Pooki Interactive Pet Review
Reviewed by Louise Totton
My kids are desperate for a pet – it’s top of both of their Christmas list year after year! We can’t have the dog that my youngest wants because we’re out of the house too much and the horse that my eldest ‘needs’ is out of the question until we win the lottery! The closest we got was looking after the school guinea pig for two weeks during the Christmas holidays one year, and after less than 48 hours (once the reality of cleaning up wee and poo really hit), the kids lost interest and it all fell to me! So, unfortunately for the kids, but fortunately for me, who seems to be the only one who actually understands how much work pets actually are, yet again there will be no living, breathing fluffball under the Christmas tree.
I do think that most children very much like the idea of looking after something though; you only have to look at how realistic baby dolls are becoming and how much the kids love changing nappies, feeding them and soothing them to see that. When I was a child, the closest thing we got to an interactive pet was the first version of the Tamagotchi – basically a keyring that you had to remember to ‘feed’ and ‘play with’ occasionally by periodically pressing a button! Nowadays, however, interactive pets are getting more and more sophisticated. Some of them respond to your voice, some of them can even follow basic commands and respond to touch. Because there is no way on Earth that we will be getting anything more involved than a house plant this year, we thought we’d try the kids out with an interactive pet!
Pooki is aimed at kids aged 5+ and is the interactive pet that wants to please! She is available in two colour options: White or pink, both with the same bright pink hair. We were sent the white version to try out. I’m not entirely sure what kind of animal Pooki is supposed to represent, my daughters decided she was some kind of chihuahua / kitten hybrid, and who am I to argue? Pooki is a hard-bodied plastic toy, and she arrives in a sitting position. Her legs are posable, but that is the end of what her body does – with Pooki, it’s all about her face!
Her head appears slightly over-sized when compared to her body, and that’s because her head is where all of the action takes place. The most obvious part of her head is the large colour screen that makes up the vast majority of her face. Out of the box, this is switched off and plain white, so offers no hint at all as to the surprises and treats that are to follow! She also has fluffy pink hair which matches her fluffy pink tail and two large plastic ears. Pooki requires 4x AAA batteries, which aren’t included.
Once the batteries are in, the fireworks start – literally! Her face lights up with a bright firework display to welcome you to your new friend, along with ‘hello’ in a number of different languages; Pooki is truly an international pet! The kids loved Pooki’s face, and how fantastically responsive and animated it is. Because of the type of screen that is used, her face has an almost infinite number of expressions which the kids found hilarious. They also loved how she responded to both their voice and also to having her head stroked; she clearly finds that very relaxing!
Along with interaction and affection another thing that any pet obviously needs is feeding! Pooki has a heart shaped button on her back and a press of this will give Pooki something to eat. You don’t get to pick what she has, but her face will show you what she’s eating as well as her reaction to it. There are 55 different things that she can eat and they all have a slightly different reaction; the kids really enjoyed seeing what Pooki liked and didn’t like.
After spending a while petting, stroking and feeding Pooki, she will start to show her appreciation to you with a series of gifts. When a present appears on her face, giving her a pat on the head will open the present for you and you can see what she’s given to you, and pat it again to say thank you and accept it. There are 40 presents to collect, and the girls have been trying their hardest to interact with Pooki and collect all of her presents.
As well as feeding Pooki with using the button on her back, you can also feed her with your phone or tablet! After downloading the Pooki app and putting Pooki in App Mode, the kids can actually choose what to feed Pooki by literally ‘flicking’ their choice of food to her! The food then lands on her screen and you can watch her enjoy what you’ve just passed to her, as well as seeing her reaction. Within the app, you can also collect the presents that she gives to you, allowing you to keep track of everything you have been given. Navigating everything that you have collected with Pooki is really easy too – when you’re using the app, you can review things on your phone or tablet, but you can also use her face to show you everything. This is done with a combination of using the button on her back and patting her head – very simple and both kids had the hang of it in no time.
As well as showing her feelings with her face, she can also move her head towards you as she hears you speak and even prick up her ears when there’s a sound or relax them when she’s feeling sleepy! She even gently snores when she’s nodded off, and the kids can wake her up by patting her head.
Pooki is great fun and the kids have had great fun playing with her. Of course, an interactive pet can never be the same as a real one, but the kids have thoroughly enjoyed playing with this one, feeding her, interacting with her and stoking her. The screen adds a brilliant extra dimension and being able to see Pooki’s reactions in the way that only a screen like this can show makes her even more intriguing to the kids. She would make a super Christmas present idea for kids aged around 4-9, and they will take an awful lot less looking after and cleaning up after than the real thing!
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £64.99
Available to buy from Amazon here.
