Editing Virtual pet (section)

==Types==

===Web-based===
Virtual pet sites are usually free to play for all who sign up. They can be accessed through [[web browser]]s and often include a virtual community, such as Neopia in [[Neopets]]. In these worlds, a user can play games to earn virtual money which is usually spent on items and food for pets. One large branch of virtual pet games are [[sim horse game]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Are virtual pets video games? |url=https://boardgamestips.com/helpful-tips/are-virtual-pets-video-games/ |website=boardgamestips.com |access-date=9 January 2022 |archive-date=9 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109134434/https://boardgamestips.com/helpful-tips/are-virtual-pets-video-games/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some sites adopt out pets to put on a webpage and use for role-playing in [[chat room]]s. They often require the adoptee to have a page ready for their pet. Sometimes they have a setup for breeding one's pets and then adopting them out.

===Software-based===
There are many [[video game]]s that focus on the care, raising, breeding or exhibition of simulated animals. Such games are described as a sub-class of [[life simulation game]]. Since the computing power is more powerful than with webpage or gadget based digital pets, these are usually able to achieve a higher level of visual effects and interactivity. Pet-raising simulations often lack a victory condition or challenge, and can be classified as [[non-game|software toys]].<ref name="ongamedesign"/>

The pet may be capable of learning to do a variety of tasks. "This quality of rich intelligence distinguishes artificial pets from other kinds of A-life, in which individuals have simple rules but the population as a whole develops [[emergence|emergent properties]]".<ref name="ongamedesign"/> For artificial pets, their behaviors are typically "preprogrammed and are not truly emergent".<ref name="ongamedesign"/>

A screen mate is a downloadable virtual pet that creates a small animation that walks around a computer desktop and over open screens unpredictably. Each pet is a small animation of an animal (such as a sheep or a frog, or in some cases a human or bottle cap) that can be interacted by clicking on or dragging, which lifts the pet as if you were picking it up. Most screen mates are free to download and used for entertainment purposes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/24/technology/screen-mates-for-fun-or-profit.html|author=J. D. Biersdorfer|title=Screen Mates for Fun or Profit|newspaper=The New York Times|date=24 February 2000|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-date=4 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604180551/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/24/technology/screen-mates-for-fun-or-profit.html|url-status=live}}</ref>