A beautifully done experience which has been vastly underrated and under recognized.
I don't feel that Viva Pinata can be described justly but likening it to another game, but rather as a mixture between a couple of games. If you took the collective aspect of the Pokemon franchise, the creative gameplay of any Sims game, and the mindless euphoria of a party game, you get something not quite as good as this game. It seems to have all the upsides of each of these games, and none of the monotony and game flaws.
The main idea of Viva is to design and run a garden in order to attract and please pinata residents. In order to do this you need to do a variety of things, as each species of pinata has different requirements to appear, visit, and become a resident of your garden. These are usually small things that carry over into each of the categories. For example, you might need to have three apples in your garden to have a Mousemallow visit, but then all it has to do to become a resident is eat three apples.
Once a pinata becomes a resident, there are a variety of things to do, including "romancing", variety changing, and accessorizing. Romancing is how you get more of a species in your garden. After fulfilling some other minor requirements, a heart will appear above the entranced pinata and you can guide them to their significant other. A short minigame will follow and soon you'll receive an egg which will hatch into a baby pinata, thus expanding your collection. There are also varieties in color and sometimes a new species can be created by feeding your pinata different fruits, flowers, and a combination thereof. There are also many accessories which can be purchased and added to your pinata to increase their value.
There are numerous design options for your garden that consist of surfaces like grass, dirt, and water, as well as trees to plant, shrubs to grow, and produce to collect. You may also do business with the local inhabitants of pinata island, who may assist you with finding pinata, buying accessories to put in you garden, upgrading your tools, and building houses for your pinata, to name a few. Due to the many things that are available to be done, there is never a slow dead moment in the game.
Viva Pinata seems to have the perfect balance between creative gameplay, goals to strive for, and things to do that are just plain fun. I consider myself to be a pretty tough game critic, and usually don't waste my time playing games that aren't worth it. So let the fact that I easily spent a few hours each day for about a month and half playing this game speak for itself.
I highly recommend this game to anyone who wants a guilty pleasure from a video game that is addicting, relaxing, and perfect in just about every way.