If you’ve got an old Tamagotchi gathering dust in a drawer somewhere, this is your sign to bring it back to life and experience the nostalgia. rebooted my childhood Tamagotchi
Rebooting one of my Tamagotchis has been a long time coming. I’ve held onto my Tamagotchi Connection Version 3 since I got it in 2006, keeping it in decent condition despite moving halfway across the country for university and living in an array of awful student houses. About six months ago I picked up some new batteries for the virtual pet ‘just in case’ I decided it was time, but my partner made the decision for me late last month by casually offering to change the battery while I worked. And thus, Gleeb was born.
If you’re either too old or too young to know what a Tamagotchi is, it’s a small egg-shaped virtual pet from the 2000s that was notorious for annoying parents, several Tamagotchi spin-off games, and getting banned in schools across the globe. The V3 specifically launched in February 2006, iterating on the previous Tamagotchi Connection’s infrared communication technology and adding an Internet hub world called Tamatown.
The basic premise is that you hatch an egg, name your virtual pet, and then look after it through the various stages of its life – baby, toddler, teen, and adult. Then, your Tamagotchi either finds love and has a child, starting the cycle again, or they become elderly and die. This is, of course, if you’re able to stop them dying from starvation, illness, or a screen filled with poop first.
I’m very proud to say that so far, my son Gleeb has three generations in his family and I haven’t killed a single one. Sure, there have been some close calls when I forgot about my child for several hours on a night out, or I accidentally gave him so much cake that he got a toothache, but compared to my younger self, I’m practically parent of the year. As I don’t know anyone in real life who also has a Tamagotchi, my pets have found love through the in-game matchmaker, but one day I would like to use the infrared communication again.
The gameplay loop of looking after a Tamagotchi can only really be described as 2006’s version of an idle mobile game. Checking up on my pet’s health and happiness meters, playing a little minigame, and then going about my day is extremely similar to most mobile games in the idle genre, but due to the offline nature of the Tamagotchi, you’re not constantly bombarded with ads and microtransactions. This is one of the reasons why I think some people, particularly those with ADHD tendencies like myself, could benefit from swapping out checking their smartphone with checking a Tamagotchi. There are just fewer ways that it could negatively affect your mood or bank balance.
As for the device itself, considering it’s nearly 20 years old, my Tamagotchi is in full working order. Its 32 x 30 pixel LCD screen only uses green and black, but it’s still easy to read and stands out against the background. The Tamagotchi only uses three buttons for menu navigation, minigames, and settings, and all three work as intended and have the added benefit of squishy silicone covers so they don’t hurt to press. The speaker definitely isn’t broken because Gleeb and his children are loud as hell when they need attention, and the paint on the colorful shell has remained intact. These things were made to last.
Of course, as a virtual pet, Tamagotchis are primarily marketed towards children, so the gameplay isn’t exactly complex, but it’s still really fun even nowadays. Now that I’m an adult and am slightly better at time management, I’ve realized how easy it is to successfully look after a Tamagotchi, so the joy instead comes from playing minigames and finding out what my specific creature enjoys. My favorite minigames are ‘Get ♪’ and ‘Flag’, both of which are very simple but thanks to the fanfare at the end, feel great to clear.
While of course, I’m glad that the technical side of my Tamagotchi has stood the test of time, I’m also glad that it’s still as eye-catching as it was years ago. In Japan especially, the other primary audience for Tamagotchis is young women, where they’re marketed more as a fashion accessory than a toy. That’s why they come with a keychain loop, so you can attach your pet to your phone or handbag. My Tamagotchi lives on my equally kawaii Sanrio lanyard alongside a rubber strap keychain that Ruby got me from the Bandai Namco store, and I always get compliments on it when I go out. As someone who’s massively into Japanese fashion subcultures, I really appreciate this added benefit of my Tamagotchi.
I’ve credited the online Tamagotchi community before in my previous history feature, but I’ll happily sing their praises again – the admins of the Tamagotchi Fandom wiki have done an incredible job at documenting all of the quirks of the V3 model, as well as every other device that Bandai has made. Thanks to their pages, I’ve been able to see at a glance which of the potential 52 characters my pet would grow into based on my level of care, and check which foods it does and doesn’t like. In 2006, I might have figured this out through pure luck if I fed my pet a donut and heard a new fanfare, but I doubt I would know what to do with that information. We may not have Tamatown to visit on the Internet anymore, but I’m glad that the Tamagotchi community has put so much effort into preserving this information for people like me.
All of this is to say that I think in the year 2024, everyone should own a Tamagotchi. They’re cute fashion accessories, they’re entertaining, and they’re a great fidget toy or distraction on your commute that doesn’t involve advertising or the risk of microtransactions. If you don’t have an old model to reboot at home, Bandai rereleased the Tamagotchi Connection series a few years ago to celebrate the 20th anniversary, so you can experience the nostalgia for yourself. For me, this was mostly a test to see if I should splash out on a Tamagotchi Uni, the latest, updated model with a ton of new features and a color screen, and I think the answer is a resounding yes.