Inside Social Games

Pokey!, despite its ambiguous name, is one of the big pet-themed games on Facebook. Developers should pay particular attention to Pokey! (created by Bonehead Labs) because they do a great deal right.

On the game play side, you get to adopt an adorable puppy, name it, feed it, water it, and play with it. Simple flash animations render your puppy adorably true-to-life. Depending on your feelings on puppies, that’s a good thing.

Your heart will melt when your puppy dutifully brings back the frisbee you toss it or grins when you pet it. But if you neglect your puppy for a period of time, the social elements of the game kick in. There are many ways to earn “bones” the currency of the game, and one of the most ingenious ways is to pet other people’s dogs (don’t worry, they won’t bite) and feed other hungry dogs. You get rewarded for your kindness with bones, and this helps makes the game more community based. It’s like having your neighbors puppy-sit while you’re gone.

You can also earn bones through partnerships and invites. These bones can be used to purchase dog food for your own dog so it doesn’t starve. Though I doubt the dogs will die if neglected (I’ve tried, no luck), your score on the game will depend on how responsive, loving, and selfless you are as an owner.

The game is still growing, however. The instructions, interface, and animation are all in place to create a solid start, but the app needs more ways to interact with your dog, and more breeds (there are less than ten now). Social gamers will enjoy it for how it creates contexts for fun interactions with your friends. It still needs to add some social elements between dogs (like say dog shows or play pens), but the outline is there to make a dog-gone great app. Hooray for dog puns.

Gameplay: 7

Development: 7

Adorable-level: 9