Featured Image from Pet.Net on Steam
GOOD MORNING PET.NET NATION! – Will (musrattus)
Pet.Net is a virtual pet game that hearkens back to the time of the very first Tamagotchi and old, anonymous web forums. I didn’t think reliving that experience was possible anymore – with Web 2.0 being replaced by large-scale commercialization and data-hungry robots – but musrattus and riitopia have proved me very, very wrong.
While appearing web-based from its name, and looking mobile-based from its gameplay, Pet.Net’s home is on the PC through the gaming platform Steam. The game has been in its play test era since early 2026, though it intends to be released later this year. Despite the very early access, Pet.Net has found enough homes in hard drives to have YouTube and Steam reviews already.
Tamagotchi Meets Reddit
Like any cosy critter collection game, it all begins with an egg rocking back and forth until cracks slowly creep across its shell. In a flash of light, the egg is replaced with your very first pet! Be it a delightful Drub or a joyful Joby, it’s now yours to own.
Your job as a virtual pet owner is to feed, clean, pat, and play with your critter. These activities raise its skills, happiness, and health. Shops contain the food and toys (and more eggs, if you grow tired of your pet), while a Pet School contains mini-games for entertaining and training both yourself and your pet.
Images from Pet.Net on Steam
Eventually, you’ll be pinged by a notification on the forums – a faux online space where you get to watch conversations, stories, and interactions play out between a cast of hilarious characters. This is where the game starts to feel less like a Tamagotchi-inspired idler, and more like a Neopets-inspired role-playing game.
The real meat of Pet.Net, and the part that might either leave you fascinated or entirely uninterested, is its exploration of the online forum experience. While the forums start light-hearted and informative with a barely-disguised tutorial and a “thank u for playing!” from the creators, they quickly descend into themes of harassment, moderation, morality, and religion.
Images from Pet.Net on Steam
The Promise of a Playtest
Pet.Net is currently in its Play test but, given its expected 2026 release, it’s worth talking about how the game is currently faring against its competitors and its previous iterations. With the most recent update for the game, dropping on August 27th, Will (musrattus) announced that the devs would like to “do one final update (with a new feature) before [they] focus completely on finishing the game up.” This means a final release is definitely still in the works for the near future.
In its current state, Pet.Net primarily excels in its aesthetic and genre. Virtual pet games have been returning for their retro appeal, and Pet.Net takes that appeal very seriously. The art style is a direct callback to 1990’s and early 2000’s video games such as Neopets and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. This style works perfectly and is stand-out from other new virtual pet games, such as Dappervolk, that focus on modernizing the experience. The conversations are fantastic, too – not only are they hilarious, but the format and themes make it worth every trip to the forums. All this, and the game is still being updated and still consistently communicating with its fan-base on Discord. It shows a lot of promise for such an unknown gem.
This all being said, the game does rely a lot on its promise of content. The background music selection is limited and repetitive, meaning it’s hard to keep the game open and idling for too long without a music change. The content and gameplay are fairly limited, too – even by a virtual pet’s standards. Pet.Net is certainly more accessible than the Tamagotchi, but the game can fall short against its competitors.
[GAME RECOMMENDED BY MODERATOR]
Despite its current let-downs, Pet.Net shows a lot of promise. Its nostalgic charm is hard not to love, too.
From the basics of pet care to the chaos of online communication, this critter collector proves itself worthy of its place in the genre. If you love virtual pets, vibrant colours, and fun stories, you’ll love Pet.Net.
bella 
Hayden Price 
Finn Wilson