Getting started
How do I breed my first litter?
Meet your two starter dogs, go to Breed, and pair a female with a male. Watch the stork deliver the litter, then keep your favorites in the kennel or place the rest. That's the whole loop — everything else builds on it.
What are hidden (recessive) genes?
Each dog carries genes it doesn't visibly show. A puppy might look just like mom, just like dad, or pull a rare surprise out of the family tree generations later. Coat color and markings usually travel together as a package unless you use gene-slicing breeding methods to lock specific traits.
How do puppies grow up?
Kept puppies become adults after about 20 minutes of in-app time — the timer counts down while the game is open. Puppies can still enter the puppies-only Puppy League events while they grow. In a hurry? The Birthday Cake item adds an instant Age Up button.
Playing the game
How do competitions and odds work?
Competitions run from Backyard up through Local, State, Nationals, International, Universe, and the Legends circuit. Each event cares about different stats, and higher stats mean better odds.
Odds are a chance, not a promise. If the odds say 70%, your dog wins about 7 of every 10 imagined shows. Only 100% is a guaranteed win — anything less can still surprise you on show day.
What is the Dog Exchange?
A marketplace for buying dogs with new traits or bloodlines, and selling pups you don't keep for coins and kennel space. A dog that's earned ribbons and titles is worth more, so competing before selling can raise the offer.
What is the DNA Lab?
Collect a favorite dog's DNA (free) to preserve its genome, portrait, and family links forever. Later, with The Sequencer from the Store, you can clone it back. Clones keep the saved genes exactly — they don't invent new genetics.
What are props and Dress Up?
Props are decorative accessories — hats, wings, and other deeply unserious finery. Buy a prop once and use it on any number of dogs; drag, resize, and rotate it, and place it behind or in front of the dog. Props never affect scores, genes, odds, or sale value. They're purely for style and screenshots.
Money, data & your device
Is Dog Genome Game free? What can I buy?
The game is free to play. Optional purchases are cozy extras: coin packs (a shortcut — every coin is also earnable by playing), the Wolf Pack supporter bundle (a breedable wolfdog line plus 25,000 coins), and Quick Compete (a planner that enters dogs in bulk to save taps).
Nothing is pay-to-win: all gameplay power is earnable with coins, and Quick Compete never improves odds, scores, prizes, or results.
Is there any gambling or loot boxes?
No. There are no slot machines, no spinning reels, no wagers, and no randomized or mystery-box purchases of any kind. Every purchase is a clear, named item, and litter outcomes are part of normal breeding — never a bet.
Do I need an account or internet?
Neither. The game has no accounts and no sign-in, and it's fully playable offline. Your progress lives on your device. An optional iCloud backup (your own iCloud) lets you restore on a new phone.
Will I lose my game on a new iPhone? How do I restore purchases?
With iCloud Drive enabled, installing the game on a new device signed in to the same Apple Account restores your save automatically on first launch. To re-enable one-time purchases (like the Wolf Pack), open the game's Settings and tap Restore Purchases. Full steps are on the Support page.
Is it kid-friendly?
Yes — it's rated 4+. The games collect no data from anyone, have no chat or social features, and no way to share personal information. See the Privacy Policy for details.
Is there a cat version?
Cat Genome Game is in development — the same real-genetics engine, now with kittens, a Cattery, colorpoints, and torties. Preview it on the cat page.