[b]My Playtime:[/b] 2.1h (finished the game)
[h1]Intro[/h1]
[i]Pet Lands: First Steps[/i] is a demo of [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3144950/Pet_Lands/][i]Pet Lands[/i][/url] ([url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198132503739/recommended/3144950]my review[/url]), a semi-idle game where you hatch pets and collect coins. It features the first 13 levels of the final product.
[b]Pros:[/b]
- 13 areas
- A lot of pets to collect
- Save game carries to the original game
[b]Cons:[/b]
- Coin magnet radius is too small
- Repetitive gameplay
- Requires a lot of active play for a semi-idle game
[b]Specs[/b]
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 16GB RAM, AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT
[h1]Should you play this game?[/h1]
[i]The demo mainly covers the early areas of the game where more manual work is needed to finish.[/i]
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[h1]In-Depth Review[/h1]
[h3]The Game[/h3]
[i]Pet Lands: First Steps[/i] is a demo in disguise. It covers the first 13 areas of [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3144950/Pet_Lands/][i]Pet Lands[/i][/url] ([url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198132503739/recommended/3144950]my review[/url]), a semi-idle game where you have to collect coins and hatch pets. Coins can be used to either hatch pets or unlock the next area, which will allow you to get more coins.
Each area has pets of different rarity: common, uncommon, rare, legendary, and mythic. Hatching the egg is done like a gacha pull, where higher rarity pets have a lower chance to drop. You need to spend coins—sometimes more than it needs to unlock the next level—to unlock them all.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3330115704
Since the demo only covers the first 13 areas, it doesn't show much of the "automation" side of the game. The full game will unlock more abilities, like more pet slots, a higher coin magnet radius, and more. Moreover, only basic events are available in the early areas. This means that the overall pace has become slower and requires more manual work than the full game. As a semi-idle game, leaving your screen without doing anything will sometimes yield results, although you'll get more money by playing the game more actively.
Clicking hitboxes sometimes is bugged. You might not be able to click on something unless you are in the right spot. When it happens, moving the camera and walking around until it works is needed, which will consume more of your time.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3331888403
The low coin magnet radius means that you must periodically move around to get the coins. Again, active play is more incentivized here since idling will just lead to less coin per second, although the gameplay loop is already repetitive at this point. Clicking objects until their health runs out can take a long time to do, and you must do it infinitely until the demo ends.
[b]Length and Difficulty[/b]
I finished the demo in 2.1h. The game is easy to beat since you just need to mindlessly grind, although the repetitiveness might make you die of boredom. If you are interested in playing the full game, the save file carries over to that game.
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
[i]Pet Lands[/i] is a game full of repetitiveness. Its main selling point is the grind, and you'll get the basic gameplay done just by playing this demo. The full game has more options to slightly "automate" your playing, although the same repetitiveness will still be felt throughout the game. As a semi-idle game, it requires more active play than necessary, wasting your time if you decide to finish it.
