PetWorld 3D: My Animal Rescue
Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Get animals ready for adoption in fun sim, but set limits.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
PetWorld 3D: My Animal Rescue
Parent and Kid Reviews
What’s It About?
Tap the play icon on PETWORLD 3D: MY ANIMAL RESCUE's main page. The professor at the animal shelter begins your "internship" with a tour of the facilities. Tap on the well and move the well-water bucket to boxes in your inventory, or go to the storage room and tap on the shelf to add species-specific food for the animals as well as brushes, toys, and more. Besides feeding and giving water to the animals, you can brush them, pet them, and let them out into the yard. If you tap the clipboards on each cage, you'll find out what needs to be done to improve their health. Occasionally, images of people who want to adopt will appear at the rescue with descriptions of their lifestyle that will help you decide what kind of animal would be best for them.
Is It Any Good?
The animals' needs in the shelter are very realistic, so kids get a pretty accurate glimpse into what it's like to volunteer at an animal rescue by playing this simulation game. Though it gives players detailed instructions on how to do everything in a thorough tutorial, kids have to know how to read well (or have an adult read the instructions to them). The animals are cute, and their movements are quite realistic. It takes some time to play before people who want to adopt show up, so kids need to be patient and just keep doing the chores, which can get rather repetitive given the large number of animals in the shelter. Still, with the adorable animals bubbling pink hearts every time a volunteer pets them, and the ongoing hope to help another animal get adopted, animal lovers will likely keep coming back to work at this rescue center for many days, despite the repetitive nature of the chores. Parents may want to help kids set goals for each play period, as it's easy to play for long stretches: There are "work days" built in, which can serve as natural breaks to signal the end of a day's use.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about empathy and social-emotional skills. What does it take to care for another living thing? Why is it important to help people and animals in need?
Discuss different ways that players have to persevere. If you get a diagnosis wrong, what do you do next? What are some things that usually have to happen before an animal can get adopted?
Talk about caring for pretend animals on the app vs. caring for real animals. It's as easy as swiping a finger and takes less than a second to clean out the bunny's living quarters on this app. But how much effort, sweat, and time does it take to do a pet chore like that in real life?
Consider visiting an animal rescue center with your kid and donate some items to help the real volunteers do their work.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire
- Subjects: Language & Reading : following directions, reading comprehension, Science : animals, Hobbies : pets
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning : decision-making, making conclusions, thinking critically, Emotional Development : empathy, Responsibility & Ethics : respect for others
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: March 11, 2016
- Category: Simulation Games
- Topics: Cats, Dogs, and Mice , Horses and Farm Animals
- Character Strengths: Empathy
- Publisher: Tivola Publishing GmbH
- Version: 3.6
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 6.0 or later; Android 2.3 and up
- Last updated: October 18, 2019
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