If you’ve ever wanted pets but your landlord doesn’t allow them, the mixed reality eco-sanctuary Living Room might be for you.
Developed by Thoughtfish, your job (should you accept it) involves cultivating life in a customizable terrarium full of cutesy critters. Alongside dressing up the different biomes, you must breed and feed flocks of creatures, managing the delicate balance of carnivores and omnivores to avoid total extinction.
After scanning your playspace to establish the eponymous Living Room, you’ll soon get acquainted with a small pool of helpful tools. You’ll find a Paint Gun to squirt terrain on your playing area and create islands, as well as a trowel that allows you to manipulate the topology. You can purchase a variety of flora to create your own DIY apartment sanctuary. The tutorial is a helpful guide that helps you learn the system. It introduces you to new animals, upgrades and features. To develop your virtual zoo you will be given a constant flow of mini challenges, such as protecting creatures from predators, or buying a certain number of plants. You can earn Happy Points by keeping your kingdom in good spirits. These points are then used to buy new animals and decorations to fill out your ecosystem. Living Room is a surprisingly passive game after some time, despite its playful sandbox concept. The gameplay isn’t very exciting as you create your own little world. There were more surprises that could have been added to the game than simply adding new items and waiting to see if they unlock. Living Room’s systems are a little boring once you know the limits. This makes playing feel more like watching an animated chibi documentary rather than being God. There are still moments of unexpected humor which soften the disappointment. While distractedly typing notes on my mobile, I noticed that the gorilla population was looking rather thin. After some research, I discovered that this was due to a few jaguars I had added before going on a short break. They quickly altered the food chain.
Despite feeling guilty, I could not help but smile as these happy Jaguars walked across the plains of the virtual world, flourishing despite my negligence. Living Room’s forgiving system ensured that I quickly resolved the issue, but despite its charming consequences, I immediately restocked the gorilla supplies. Living Room lets you turn one of your favourite creatures into a pet that can fit in a small room. After a longtime childhood dream to have a tiny elephant as a pet, I selected a trunk-haver and named him ‘Pipsqueak.’ Then, I watched them apparate into my room and begin jumping on my furniture. They can dig up hidden treasures in my room to earn Happy Points that I can spend on the animals. As someone whose allergies prevent them from having a crib full of animals, this feature is a heartwarming salve that offsets the eventual monotony of its core gameplay loop, standing out as my favorite aspect.
Living Room is now available for the
family.