Lab Hamster

Although few adults have time for any pet as useless as a hamster, the idea of owning and caring for a largely uncommunicative critter must have some lingering appeal. Why else would the virtual pet have been invented?

Long thought to be a fad, the Tamagotchi has evolved. Virtual pets are now more popular than ever, not least because they have found their perfect platform in the mobile phone. With seemingly open-ended gameplay, virtual pet games take you as far as your boredom threshold will allow, and with your phone you can take them anywhere.

What's more, when you finally cast aside your much nurtured little digital companion like a used-up plaything, you can do so safe in the knowledge that no living creature was left to fester in urine soaked newspaper clippings through your neglect.

Lab Hamster, then, is such a pet sim but with a few neat twists. Your pet, as you might expect, is a lab hamster yet there aren't any nasty drug tests or infuriating mazes here – this is really a straight-up virtual pet game with some lab-based mini-games thrown into the mix.

You can do all of the usual things with your hamster: feed it, exercise it, and provide it with mild entertainment. In order to do so, however, you need to buy food and items for your hamster, and thus need to raise money by playing the mini-games.

There are four of these. Power Up is a Mission Impossible-style rope dangling effort, where you have to guide your hamster to collect as many power-up pills as possible. Rocket Dash is a simple side-scrolling fly-by, where you help your hamster avoid collision with the mutant creatures running amok in the lab. The further you get within the time limit in these, the more points (and hence money) you get.

Lab Experiment, meanwhile, is a betting mini-game featuring a fruit machine's hold-and-nudge mechanic that sees you matching pictures of different characters. The game is pure chance, but as matching only two of the three picture segments will double your cash, it's the quickest way to raise funds in the game, provided you aren't too conservative with your initial stake.

Finally, the last mini-game isn't so much a game as it is a unique approach to online leaderboards. The Hamster Race option uploads your hamster's details to the internet; a race is then scheduled for midnight, and you can view how well your hamster performs the following day. It's a convoluted approach to comparing virtual pet rearing skills but it is certainly forward-thinking and introduces a rare competitive element into the genre.

As mentioned, there are various bits and pieces you can buy for your hamster, and these tie back in to the mini-games. For example, you can purchase a better rope to make dangling your hamster in Power Up easier to control, or you can obtain running shoes to give your hamster extra speed in the Rocket Dash (a little odd, considering there is no running involved).

It's a seemingly clever move, until you realise all of these extras are geared towards a very specific element of the creature's well-being or performance, and as such there is little or no scope for play, interaction or customisation.

That said, Lab Hamster remains a charming title in spite of its limited dynamic. With great presentation throughout, it really distills the mechanics of the virtual pet genre down the bare essentials. Our only complaint is that with a little more to do, it would have had the longevity to live up to the quality of its content.