Pawlings: Cute Virtual Pet

Hatch a cute cat, dog or raccoon and raise it in real time - a pet diary, weekly album chapters, a Winter Festival and 71 stickers to collect. Free.

Remember the pocket pet on your keyring? Pawlings brings it back - with a lot more fur.

Choose a cat, a dog or a raccoon, give it a name, and keep its egg warm for a few minutes. Then it is yours: a tiny baby that grows into a child, a teenager, an adult and finally a wise old senior, in real time, over about half a year.

It needs what the old toys needed, and it notices when it doesn't get it. But it never runs away because you were busy: it waits for you, and perks up as soon as you look after it.

LOOK AFTER IT • Hunger and happiness hearts that empty while you are away • Meals for hunger, snacks for happiness - but too many sweets will upset a tummy • Eight mini-games - catch treats, pop bubbles, find the pairs, hide and seek, copy the pattern, peekaboo, puddle hop and the classic left or right. Win one for a happy heart • Messes to clean before they make it ill, and medicine when it is • Lights out at bedtime, so it can sleep • Attention calls: is it hungry, sleepy - or just being cheeky? Scold the fibs and it learns

WATCH IT GROW How you look after it as a child and teen decides the adult it becomes: a shining Star, a gentle Sweet or a cheeky Scruffy. Every life ends gently - your pet moves to the Meadow, joins your album, and a new egg is waiting.

OUTSIDE IN THE YARD • Take your pet outside: the yard follows the real seasons - spring blossom, summer sunflowers, autumn leaves and winter snow - with puddles, rainbows and starry nights • Jump into leaf piles, build a snowman, pick spring flowers and run through the summer sprinkler • Animal friends come to visit - a bunny, a duckling, a hedgehog, a frog, a bird and a squirrel. Say hello, play together, share a berry • Plant a garden and pick berries, dig for treasure, catch butterflies for your bug book, play fetch and give your pet a bubble bath • A sweetheart: once your pet is grown up, a special friend comes to visit. Play tag, give a flower, have a picnic and fill the heart meter

A ROOM THAT IS ALIVE • Your pet wanders about, looks around and shows you what it is thinking • Pat it and stroke it - it loves that • Throw the ball and watch it chase • Fill a sticker album for caring, playing and growing

MORE TO DO • Teach nine tricks - three of them unlock when you look after your pet days in a row. Brush its fur until it shines, play a little xylophone and dance together • A photo booth with backdrops, frames and stickers, and an album to keep • Birthday parties with cake and confetti, and bedtime stories to read together • Three small goals every day, a daily gift, a weekly album chapter and 71 stickers to collect • A pet diary that remembers every birthday, new stage and special moment • The Winter Festival, 1 December to 6 January: snow in the room, a snowy tree and a festive quest • Share the big moments - a birthday, growing up, a new sweetheart heart, a first snowman - as a picture card for your friends

MAKE IT YOURS • Seven outfits, from a bow to a crown • Four rooms: cozy, beach, space and candy • Twenty-four decorations to earn and place: rugs, fairy lights, a teddy, a fish bowl and more • Play in English, Hindi, Indonesian, Spanish or Portuguese • Everything is free. There is nothing to buy.

REMINDERS, NOT NAGGING Turn on reminders and your pet will tell you when it is getting hungry, made a mess or wants the lights off - at most six a day, and never in the middle of the night.

Pawlings is free and shows the occasional advert after a game. No advert is ever needed to feed, clean or heal your pet.