Fantastic Pets - Xbox 360 Game | Virtual Pet Simulation for Kids & Family Fun | Perfect for Birthday Gifts & Indoor Entertainment

I got this game for my daughter one Christmas when she was about 3 1/2 years old. At the time, she had a little bit of trouble with it and needed a lot of help, but she's almost 4 now and she does great with me or by herself.The game starts with a brief set-up, set of instructions, and then asks you to pick a cat, dog, lizard or pony.Once you do so, you start playing games immediately. You only start with a few games and features unlocked for free play, but as you play these games and participate in talent shows (a chain of 5 ranked games, only can be done once per day) you earn gems which you use to unlock new free-play games or pet patterns.Some of the games include but are not limited to: ball fetch (and my favorite variant, where you throw the ball at stacks of boxes and the pet knocks them down whilst fetching), bubble pop, pinata smash, run/jump, run/sit, wash, feed, and pose. The games range from very little physical activity to some where you have to run in place for a good 30 seconds or so and then jump as high as you can. There's also a game where it projects your image onto the TV and you have to move around to avoid bubbles that shoot from on-screen bubble cannons. One of my daughter's favorite games is where you feed the pet, and you have to pick foods that you think they will like based on what type of pet they are. Pets will even respond to voice commands during certain game sequences.There's even a little bit of learning involved when you use gems to send your "Uncle" to locations around the world (some real, some fake like the lost city of Atlantis), the process by which you unlock unique pet body types and special patterns. You pick a location like one of the seven continents and it will show you what pattern or special pet you would unlock by sending him there.As you play, unlock, and earn gems, your trainer rank increases and you earn the ability to use another pet type. At any time, you can switch from one pet to another, so if your kiddo starts with a lizard then decides they want a cat, they can get one without starting a new game profile. When you want to customize your pet, you can add things like wings and horns, and change pattern colors, hair colors, eye type/color, foot color, tail color, and that sort of thing. My daughter loved this, since she was able to make her pet look like one of her favorite My Little Pony characters. I would think this game would be great for boys too, since there are unique pets like a "robot dog" and a "spooky steed".All in all, it's a very gender-neutral game and is a win-win in my book. Since I love video games but hate the sitting-on-your-bum aspect of them, this is the perfect game for my daughter. Almost every time she plays, she goes for a good long while and quits because she's tuckered out, not because she's bored. Blitz Games did a great job with this title and with the price being under 20 bucks, should be worth a try for anyone looking for a great Kinect game for their kids.Oh, and if you have concerns about the Kinect responding properly to movements, don't blame this game. I've found that if you give the Kinect sensor ideal conditions as outlined in your Kinect setup guide, this game responds very well. Just be informed that the Kinect prefers certain lighting conditions and mounting height.