Neopets vs Virtual Families
Neopets
Neopets is rather old yet entertaining simulation/virtual world game that lets you adopt and take care of magical and unique pets. This means that you'll be expected to build them a home, buy them food, clothes and other cool stuff. Set in a cartoonish and immense world, you can even set off on exciting adventures with your pet. Best part is that thepets in this game can grow alongside you and they have different looks for different stages of growth, much like the Pokemon in a Pokemon game. There are plenty of fun mini-games to keep you engaged for hours on end as well.
Although the game is a bit on the old side (being released in 1997 and all), the game still holds its charm for players who want a game that's a combination of a usual pet simulation/collection game with a virtual world game. It's free to play and you can play it directly from your browser!
Virtual Families
Virtual Families is a fun family simulation game where you'll be in charge of taking care of a virtual family. Somewhat similar to The Sims albeit in a much smaller scale, you'll get to adopt a virtual person of your choice and encourage him or her to do what young adult humans do - find a stable career, meet a suitable partner and settle down to start a family. Instead of ordering your sim around though, you'll encourage certain behavior by praising and discourage others by scolding. In some way, you can say that you can actually shape the personality of your little virtual person.Aside from the sim, you'll also get to improve the newly-wed's home. There are even multiple hidden puzzles all over the place for you to find and solve. Sometimes, when you least expect it, an event will pop up threatening to turn the amazing virtual life you've built for your sim completely upside down! All of these provide some respite from the usual daily routine of your sims as they go about their day.
Virtual Families is an incredibly fun game especially for fans of life simulation games like The Sims. If you got the chance, you should really check this game out! The demo is free to play, but for the full experience, you'll need to buy the game.