Nostalgia Shelf
A little shelf for the games and other things that have stuck with me over the years.
If we're being honest, this is 99% a Petz shelf.
Petz Games
Petz started with a floppy disc, and ended with a ready to play zip file (mutiple versions of this exist, hosted by a variety of different community members). There are various games Ubisoft shoved under the Petz branding, but they're not "canon" to the games originally developed by PF. Magic.
I have very fond memories of playing Petz with my sister, and my mother proudly explaining to relatives that it was educational as I'd learned how to use AXE to edit breed files! So naturally I now collect physical copies of the game, to proudly display on my Nostalgia Shelf!
Eventually I'm hoping to get my hands on various non-English language releases of the games, but that's a dream for another day!
Big Box Releases
Catz
1996 · CD
Big Box (Sealed), UK Release
PC Windows 3.1 & Windows 95, + Macintosh
Dogz
1995 · CD
Big Box, UK Release
PC Windows 3.1 & Windows 95, + Macintosh
Catz II
1997 · CD
Big Box, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Dogz II
1997 · CD
Big Box, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Catz 3
1998 · CD
Big Box (Sealed), UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Catz 3
1998 · CD
Big Box, UK Release · Duplicate, Unsealed
PC Windows 95/98
came with the Dogz 3 big box
Dogz 3
1998 · CD
Big Box, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Dogz 4
1999 · CD
Big Box (slightly battered condition), UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Jewel Case Releases
Catz
1996 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release
PC Windows 3.1 & Windows 95, + Macintosh
Dogz
1995 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release
PC Windows 3.1 & Windows 95, + Macintosh
Catz II
1997 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Dogz II
1997 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Catz 3
1998 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Dogz 3
1998 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Dogz 4
1999 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Keep Case Releases
Dogz 4
1999 · CD
Keep Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Dogz 5
2001 · CD
Keep Case, UK Release
Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
Catz 4
1999 · CD
Keep Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Catz 5
2001 · CD
Keep Case, UK Release
Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
Game Boy Colour Releases
Dogz
1999 · Game Boy Colour
Game Boy Colour Cartridge, UK Release
Catz
1999 · Game Boy Colour
Game Boy Colour Cartridge, UK Release
Babyz
Babyz has only one actual game version, but seemingly they couldn't make up their minds how they wanted to package the actual Babyz.
The original Babyz.net advised that "each box comes with one unique infant whose picture is on the front, plus 15 additional Babyz on CD". That sounds straightforward enough, but this wasn't actually the case everywhere — at least not in the UK!
In the US, the packaging seems to have followed this promise: the unique baby was shown on the front of the box, so you could see which baby you were getting before buying the game.
Over in the UK, things were rather different. Some releases only mentioned the 15 Babyz available through the browser-based adoption centre, while others apparently did include a unique baby, but without a publicly viewable preview of which baby you were getting.
Personally, I've only come across UK releases without a unique baby of any kind. However, other community members have reliably informed me that their copies did come with a baby, so those discs must exist somewhere!
Babyz
1999 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
No unique baby code
Babyz
1999 · CD
Big Box, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
No unique baby code, but included a microphone.
Babyz
1999 · CD
Keep Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
Babyz
1999 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release (SoftKey)
PC Windows 95/98
Babyz Code: 1362-qbaa-aaaP-gbd
Babyz
1999 · CD
Jewel Case, UK Release
PC Windows 95/98
No unique baby code
Misc. Games
Other games I enjoyed enough to collect physical copies of.
Theme Hospital
2003 · CD
Keep Case, UK Release
Windows XP
I thought this game was a fever dream, but it's real!
Zoo Tycoon
2001 · CD
Keep Case, UK Release
Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
I loved this game as a child, I'd sneak onto the computer "after hours" to play it.
Pippa Funnell: The Stud Farm Inheritance
2004 · CD
Keep Case, UK Release
Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
One of many, many horse games I loved as a teenager.
Mary King's Riding Star
1999 · CD
Keep Case, UK Release
Windows 95
THE horse game of my youth! I spent hours playing, creeping onto the computer after dark to enjoy looking after Star.