While I was at the Penny Arcade Expo this year, I had a chance to try out a free to play game known as Faunasphere. Faunasphere is a free to play game that is quite easy to play and works right in the web browser.

It is easy to dismiss Faunasphere as just another “pet” game, and there are numerous ones out there on the Internet. I don’t know if there is one that is any more famous than another, but one of the more popular ones is a Facebook game called Pet Society. In this game, the player creates a pet avatar and then makes a home for it. Of course, no home is complete unless it is full of stuff, but to get the stuff, you need money. To get money, you need to complete certain tasks or get money from other pets.

Most pet games are just like that, and Faunasphere isn’t exactly an exception. Faunasphere isn’t about building a house, but building a better outdoor environment or “faunasphere”. You essentially walk around your faunasphere and fight corrupted squares of land which are known as pollution. Your faun can zap the pollution and receive a reward, which is often another square of land to build up the faunasphere. Characters can, of course, visit faunaspheres which tend to be very green. (Yeah, there is an environmental vibe going on in this game, which I like.) Then there are the Rock Garden, Forest Zones, Arctic Zones, and Swamp Zones.

What makes Faunasphere different is that the pets, or “fauns”, aren’t so cute. No, fauns tend to be odd by their very nature. They come in three types to begin with.

• Sniffers are dog-like creatures who can sniff out buried treasure.

• Scooters are turtle-like guys that can dive under water and pick up items there.

• Hoofers are horse-like guys that can use powerful kicks to dislodge items at the tops of trees.

This is just three of the twelve fauna that can be spotted in the game. A player can eventually learn how to hatch a new fauna, on their own and get a new type.

Of course, there can be shortcuts taken within the game if the player wishes. All he or she needs to do is spot some real cash for some new item, and it is theirs, without all of the hard work.

If you want to try out Faunasphere, just go to the website and get yourself a totally free account. I guarantee that you won’t regret it!