Video game number three hundred and thirty six: Kinectimals

Video game review number three hundred and thirty six in my 365 Games in 365 Days project is "Kinectimals"

Digital kitties.

That's what this game is all about. You are on an island, and there's this bee-dude (he reminds me of the Honey Nut Cheerios bee, except he's kind of scary looking), and he offers you your choice of a bunch of cubs. There are lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars and more. You pick one, you name it...and then it's time to play.

That, essentially..is the plot of the game.

Sure, you have an entire island to explore, and sure there are a bunch of things to see, but at it's heart, this game is all about playing mini-games with whatever animal you have picked. You teach it tricks (you jump, it jumps), you throw toys for it, and sometimes...you buy new things for it (like food and furniture for the house the two of you share). It's a cross between the Sims and Pokemon, in a virtual space that you control with your hands.

I am not the target audience for this game. I want to play Call of Duty. I want to shoot things, fly things, race things, or maybe solve a puzzle. Throwing a ball for a kitty is not really something I aspire to do in a video game. I'm sure there are plenty of people who do aspire to do that, and more power to them.

I'd really love to see my 12 year old nieces get a chance to play this one. I'm really curious what they would think about it. I'm pretty sure they are exactly who this game is aimed at. I asked my wife if she wanted to play, but she wasn't interested. She waited until I turned it off and then she played Dance Central for 2 or 3 hours instead.

Seeing as how my nieces live in California and I live in Seattle, I'm probably not going to get to play this game with them. I do have a niece who lives up here, but she is probably too young to enjoy Kinectimals....which means I'm fresh out of people to show this game to. My wife doesn't care for it...I certainly don't want to play it. I can't think of any reason to own a copy of this game, except to try and get the gamerscore. Frankly...I don't think this is gamerscore I'd be very proud of. As far as the cutesy-poo factor goes, it makes that Kirby game I played seem like Halo.

Overall Score? 3/10. Simply not for me. It's pretty to look at, and the mini-games are actually fun...but with all the stacks of games I want to play some more, I can't imagine that petting a virtual kitty is going to rise to the top of my hit list. It's just highly improbable.

Achievements? Yes...I got quite a few: