Even These Little Critters Need A Break... Pets Hotel On Steam Next Fest

Another demo available during the Steam Next Fest from Gameparic, this time, it’s Pets Hotel – coming to a PC near you…

After the success of Animal Shelter, it makes sense to release something that capitalises on that thirst for all things cute and furry and then pampering them. This time you’re not dealing with sick puppies but animals looking for a weekend getaway. Y’know, getting away from the kids, the 9-5, and chillin’ in front of the TV.

The first thing that struck me about Pets Hotel is how fugly it is. The UI looks like it was inspired from a Wether’s Original, the font is one of those you find at the bottom of the list on a Kindle, and the wallpaper looks better with the lights off. It’s all a matter of taste, but the visuals, graphics, and animation are not a pretty sight. Yes, it’s not often I start with a moan – especially a demo, but it is what it is.

Granted, your role is to make the hotel a welcoming place based on your uncle’s garish tastes, well… there’s a lot to work on. You soon book your first guest if the UI doesn’t bother you enough. In my case, I went looking for a do to come in for a claw clipping. An interesting approach as you’d expect the game to provide the objectives. Ah, we’re in a tutorial, aren’t we? It happens in the demo, too.

You essentially operate from your desktop and take on bookings, selecting the size of the room and the service (limited in the demo), then head to one of the rooms and make a fuss of your guest. As you might be able to tell from the tone of this preview, it didn’t blow me away – in fact; it was one of those rare games that put me off trying the full game.

In short, I bailed on it as I couldn’t get past the UI, clunky visuals and content that didn’t really appeal. I’d suggest Animal Shelter. That’s much more enjoyable and has plenty to do. Plus, with all the DLC, you don’t need a real pet – just sort your punters out with a forever friend instead. As for Pets Hotel, it will be available during Steam Next Fest as a free playable demo, so I suggest you try it yourself as you might enjoy the brown interface more than I did.