Pet Pals: New Leash on Life (**** out of four) is an educational game that has players take on the role of a new veterinarian at an animal shelter, where they take care of a variety of animals. Animals that are brought to the shelter must be examined, treated, and then made ready for adoption, and it’s your job to follow the detailed instructions so that the animals receive the appropriate care. You can choose an easy level in the game, where you’ll have plenty of help and guidance to start you on your way, or you can choose either of the two more advanced levels, where you’ll have to make most of the decisions by yourself. Either way, you’re graded on your choices and earn points and rewards when you succeed.

The game has more than 30 animal cases that include more than 15 different breeds of dogs, cats, rabbits and birds and also some iguanas and chinchillas. The animal cases were created by practicing veterinarians, so there’s a good deal of detail to follow. But you’ll learn while performing the tasks, and there’s help along the way if you need it.

If you choose the easy level, a staff veterinarian and three assistants (Vet Techs) help you get started and are available at any time if you need them. There’s a PDA to provide case histories as well as breed and other info, and a glossary is available if you don’t understand any of the terms or names used. There are questions along the way to help you determine if you’re on the right track for treating the animals.

You start by examining each animal with the tools provided. There are 45 tools (and six subsets) for every type of examination and treatment. Tools are displayed at the bottom of the screen, and clicking on a tool displays its name; to use the tool, just drag it over the part of the animal where you want to use it. For example, when you examine a cat that is scratching its ears, you’ll find an otoscope that you can use to look into the cat’s ears, where you see the ear mites that are causing the itching. Then you can drag the tube of antibiotic ointment (medicines appear next to the tools) to the ear to treat the infection. Once you’ve finished your examination, you decide whether you should monitor, treat, maintain, operate or medicate the animal.

After you’ve completed the treatment and sign out, your decisions and answers to questions are reviewed, and treatment explanations are provided. When the animals are well again, you can take them to the Community Area, where you help prepare them for adoption by families. Here’s where you have time to play with the animals and help them with grooming, feeding, playing and enrichment activities to help you decide which families should adopt which pets. After the pets are adopted, the families are likely to leave messages for you on the office answering machine, so you’ll have feedback on your work.

The game includes bonus minigames, a trivia quiz, a photo album of the animals you’ve treated and more. Treating the animals requires a good amount of work and enough activities to keep players involved for a lengthy time. The more advanced levels require research and more extensive activities, so older children are also likely to find this game appealing.

The animation is a bit stilted, but voice characterization is good. This game offers a good introduction to the medical care and treatment of animals and also the importance of other activities to help animals become good pets that are suitable for adoption.