The Big Splash Update: a giant water slide, hearts, new robots and your own cat

NEW: a massive Splash Slide

A brand new mega water slide for your yard, and it is huge. Dogs climb the ramp, belly-slide down the chute and launch off the lip into its own pool. You can ride it too: step into the chute, with a dog in your arms if you like.

• The Big Yard comes with a free splash zone: the Splash Slide, a Splash Pad and a play mat.
• Bath time is bubblier: suds pile up in the tub and spill over the rim while you scrub.
• You can see the water pour from the tap, the watering can and into pools.

Hearts: every animal has an opinion of you

Every dog and cat now has 0 to 5 hearts with each player on the crew. Pets, treats, fetch and baths win them over, and they remember who looks after them.

• A dog that bites people stops biting you once you reach 3 hearts with it. Your colleague may not be so lucky.
• Hold them face to face: dogs and cats are now lifted under their front legs, belly to you, back legs dangling.
• Reach 5 hearts for a celebration, and an achievement or two.
• Dogs and cats react with real animations: scraps play out blow by blow, dogs growl, flinch and lunge, cats swipe and hiss.

Robots on staff

Three new machines to take jobs off your hands as the daycare grows.

• The Yard Rover: a cleaning robot on big offroad wheels that sweeps up poop and fills in dug holes out in the yard.
• The Med Robot fetches medicine from the cabinet and doses each dog by itself.
• The Auto Tub Washer washes a dog or cat for you. Drying is still your job.
• Auto-feeders and auto-waterers now come with their bowls built in, so a kennel with both machines is always covered.

Make your own cat (and a goofier dog)

The character creator has a CAT tab, and your cat becomes the Cat Room's resident in every daycare you host. Your dog got new dials too.

• New body dials for dogs and cats: CHUBBY, LEGS, BODY LENGTH, NECK and SNOUT.
• CAT WHISPERER, a new skill tree for cat people: win cats over faster, tire them out with a thrown ball, and get scratched a lot less.
• Cats climb the cat tower, and the resident cat has been seen riding the cleaning robot.

Easier building, clearer kennels

• Snap-together building: furniture takes only the floor it really covers, snaps into line beside other pieces and slides flush against walls.
• Kennel badges: every kennel and cat cage wears its own badge (a paw, a star, a moon, a heart and more) instead of a number, and keeps it for good.
• A to-do card on every kennel: live need bars and today's jobs as tick boxes.
• Co-op building: the crew sees what you are placing or moving, and you can try out paint colours together.

Cozy Kennel is getting nervous

Your rivals across the street are not taking your success well. Their raiders now pick poop fights with your crew, there are new night story scenes to discover, and some of your tour visitors may not be who they seem.

• Pranks are free fun: they no longer cost you any reputation.
• You can shove their raiders before they throw, even through the yard fence.

Smoother to play

• A calmer first shift: the tutorial shows only what you need, with one clear marker for where to go next, seen through walls.
• A clearer screen: notices queue on the right, panels open at the edge, and the middle of the screen stays yours.
• Better on a controller: LB and RB switch the shop's aisles and the laptop's tabs, and the highlight starts on the items.
• A friendlier economy: daycare and overnight stays pay more, meals are spread through the day, and every account starts with 500 paw points.
• Plus a big pile of fixes. The full list is in the game: open WHAT'S NEW on the main menu.

Play it now

The free demo is live. Grab a few friends, or play solo, and see how far you can grow your daycare.

If you enjoy it, a wishlist genuinely helps, and a review on the demo's page helps even more. If something breaks, tell us in the Discussions.

Thanks for playing,
James Ward
Watashi Games