Playfish Cash Cards at Walgreens

Holy moley! Playfish Cash Cards are now available at Walgreens in the United States. The next time you pick up your meds, shampoo or toothpaste, you can treat yourself to either a $10 or $25 card, good for buying Playfish Cash.

This is a HUGE development for Playfish and the social games industry overall. Spending real money on an imaginary jacuzzi or a Halloween “mummy fish” will no longer be thought of as weird or fringe behavior. Clearly, you’ve arrived in mainstream, middle America when your product is displayed next to Hershey bars and cards for Target and McDonald’s.

Initial reactions by fans are positive. Despite grumblings by a few who’ve nicknamed the company “Payfish,” many gamers are rushing out to their neighborhood Walgreens, spurred by the cuteness factor of the pink and blue plastic.

Two weeks ago, I conducted a poll asking how much money you spend on Pet Society. Out of more than 1,000 respondents, 15% reported spending $20 or more each month. But a whopping 85% of you said you didn’t spend a dime. I wonder how these cards will affect those numbers in the next several months. I’m sure it’s no accident that the cards just happen to come in time for the holidays—stocking stuffers, anyone?

Hideeni – Cuddly or Creepy?

Ack! It’s what’s his name—Houdini, Hideeni, Hideous! My pet Sushi was just visiting a friend when all of a sudden, the creature sprang out of nowhere. Sushi was so frightened that he bolted for the door and nearly pooed in his pants.

I can’t decide who is scarier in this scene—the masked, white-haired witch or Hideeni. But I did give into Playfish’s viral marketing scheme and published my status so that friends could collect Hideeni’s puppy plushie. It was the first time I ever published a status report from Pet Society.

Up til now, I was a closet Pet Societyholic. But now EVERYONE knows. What’s worse, this happened on a FRIDAY night when I should have been out, mingling with exciting, dynamic people at exciting, dynamic parties. Oh, shame. Shame.

What do you think of Hideeni? Cute, creepy or just plain embarrassing?

Pet and the City

We’re also wondering if any of the males in Pet Society are over the age of 12.

In this pic: Tizzie, Gaga, Ella, Sushi.

Many readers have asked how I get more than two pets into one room. My answer is Photoshop, Baby, Photoshop. The scene requires tracing and extracting pets out of their backgrounds. Here’s a good step-by-step tutorial.

Pet Society Twins

OMG, I just spotted Sushi’s twin! Her name is Bullina and she’s from Italy. Bongiorno, Bella!

I’m so glad I found Bullina because for a while, I was thinking about getting plastic surgery for my pet. But many of you responded that he’s fine the way he is. He may be an awkward little sissy boy, but most of you didn’t want me to change his appearance or cut off his imaginary wee-wee. And now, with Bullina, I have proof that we’re in style!

How about you? Have you seen any lookalikes of your pet? If so, send images to petsocietyanon@gmail.com. The best lookalikes will be published on this site and on Pet Society Chatter.

Rules for Images

• Include the names of your pet and your twin.
• Tell us where you saw your twin. (Is he/she a friend in your network? Did you see him/her at the Cafe? At the Stadium?)
• If you can, name the countries of origin for both pets. (It’s great to see how international Pet Society is.)
• Your pets do not have to wear the same outfit as in the picture above.
• Deadline for images is October 20.
• Please, no cheating by creating a second account and making your pets look the same. That takes the challenge—and fun—out of this quest.

  Good luck and happy searching!

Pet Society Fashion Poll – Red Wig

The Retro Red Wig is hot, hot, hot. Maybe it’s the vibrant red color or its resemblance to a giant sea flower that’s drawing applause, but the 1,000-coin head-topper is the must-have item for every fashion-forward pet.

Here are a few examples of the wig in action:

1. At a concert, with Kyra taking the microphone:

   

2. Guitarist Luxe doing a solo:
   

3. A groupie, aptly named “Dancer” hopping on her scooter:
   

4. Sookie, chillin’ out at a hotel penthouse suite after a 12-city tour.
   

Here they are again. Vote for your favorite at the bottom of the post:

A Pet Society Love Story

This story was written by Sonini, a Pet Society player in Greece.

Ziggy and Strawberry met in a public library years ago and had been a happy couple for a long time. Lately however, Strawberry had started complaining because she wanted marriage and children, but Ziggy, a typical lad, was not ready! They went to their favorite disco-bar but couldn’t enjoy themselves:

They went to the library where they first met, but things just weren’t the same anymore.


And lately Strawberry had been frowning a lot over Ziggy’s appalling gardening skills!


Ziggy decided that although he was still in love they should split. In order to get over Strawberry he took up exercising and fishing.

He started hanging around with friends…


and even tried dating other people.


But nothing worked…All he could think about was Strawberry…and Strawberry herself was heartbroken. She couldn’t even enjoy a shopping spree at her favorite Mystery Shop!

Then one day Ziggy finally realized that life stunk without the love of his life:

He invited Strawberry for a candle-lit dinner in Paris and nervously proposed with a big diamond ring. (Had he had knees he would have surely dropped to one knee.)

Strawberry, of course, accepted and after having a fairytale wedding at a sandy beach…


the happy couple boarded the train to their honeymoon:


and a few months later, they even had a baby to complete their dream!

Size Matters in Pet Society Gardens

Wow, is that impressive, or what? Jacel, a Pet Society player in California, has carefully tended his gardens to grow vegetables of all different sizes. He submitted this picture in response to my poll question earlier this week, about whether or not you would sacrifice a home-grown vegetable for a fish. So far, 56% of you said that you would use the veggies as bait, but Jacel clearly prefers keeping them.

“I’ve enjoyed displaying a spectrum of different sizes of the same vegetable,” he writes. “Towards reaching the goal of filling in that full range, vegetables of any size feel more valuable…. I hope this inspires other pet owners to play with their food.”

Here’s another awesome display. If there was a country fair, this pet would win first prize!

Pretzelfish Plays Hard to Get

Ack! I just wasted 10 soft pretzels at the pond. The Pretzelfish is one tough critter to catch. This is what I got with my pretzels:

• Carp
• Dog fish
• Flounder
• Old Boot (3x)
• Rusted anchor
• Paddlefish
• Squid
• To add insult to injury, I lost the tenth pretzel!
  Was that pretzel THE ONE? I’ll never know! Waaah!

But here’s a picture from a reader, Stefanie whose pet Gummi caught the elusive Pretzelfish. I asked her how many pretzels she used. This was her response: “Oh my gosh, it must have been over 20 times or so. No more than 35 though.”

Whoa. At least the soft pretzel is a low-cost item at 20 coins. But notice that Gummi is wearing the Pro Fishing Hat, sold for 15 Playfish Coins at the Cash Shop. This hat ensures that your pet won’t catch garbage like the old boot or the rusted anchor. Still, if Stefanie caught the Pretzelfish on her 28th try (the average of 20 and 35), that’s 560 coins on top of the cash she paid for the hat. That’s one pricey little fish!

Birthday Concert

Happy Birthday to Nitzalise Carrasquillo! Nitzalise is a Pet Society fan from Puerto Rico. Her pet, Vampiriza, who has vampire fangs, gave a concert in her honor to a packed audience. Looks like it was a great show!

Ace of Cakes

Here’s a great photo from Federico, a Pet Society fan in Mexico. The cake features his pet Borbonsito, and was made for a club anniversary. Dee-lish!

Federico is an active member of Pet Society Chat and Trade, a friendly forum of all things P.S. Check it out to see other great pictures, stories, discussion, and contests.

Thanks to “Luxe,” who recently told me about this forum.