspot for the game control menu, in the upper right is a question mark which opens the in-game help. The game control menu comprises a series of numbers and icons, the numbers show the cat's current status, some of the icons move the player from one location to another while others turn the cursor into one of the cat's toys. The game is basic and quite easy to play, thought buttons appear over the cat's head showing whether it's hungry or wants to play. When in the kitchen the player can open a cupboard to get cat food, or they can open the fridge to get milk, to put into the feeding bowls. In the TV room the TV can be turned on to entertain the cat and if the fire is lit the cat will fall asleep in front of it. If the player is unable to play with their pet for a few days the game has a 'babysitter' function which automatically cares for the cat until the owner returns. The game also allows the player to play 'Connect 4' with their pet.

Tower of Souls

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1995

Tower of Souls is set in the land of Chaybore in which seven crystals are responsible for the well being of its citizen. But the evil demon Baalhathrok has taken them and so the player controls Treeac to retrieve them. In an isometric view, Treeac has to conquer the seven floors of Baalhathrok's tower. The player controls a ball with his mouse and clicks where Treeac should go. Fights are initiated with left clicking on the enemy, for other actions the right mouse button has to be hold while choosing a symbol on the bottom of the screen. Besides of fighting the enemies the player has to open several doors - either by finding the key, pressing the right buttons in the right order or using one of his four lockpicks. When using the lockpicks the player has to beat a mini game where he has to make the correct mouse movements. When searching the rooms of the dungeon there are various potions, herbs and magical pieces of equipment to be found. With the herbs the player can mix potions or spells, which are available in four categories: Attacking, defending, transforming and item manipulation. There is no free save system, there are special save points during the game. Every time he wants to save the player has to sacrifice one piece of equipment.

Tower of Souls

MS-DOS - Released - 1995

Tower of Souls is set in the land of Chaybore in which seven crystals are responsible for the well being of its citizen. But the evil demon Baalhathrok has taken them and so the player controls Treeac to retrieve them. In an isometric view, Treeac has to conquer the seven floors of Baalhathrok's tower. The player controls a ball with his mouse and clicks where Treeac should go. Fights are initiated with left clicking on the enemy, for other actions the right mouse button has to be hold while choosing a symbol on the bottom of the screen. Besides of fighting the enemies the player has to open several doors - either by finding the key, pressing the right buttons in the right order or using one of his four lockpicks. When using the lockpicks the player has to beat a mini game where he has to make the correct mouse movements. When searching the rooms of the dungeon there are various potions, herbs and magical pieces of equipment to be found. With the herbs the player can mix potions or spells, which are available in four categories: Attacking, defending, transforming and item manipulation. There is no free save system, there are special save points during the game. Every time he wants to save the player has to sacrifice one piece of equipment.