Viveport Review: Beast Pets (Early Access)

Make new friends and create new friendships in this cute and fun pet simulator.

By Joshua Hawkins, Greenlit Content

Virtual reality has a lot of uses, and while many people are focused on creating more mature content for VR headsets, developer Beast Inc. chose to instead focus their own development on designing a cute, fun, and fantastical adventure that can be enjoyed by all ages. Beast Pets is quirky, it’s cute, and it’s pretty much everything you could want from a pet simulator. Well, assuming those pets are baby dragons.

According to the developers, players will typically get about 30 minutes or so out of each play session of Beast Pets. Of course, the experience is in early access right now, so things are always being added and upgraded to give players more to do. The shorter gameplay sessions don’t account for the full breadth of the game, though, and while it might not be as enticing as more action-oriented experiences, it’s a nice way to chill out and show some of your family members what VR has to offer.

The way that the baby dragons move around feels authentic as you interact with, pet, and play with them. The experience overall feels nice and smooth, and the ability to teleport allows you to move around the beast park and interact with the l'il lizards in different areas. The reactions of the dragons to your presence feels authentic as well, and overall, it’s a very smooth experience that is easy to pick up and play.

The visual appeal is definitely something to take into account. Since you place the Vive directly over your eyes, many experiences can be a bit overwhelming for new players. That’s why Beast Pets is a good way to break people into virtual reality. The visuals look cutesy, and the color palette makes for a nice experience that is easy on the eyes. It’s a delicate balance that the developers have handled well, and while Beast Pets doesn’t have a whole lot of content available just yet, the direction that they are going leads me to believe that the developers know what they are doing, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the game has to offer in the future.

For now, though, Beast Pets is a great addition to your Viveport library if you’re looking for something easy for family members or friends to experience in virtual reality. There isn’t a whole lot of content, and the developers know that. But, they are working hard to continue updating the experience to give players more to do and enjoy, and I look forward to seeing how this title evolves in the months ahead.

Beast Pets (Early Access) is available as part of Viveport Subscription.