There are many games around today that have pet’s in them, from the huge games like Second Life to children’s vitual worlds like Club Penguin. But there are also some virtual games that focus on just looking after or raising your own pets. You can have everything from kittens and puppies to elephants or even magical creatures like dragons.

These games allow you to do something you may not be able to do in real life, or just don’t have the room or finances to look after real animals. That can be and often is a lot of fun, and the real advantage for some people is that there is no actual mess to clear up, just the occasional one on the screen.

But these games provide much more than that, some of them look extremely good and you have pretty cute little creatures to look after. Mix in the ability to have more than one pet at a time and see them all playing together and you have a few hours of fun just watching them run around in the game playing.

As well as fun virtual pet worlds can also be educational, teaching the values and what is needed to care for a real pet. Many of the games that you can play also have some lessons that children can learn, from maths and english to geography and much more. Not to mention the fact that you often have to keep your pets well fed, clean and happy.

When you add a little magic into the mix, things can then become even more interesting, from owning cute little dragons to fairies flying around looking after your purely magical creatures. While this is not for everyone there is no denying they are popular, and you can see why when you get to play one for yourself.

Deciding which game to play can be tough, do you start with a pet in a current virtual world, or jump straight in and go for a special pet game? The decision really is yours to make, but we have a few suggestions for both styles of game that you can try. Beginning with the children’s virtual world Animal Jam where not only do you become a cute animal, but you can also look after pets too.

For a more mature game where you can have your own animals to look after you can enter the world of IMVU where you can have dogs, cat’s horses and much more. In these games you tend to play with the pets less but have an almost unlimited set of options for you.

And then we come to the games that are purely about pets, from the fantastical world of Moshi Monsters where you collect monsters (though very cute ones) to play games with and own as many as you can to the more reality themed Furry Paws where you have over 200 real breeds of dog and cat to call your own.

Whether you choose to raise pets full time, or have them as a fun companion in another game there is no denying that they add a special something to what you do. Especially the children’s games where there is a lot more for you to do with the animals you look after.

Virtual Pet Worlds are here for the long term, and that is actually a pretty good thing. Imagine the world without them, without pets either in the real world or your virtual game. In either case it would be a less happy place. That is why we think they are brilliant and we really hope that you enjoy the company of your companions in whatever game you enjoy.