Virtual Pet - Triangle & Rhombus

iVrtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus are a pair of Iteration 1 games in the Virtual Pet series, released for the RGames Pentane on December 6th, 2021. Together, they are the second games in the Virtual Pet series, and are the sequels to Virtual Pet - Circle | Square.

Gameplay
Being the second games in the Virtual Pet series, Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus is mostly unchanged in terms of the core gameplay when compared to Virtual Pet - Circle | Rhombus. The gameplay changes that Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus have when compared to Circle | Square include a complete overhaul of the controls and UI, an extremely basic inventory system, and new menus. Moving the Left Stick will move the Cursor, while pressing X will select the button that the Cursor is hovering over.

Virtual Pets have 2 meters that decrease over time, which are Hunger and Happiness. Unique to Triangle | Rhombus (and their predeccessors, Circle | Square) is the fact that these meters decrease even when the console is turned off. If Hunger and Happiness are at 0, then the Virtual Pet will die. A unique feature of Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus is that you can have 3 active Virtual Pets at once, and you can change which Virtual Pet you're focusing on by selecting one of the 3 buttons at the bottom of the screen.

To the left of these 3 buttons, there are 3 more buttons which open different menus. The top-most button will allow you to transfer a Virtual Pet from a copy of Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus or Virtual Pet - Circle | Square, the button in the middle displays what game you are playing, and the bottom button opens/closes the inventory. In the inventory, there are 4 items. The Meat increases your Virtual Pet's Hunger meter, the Health Kit increases both Happiness and Hunger, the Info Book contains a picture of every single Virtual Pet that is normally obtainable, and the Diamond does nothing. Pressing X while the Cursor is over the Virtual Pet will increase its Happiness.

Transferring
Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus have the ability to transfer Virtual Pets from a supported Virtual Pet game by using the Virtual Pet - Transfer Expansion. The Virtual Pet games that Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus support include Virtual Pet - Circle | Square, and Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus. The Transfer Expansion also supports Ryzen Cartridges, but no Virtual Pet games were released for the Ryzen.

The Transfer Menu has 2 sections, which are for the 2 supported pairs of games. The Circle | Square section allows you to transfer a Virtual Pet from a Virtual Pet - Circle | Square cartridge to any of the 3 slots on the receiving cartridge, while the Triangle | Rhombus section allows you to transfer a Virtual Pet from any of its 3 slots to any of the 3 slots on the receiving cartridge.

Cartridge
Like their predeccessors, Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus have a unique cartridge design when compared to the rest of the Pentane's library. The cartridge for Virtual Pet - Triangle is completely green, while the cartridge for Virtual Pet - Rhombus is completely yellow. The hologram part underneath the cartridge has a dotted border and the logo of the game.

The light on the top-left of the cartridge returns from Virtual Pet - Circle | Square. It can alert the player of the current status of a Virtual Pet (whether it'd be healthy or needs attention). When a Virtual Pet is healthy, the light is a solid green, while if a Virtual Pet is dead, the light would be a solid red. If Hunger or Happiness is at 0 for any Virtual Pet, then the light will flash between green and red.

Music
Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus are the first Virtual Pet games to have a soundtrack. The Main Theme of the Virtual Pet series originates from the Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus soundtrack.

A cartridge containing the Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus soundtrack was released alongside Virtual Pet - Triangle | Rhombus on December 6th, 2021.