There’s nothing better than taking a break in the middle of a long adventure to pet an adorable dog. Canine companions can accompany players, aid them in battle, or simply serve as a nice break after a particularly difficult mission. In recent years, dog pet-ability has become a factor used to categorize and rate games alongside such standards as graphical quality and loading times.
Founded in March 2019 by Tristan Cooper, Twitter account CanYouPetTheDog regularly Tweets announcements regarding whether or not you can pet dogs or dog-like creatures in various games. Many game developers have been inspired to add dog-petting as a mechanic thanks to the account’s popularity. Newly pettable dogs include Cerberus inHadesand an unnamed pup inCrossCode.Adog-petting-themed Humble Bundlewas also made available in late 2020.
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Now, online pet insurance resource Protect My Paws has created a series of images ranking the most pettable dogs in video games, including a breakdown by console and a further list of currently un-pettable dogs players most want to interact with. Protect My Paws carried out their research by comparing the number of likes on various tweets by CanYouPetTheDog, as well as reviews of these games on Steam that specifically reference the dogs.
According to the results of the study, the most popular pettable dog overall is Polterpup, a ghostly dog who appears in bothLuigi’s Mansion: Dark MoonandLuigi’s Mansion 3. The tweet discussingPolterpup inLuigi’s Mansion 3received 124,729 likes, almost double that of any other tweet by the account. Polterpup is liked because of his mischievous personality, his genuine devotion to Luigi, and his response to being petted, which is to lick Luigi on the face.
Protect My Paws' research into which dogs players most wanted to pet yielded surprising results. Players were most interested in petting the hellhounds inBloodborne, which can currently only be driven away using weapons or the in-game item Pungent Blood. Other games with dogs gamers hope to pet in the future includeGenshin Impact,Among Us,Doom Eternal, andShadow of the Colossus.
The breakdown by console revealed that the most popular pettable dog on PC comes from the aptly titledDog Petting Simulator. Also popular wasFar Cry 6, in whichplayers can pet both dogs and crocodiles.Far Cry 6, which features a paraplegic dachshund named Chorizo, ranked number 1 for best dog-petting on both PlayStation and Xbox consoles. This is unsurprising as Chorizo, like Polterpup, enthusiastically licks the players upon being petted.
Polterpup came in first for the Nintendo Switch, with the Palamutes fromMonster Hunter Rise,which can also react to players' emotes, in second. Other games with highly ranked pettable dogs includedOverland,Enter theGungeon, asAssassin’s Creed Valhalla.
CanYouPetTheDog continues to make regular Tweets regarding pettable pooches, as well as those which cannot yet be petted. It remains to be seen whether this study will lead to the addition of dog petting in Bloodborne and other titles.
