Italian game developer, Affinity Project, is helping Best Friends Animal Society save animals one tap at a time with the world’s first donation mobile game: Don-Ay: Pet Land!
The concept of a donation game is quite simple - people play the game, and a portion of the ad revenue (from watching short ads in the game) and in-game purchases gets donated. Being able to make donations through ad revenue means that people don’t have to pay a cent to make donations!
In Don-Ay: Pet Land, every time you watch an ad or make an in-game purchase, you earn D-points (Donation Points). D-Points represent the amount of real-world donations each player has generated for Best Friends Animal Society!
How do you play Don-Ay: Pet Land?
Don-Ay: Pet Land is a free app available on the App Store and Google Play. It is an endless runner game combined with a virtual pet simulator. You start off the game by rescuing Pegi the dog (whom you can rename) from the dog pound. After petting, feeding, and bathing your rescue pup, you are ready to play in the dreamworld, which is the endless runner portion of Don-Ay: Pet Land!
The first dreamworld landscape is the countryside, where your pup flies across the level on a cloud, collecting as many coins as possible while avoiding obstacles. We find the endless runner portion of the game to be very easy and addicting to play, since you guide your pet through the dreamworld with a one-button control scheme.
More dreamworlds can be unlocked at higher levels, and more pets can be adopted when you accumulate enough coins in the game (such as a black and white cat named Silver). Also, you can buy outfits and food for your pets with the coins you earn in the game!
Adopt pets and unlock new dreamworlds as you progress in the game!
You can shop for outfits for your virtual pet!
All in all, we really enjoy playing this game. The virtual pet simulator portion of the game (where you can pet, groom, and feed your pet) keeps you coming back, the endless runner portion of the game is really fun, and the graphics are really cute! Being able to help animals in the real world by simply playing makes this game even better!
Your pet gets upset if you don’t bathe him/her from time to time!
There is a page in the game dedicated to Best Friends Animal Society, where you can find information about adopting an animal, as well as information on the work the organization does. The page also shows the amount of money that has been donated to the organization thanks to Don-Ay: Pet Land players!
Who are Best Friends Animal Society?
Best Friends Animal Society is a nationwide (USA) animal rescue and advocacy organization. They have spay-neuter, TNR (trap, neuter, and return), pet adoption, and no-kill programs. The organization also runs the largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals in Utah, where they house approximately 1600 animals on any given day. Best Friends Animal Society is also dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters, and has helped reduce the number of animals euthanized nationwide from 17 million to 1.5 million per year. They hope to reach their goal of reducing this number to zero by the year 2025!
You can download Don-Ay: Pet Land to play (and donate!) here. Affinity Project has also expressed interest in including Bear and Momo in the game in a future update, which we are really excited about. Stay tuned!