Littlest Pet Shop for Android is a wonderful children’s game. But be wary, parents, the design is manipulative and will drive your child to drain your pocketbook.

Littlest Pet Shop is adorable. You are in charge of your own pet shop and pet friendly neighborhood. Build structures, adopt an array of animals, take care of them, buy treats, toys and outfits too. The fun part is grooming, bathing and playing with all the animals. This game is part virtual pet, part Sim pet village. There’s a lot here to entice the little ones and keep their imagination engaged. The game can also teach responsibility, and maybe delay that push to get a real household pet until everyone is ready to take that on.

The graphics are very cute. Blow drying the doggies is as fun to watch as it is to do. The animation is really high quality, which is why this game is such a drain on your battery. The controls work quite well and were highly responsive. I think this would look and play equally good on phones and tablets.

The biggest downside of this app is the greedy upgrades. It’s almost impossible to go very far with this game without running into the need to spend money. And the developers have overloaded the store with so many possibilities that kids will go nuts wanting to try them all. Having a good time choices and options is one thing, but then there’s just manipulative overkill.

Littlest Pet Shop will surely entertain, but it’s a money pit for parents. I can recommend the play but am hesitant to be overly enthusiastic due to the high cost.