The World’s Favorite Mobile Pet Game: My Talking Tom

The Talking Tom app, released by Outfit 7 in 2010, was a worldwide success. The app was pretty simple – it featured a cute cat that would repeat everything that was said to it. The cat also interacted with users, who could slap it, poke it or stroke its fur and see how it responded. Since then, the makers have created 13 more apps inspired by Talking Tom. Among them is ‘My Talking Tom’, perhaps the smartest move by the company since ‘Talking Tom’. Basically, they took the world’s favorite cat and turned it into the world’s favorite pet game. Simple, and smart. The response was phenomenal. The mobile pet game had over 11 million downloads and became the #1 games app in 135 countries within 10 days of its launch. Now that’s something!

Image credit www.Outfit7.com

In case you’re wondering, these are the different things you can do in this popular pet game:

1. Adopt and name baby Tom. The game begins with a baby kitten arriving in a cardboard box.  It turns out to be baby Tom, and players are asked to name the kitten.
2. Take care of Tom’s needs. Players are shown around Tom’s house, and given a brief tutorial on how to take care of Tom. Just as in any other pet game, the cat must be fed and put to bed at regular intervals. Tom also needs to be taken to the bathroom and played with.
3. Play fun mini-games. Players help Tom grow by showering him with love and attention. This also means playing games with him. There are 15 fun mini-games to choose from, including variations of old favorites. You have Flappy Tom, Whack-A-Mouse, Bubble Shooter, Memory and Connect among others.
4. Earn and spend coins. Players earn coins by taking care of Tom and playing the online games. You can also earn coins by playing a few of Outfit 7’s other games such as Talking Angela and Talking Tom 2. The coins that you earn can be used to buy food, clothing, accessories and furniture for Tom.
5. Customize the game. Tom and his house can be customized in hundreds of different ways. The customization options are perhaps one of the most fun aspects of this game, with so many cool, funny and outright wacky items to choose from. You can change absolutely everything, from the lampshade in Tom’s bedroom, to the commode in the bathroom!
6. Watch Tom grow. As Tom is taken care of, he slowly grows from a tiny kitten to a full-grown adult, with various stages in between.
7. Visit others. You can choose to visit your Facebook friends or random players chosen by the app. You earn coins for every visit, plus the chance to earn more coins by opening a treasure chest in the houses that you visit.
8. Talk to Tom. At the end of the day, this is the same old Tom that the world first fell in love with. You can still talk to him and hear him repeat what you say. You can also poke, slap and stroke him just as in the past.

My Talking Tom is free to play, with the option of turning off advertisements and buying coins for real money in the game. However, players can earn a fair amount of in-game currency just by taking care of Tom, playing mini-games and waiting it out, as extra coins are earned for each stage that you reach. The game also lets you earn coins by doing additional tasks such as watching videos, subscribing to their YouTube channel and signing up for their newsletter.

It’s easy to see how My Talking Tom came to be everyone’s favorite pet game.