Digital Monster (virtual Pet) - Gameplay

Gameplay

The Digimon had several functions that allowed the owner to take care of the pet. The first icon is the status. The user can check the pet's age, weight, strength, hunger, and energy stats here. If a Digimon had no energy in its energy bar, it would be unable to link up and battle.

The second icon fed the Digimon. The meat increased the pet's hunger, and the vitamin increased its strength and energy. However, feeding the pet either of these would increase the Digimon's weight, affecting evolution possibilities and battle outcomes. Once the Digimon reaches the Rookie stage, it will be able to eat far more than its hunger level requires before getting full. Digimon can eat an unlimited number of vitamins.

The third icon trained the Digimon. In shadow boxing, the owner's Digimon would appear on the right, and a duplicate "shadow" would appear on the left. The owner would then push either the top or middle buttons, and the Digimon would fire an attack either upwards or downwards, respectively. The shadow Digimon would attempt to block, either upwards or downwards. It was a game of luck. If the owner's Digimon hit three out of five, it would lose one pound and its strength would increase. If it didn't make this quota, the Digimon would only lose a pound and not gain any strength.

The fourth icon was battle mode. Once activated, the owner could link up to another owner's Digimon and begin a battle. The two Digimon would exchange blows three times, then one would fire a double attack; the other Digimon would fire a single attack. The one who fired the double attack on the fourth turn dodged the other Digimon's attack and was declared the winner. Whether the Digimon won or lost, it was still susceptible to acquiring an injury during battle. Battling too many times in one day could "kill" a Digimon (see Digimon Mainframe below).

The fifth Icon (the first on the bottom row) cleaned up the Digimon's droppings. Leaving droppings uncleaned for too long would cause the Digimon to become ill.

The sixth icon (second on the bottom row) toggled the light. If the Digimon fell asleep and the light was never turned off, its overall condition (an unviewable stat) would decrease, and its chances of a high-power evolution would decrease.

The seventh icon (third on the bottom row) is the medical icon. If the Digimon got sick or injured in battle, it would have to be fixed before it could battle again. The Digimon becomes angry when it receives medical treatment, implying perhaps that it received a shot.

The eighth and final icon is not manually selectable. It is the alert icon. It lights up and begins to beep if the sound is on if the Digimon poops, needs food, or falls asleep with the lights on.