Pou (game)

Pou
Developer	Paul Salameh
Publisher	Zakeh
Version	1.4.108 (Android and iOS) See Game versions for more details
Platform	Android, iOS, BlackBerry 10
Release date	August 5, 2012 (Android) March 13, 2014 (iOS)
Genre	Virtual pet, simulation
Rating	4+ (iOS) E (Android)

Pou is a virtual pet app developed by Zakeh and released for Android and BlackBerry on August 5, 2012 and later on iTunes on March 13, 2014. It soon became viral and was rated 4.3 stars by the players. The game had over 100 million downloads since 2019.

About the game

• Last updated on - February 4, 2023 (Android), February 5, 2023 (iOS)
• Price - Free (Android, i0S from July 23-24, 2014), $1.99 (iOS)
• Downloads - 500,000,000+
• Ratings - 4.3 stars (Android and iOS)
• Download links (official) - Play Store, App Store

Gameplay

The player takes care of a rounded triangle alien (commonly mistaken for a Poos) called Pou, who is colored brown when the player starts playing the game for the first time. Much like many virtual pets, Pou needs to be fed, cleaned, and put to bed. The player can earn in-game coins by playing minigames. Coins can also be used to buy more food, potions, and clothes.

The player's Pou has four status bars, the hunger bar, the health or vitality bar, the happiness bar, and the sleep bar. These affect the gameplay.

Hunger

Pou is fed by dragging the various foods to it's mouth. Certain foods affect Pou's other stats too. On some occasions, especially when fed the same food over and over again, it will refuse to eat the food and make a "no" sound. Pou's hunger increases over time. This will drain the health bar.

Dirt

Pou gets dirty over time. It also defecates, though it only does so in the bathroom, so the feces (poop) can only be seen when the player goes to the bathroom. Pou can be cleaned by being rubbed with the soap and washed off. Pou can also be cleaned by holding the rain cloud over it instead of over the flowers, though this method is unreliable because it gives only half the coins than when done in the bathroom. The feces can be cleaned by simply tapping on it.

Vitality

Pou's vitality is drained over time. The rate at it is draining is increased if the food or sleep meter is at 0%.The potions that are used to maintain Pou's health are quite expensive and should be used sparingly.

Multiplayer support

Pou allows the user to make their own profile by typing in their email address and password. Pou's name can now be changed, and now can be searchable online (inside the game only). A player can "visit" another player's house by typing in a username or email address to access that. You can go inside that player's house, even when the owner of that Pou isn't playing the game. This support is the only method one can play Tic Tac Pou and Four Pous.

Pou also has local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth support, in a mode called Pou vs. Pou (PVP). You can play with up to four Pous (two in some games) on a selected variety of games. These games are Water Hop, Sky Hop, Pet Walk, and Beach Volley.

Possibilities

Pou simulates parenting as the baby and the player as the parent; it is quite realistic. The player can feed Pou, play with it, tuck it in to sleep, give Pou medicine, clean it, talk to it and dress it up.

Trivia

• Production of the game began in May 2012.
• There is an unofficial Windows 10 port of Pou called List of Pou Internet phenomena/Pou-like games. This version noticeably lacks many features.
• This game is immensely popular in Latin American countries.
• The game was unexpectedly removed from Google Play in early December 2019. Despite rumors that the game has been finally cancelled, the game was brought back because Paul Salameh simply updated the game.
• The game comes in English, Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian and Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
• The health bar is the slowest-depleting bar in the game, while the energy bar is the fastest.
• A unique feature in this game is that the player can change the color palettes of some of the minigames. This was made to help colorblind players distinguish Pous colors in games that require matching colors (such as Connect, Color Match, and Pou Popper).
• The maximum level for the game is 270, but through modification of the app, higher levels can be attained.
• The font used in the logo and the in-game text is called "Pou" in the game files. However, the real name of the font is actually called "Cookies" and can be found here.

External links

• Official website
• YouTube channel
• Facebook page
• Instagram page
• Twitter page
• Zazzle
• Google Play
• App Store

Gallery

Main article: Pou (game)/Gallery

Trailers

• 2014

  2014

• 2016

  2016