What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that kids can learn quite a bit about
farm animals and their behaviors from this game, as long as
they don't mind performing the occasional distasteful task like
cleaning a rabbit's dirty bum, swabbing a pig's crusty sores,
or taking an animal's temperature by putting a thermometer into
its "rear." Kids might also see small dollops of blood while
using the scalpel and other surgical tools.
Families can talk about the differences between being a farm vet and a pet vet. Why are veterinarians such an important part of farm life?
Common Sense Media Review
FARM VET lets players step into the shoes of a caregiver who
is responsible for feeding, playing with, and treating 10 types
of barnyard animals including ducks, chickens, rabbits, pigs,
horses, goats, and sheep. Players choose a character by
selecting gender, appearance, and clothing, and can select one
of three difficulty levels.
Each morning your trusty PDA outlines a to-do list that you must complete before the day is over. Some duties are as simple as topping up feed bins or playing mini-games like collecting eggs or milking the cow. The most challenging part of the game is treating sick and injured animals. With a variety of medical instruments and tools at your disposal -- including an X-Ray machine, syringes, swabs, a thermometer, and even surgical tools -- you must use powers of deduction and observation to arrive at a diagnosis, then administer the correct treatment.
Farm Vet's graphics could be better, and the game suffers from finicky controls, imprecise "hot spots" to click on the animals, and a wildly swinging camera. Although the game claims 60 different medical problems to treat, they seem to repeat very frequently. That said, Farm Vet does provide a lot of interesting reading material for young budding veterinarians in the family, including a glossary of tools and animals and a database of farm-related careers.
Other games that let players care for animals include Pet Vet 3D: Wild Animal Hospital , Hamsterz Life , and Nintendogs .
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
