Like these 13 games where you play as dogs, dogs are too good for this world. Not for cat people.
No one can argue that dogs are popular, both in the real world and in games. After all, when you’re trying to figure out how to get around in a strange new digital world, there’s nothing like seeing one of man’s best friends ready to take your pets and lead you on your wild adventures.
With so many games that let you play with their dogs, you may be thinking if there are any that let you be the dog instead. You’re in luck, then. In the past few years, we’ve been given a lot of games that put the lowly dog in the lead. So get ready for an adventure on all fours as you sniff out the bad guys, be a good-hearted nuisance, and get all the pets you earn as this world’s new resident good boi.
Sam & Max Hit The Road – An Anthropomorphic Detective
Sam and Max are the main characters of the Sam and Max stories. They are both great detectives and animals with human traits. Sam is a cute dog that you control throughout the whole journey.
Because the character is humanoid, he doesn’t look like a typical dog. He is very tall and wears a suit. But he does have a dog’s nose, paws, and ears that hang down. In Hit the Road, he and his buddy Max try to find a bigfoot that has gone missing. Sam shows himself to be a cool and smart detective all through it.
Dead To Rights: Retribution – A Violent Dog In A Violent Game
Dead to Rights: Retribution is a third-person shooter about a police officer named Jack Slate and his travels. But he doesn’t do everything by himself. He is always with his dog friend Shadow, who you can sometimes take charge of.
Don’t expect any good adventures with a puppy, though. A serious dog is playing a serious game. So, when you play as Shadow, you’ll sneak around and kill people violently.
Persona 3 – A Key Member Of The Team
Persona 3 is a great role-playing game about a group of teenagers. They are part of a group called SEED, which stands for Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. They look into strange things that are happening while facing strange creatures called Shadows. Since this is a turn-based RPG, you’re in charge of the whole team during each battle.
Koromaru is a Shiba and he is one of the people fighting. He is cute, but don’t let that take away from how good he is at fighting. This dog knows how to use a knife and can do special strikes with fire and darkness.
Bolt – Adorable And Equipped With Lasers
What could be better than being a regular dog? Yes, playing one with eyes like laser guns.
In Bolt, you play as Disney’s best boy, Bolt, as he stars in his own action-packed TV show. You have to finish tasks and save Penny by using your laser gun eyes to burn cat-clawed bad guys and your “Superbark” to break through obstacles in your way. Just make sure you get a treat at the end.
Montaro – No Thoughts, Head Empty
In Montaro, you play as the cutest Shiba Inu puppy in a standard side-scrolling game where the only way to stay alive is to steal Doge coins and underwear.
Okay, I guess it is a little strange to collect underwear to get your health back. But it’s a great runner arcade game that will keep you busy for hours. Along the way, you can win cute achievements and outfits for your dog that you can change.
Ghost Trick Phantom Detective – Missile Is One Good Boi
Ghost Trick Phantom Detective is a lost gem on the DS that was made by the same person who made Ace Attorney. It is full of puzzles, pranks, and fun. As Sissel, you have to figure out how you died and help other ghosts in the same position, like the fluffy Pomeranian Missile.
After being hit by a motorcycle, Missile turns into a ghost with supernatural skills. So, the soft puppy can now telekinetically move things in the real world. After the game came out, Missile was so famous that he even made a cameo in the Ace Attorney anime. In the book Turnabout Promise, he was taken in by the Edgeworth family. This dog is a real star!
PaRappa The Rapper Remastered – The Power Of Rap
The famous rhythm game from 1996 called PaRappa The Rapper puts you in the shoes of PaRappa. This stylish dog does boring human things to impress his friend Sunny Funny, but he does it all in rap!
Through rap and beat games, you can learn Kung-Fu, take a Driver’s Ed class, and bake a cake. You’ll impress your teachers, win the heart of Sunny Funny, and show your enemy Joe Chin who’s in charge. Just don’t play Spacebar Clicker on easy, or it will make fun of you. But before you know it, you’ll be saying “I gotta believe!”
Tokyo Jungle – Don’t Just Survive; Thrive!
In Tokyo Jungle, you play as animals that are stuck in a city. This game is a rare secret gem in the Playstation Store. The catch is that they live in a Tokyo after the end of the world where pets and zoo animals live together. A brave little Pomeranian is the main character and by far the most important one in the game. The game is a mix of traditional survival games and traditional Japanese comedy.
When there’s no more food, this brave little fluffball has to go out into the streets to keep his family of pomeranians safe. He might even meet a girl who lives in a world after the end of the world. It’s a game that still has a lot of fans because of how weird it is and how different it is from other video games.
Dog’s Life – Ever Wanted To Be An Allergen?
Back in 2003, Dog’s Life came out for the PS2. Even though the game’s controls were hard to use, the dialogue was silly, and the graphics were blocky and low-res, Dog’s Life still managed to win players’ hearts. You play the part of Jake, a stinky, farting beagle whose girlfriend Daisy is taken by Miss Peaches. She and other lost dogs will be used to make a new kind of cat food.
Really, that’s how the story goes. It’s like the movie Cruella, but a little more realistic. But it lets people be man’s best friend in a real way. You play games with other dogs, beg for pizza, make people’s allergies worse, and even go to the bathroom wherever you want. It really is like being a dog.
Wargroove – Loyal And Loving
Wargroove is a very popular asymmetrical arcade battle game with a great campaign and cross-platform multiplayer for turn-based fun against other commanders and warring groups. It’s no surprise that the leader we all want is Caesar, who is the best boy.
This fluffy Great Pyrenees is Commander Mercia’s pet and the leader of the Cherrystone troops. His friendly personality makes it possible for groups next to him to go in a different direction. This makes him one of the most inspiring leaders. He is named after Julius Caesar, a famous Roman general and ruler, so you might want to avoid Senates on the Ides of March.
Tales Of Vesperia – Can Dogs Smoke?
Fans are sure that this game is the best Tales Of game ever made. But the main story of Tales of Vesperia is about the criminal Yuri Lowell and the princess who is running away. In an epic RPG journey, their paths cross, putting the whole world in danger. There are many characters you can add to your party, but none are more loyal or badass than Yuri’s adopted dog, Repede, who smokes a pipe and carries a knife.
Because he is lower to the ground, his attacks and skills take advantage of the fact that he is faster than his opponents. Repede is one of the best characters to have in your party because he is a great thief who can get you new things.
The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess – Link, But A Dog
Have you ever thought how Link would look if he were a dog? Most likely not, but Midna makes you find out in Twilight Princess. In Twilight Princess, one of the darkest games in the series, Link tries to save Hyrule from the evil mirror world called The Twilight Realm. The curse that turns him into a wolf happens there.
As a wolf, Link’s senses are sharper, he moves faster, and he can talk to and ask animals directly. Link has to solve new puzzles and deal with new problems when he turns into a dog. Midna, a figure that fans love, rides on his back to make jokes and get help. It’s the Zelda game fans loved with a doggo twist, and we can only hope to see more of it in the future.
Okami HD – She’s A Literal Goddess
Amaterasu is without a question the best dog in gaming, and he is much more than your average dog. She is a real Sun Goddess in Shinto religion. Amaterasu has to go on a journey across feudal Japan in Okami. She must seal away the scary eight-headed monster Orochi before he wipes out all the color and life in Nippon for good.
Okami was called one of the best PlayStation games of the 2000s by both fans and reviewers, and it is still a firm favorite for many. With a beautiful open world based on Japan that is full of side tasks, players get the full doggo experience, but with a lot more mythical magic.