Dungeon Petz is one of the few board games I personally own. Most of the ones I play are owned by the family at large, but this one was given to me because it was one of my favorites. It was own of my favorites for two simple reasons:
1. It was really cute looking
2. It was a resource management game, which is one of my favorite board game types, right under tile placing games.
Despite its rather cute appearance though, it is actually a really complicated game, and not exactly light gaming material. In it, you play as a family of imps, who after the dungeon lord they used to work for is vanquished decide to open a pet shop for other dungeon lords…Which happened to be the same idea the other imps in the area had, so now they are all competing on who can make the most famous pet shop.
I won’t get too much into the rules of the game, partly because this is a review, not a game explanation, and partly because there’s a lot of rules. The basic set-up is not too hard to grasp; you  put your imps into teams, send teams out to get pets and stuff for pets, and then use stuff for pets to take care of their nerds. Which needs are taken care determine how well they will do in the contest and buyers eyes, which determine how much fame you get. Whoever has the most fame at the end of the game, wins. Simple enough, right?
But going over what all the different needs are, and how the different things take care of them tends to make newbies head. It’s not hard-core heavy gamer, this will take 6+ hours, or anything, but it’s not light gaming either, which the cute appearance tends to make it seem. I mean, just look at these pets. They’re so cute!

The entire art form and set-up of the game is adorable. (By the way, a few of these creatures in the picture are from the expansion, so you won’t get them in the regular game set). The rule book makes jokes and puns. It’s all very silly and light in mood and feeling, it’s the actual gameplay that’s not.
There is a certain amount of convenience though to this disconnect. Since I tend to like games that are cute and light in feeling, the general mood of the game lets me get into the game, despite me being a mostly light to light-moderate gamer, while the game still appeals to my more heavy gaming older siblings and parents.
 The board itself.

These are the cards that determine what needs need to be fulfilled. Different colors have different percentages of how many of what need is on the card. The pets themselves determine how many of what color needs to be fulfilled.

 
Summary of the game:
Type: Resource management. Mid to heavy-medium in difficulty and complexity.
Players: 2-4, but best with 4.
Style and Feel of the Game: Cute and Silly
My Recommended Audience: People who are already gamers, as this is not a great introduction game. I’d suggest families who are gamers, but really just anyone who is already familiar with gaming, and likes the style.
 
Please note that this review is based entirely around my own opinions and does not represent anyone else’s. Thank you for reading.