So I Tried… Pet the Pup at the Party

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never played before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time, we tried the indie introvert-at-a-party simulator, Pet the Pup at the Party!

What I thought it was

As is tradition in our Grincast episodes where we try out new games, we went into the experience totally blind. Based on the very little I saw, I assumed this would be like a survival kind of game, where we would have to navigate the horrors of a social party, avoiding conversations or games, while searching for the fluffiest pupper possible. I assumed there’d possibly be items or skills to use, like a “look at the phone” skill to avoid an eager extrovert or maybe we’d use restrooms as safe spaces. All I knew for sure was that there was a puppy at this party and I was going to find it.

What it actually is

I’m honestly surprised by how close I was! Sure, there is no survival or sneaking in the game per se, but there are some similar ideas to what I imagined. When you start the game, you are thrown into a random room in a, seemingly infinite, house that's in the throws of the biggest party of the year. You, being an introvert, must find the dog hidden somewhere in the labyrinthine halls and rooms, using the canine call of your quarry to find them before you run out of time. Find the puppo, give them the titular pet and the process starts again! What makes this exceptionally hectic is the fact that you have a limited time to find each puppy, which is replenished by a bit on each successful puppy pat for the next search. If you have a good run and find a dog within seconds, you’ll have plenty of time to spare for the next four-legged friend. Contrariwise, if you find the fido at the last possible moment, you will have your work cut out for you!

As I mentioned before, the house does seem to be “infinite” with randomly generated rooms and connections between them, which made it a bit annoying if you couldn't figure out where the barks were coming from. However, each round was so hectic and fun that it hardly mattered!

Will I keep playing

I liked this game and its energy, however, it is an experience that quickly wears out. Sure, I could find all of the different dogs (and one non-dog) available, but there’s little incentive to do so. I may bust out Pet the Pup at the Party if I need to distract friends for a while or need to kill a bit of time, but otherwise, I think I’ve pat my last head for now. The speedrun scene for the game could be interesting though… last one to Cat % is a silly-pants!