Pet Groomer

Pet Groomer is a cosy grooming salon. Every client is a pet sitting on the table: a cat, a dog, a rabbit, a guinea pig or a pony, from a Persian and a Corgi to a Lop, a curly Teddy and a Shetland with a long mane, each with its own coat colour and markings. Some are seniors with grey muzzles and some ride in a little set of wheels. Each one comes with an owner's wish shown as picture cards: a show-ready style, a summer cut, a birthday party, a rainy-day coat or a holiday look, a colour palette and one accessory they would love to see.

Every step is a small hands-on job. Drag the shampoo over the coat until the foam covers the mud, then rinse every bubble away with the shower. Blow-dry until the fur puffs up, and brush back and forth over the little knots until they come loose. Pick a cut and follow the dotted guide with the scissors: tidy, short, medium, teddy, a lion cut with a round pony mane, pom-poms or heart-shaped patches, with clippings drifting down onto the table. Pet-safe pastel chalk, glitter spray and dip-dyed tips come in twelve colours, and 36 accessories in seven drawers include bows, bandanas, collars, hats, sunglasses, coats and tiny boots, each one in any colour. Gentle, slow strokes fill the happiness meter, and the pet purrs, wags, flicks its ears or nickers to say thank you. Nothing ever hurts and nobody is ever scared.

When the look is ready, the curtains close, the camera counts down and a polaroid drops in with confetti and applause. The groom is scored out of 100 on the steps you finished, how well the cut and the accessory fit the wish, the palette and how happy the pet is, with stars at 60, 80 and 95 and a row of icons that shows where every point came from. Happy clients build a streak, the high score the game keeps for you, and a new daily client arrives every day. If you would rather just relax, Free Studio has no brief and no score: choose any pet, breed, coat and markings, groom it however you like, save it to the wall of fame and download a photo. A quick groom takes a few minutes with a mouse on a desktop or a finger in portrait on a phone.