Viva Piñata is a first-person life simulation game in which the player restores and tends to a neglected garden on Piñata Island. The player uses gardening tools, such as shovels and watering cans, to plough their garden, sow seeds, create ponds, and sculpt the garden to their liking. When certain requirements are fulfilled, the garden will attract a black-and-white outline of a given piñata species. After fulfilling additional requirements, the piñata will become a resident, changing into a full-color version.

Once two piñatas of the same species are residents and their mating requirements are met, they can perform a "romance" dance. If the player successfully completes a maze minigame, the romance results in a baby piñata egg, which is delivered by a stork. The piñatas are not gendered, and hence any two piñatas of the same species can mate. Once a piñata species has successfully romanced, the player can use a candy shortcut to bypass their original romance requirements. The player can hatch the egg or send it to another player over Xbox Live. The game's antagonists include the "Ruffians" led by Professor Pester and "sour piñatas" who occasionally enter the player's garden with the sole intent of wreaking havoc: eating seeds, dropping poisonous piñata candies, and destroying objects. The player may tame sour piñatas by constructing fences around them. Weeds may occasionally sprout in the player's garden and will quickly spread to destroy vegetable rows if the player does not kill them in time. A Windows version, handled by Climax Group, was released in November 2007. The game started the Viva Piñata series, with a direct sequel and a portable version both released in 2008. Viva Piñata is included in Rare's 2015 Rare Replay, a compilation of 30 games for the Xbox One.

Release Date 2006-11-09

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