We all remember those early years of childhood spent on handheld games. I bet we all played Pokemon on Game Boys when they first came out, and I’m pretty sure most of us remember the Nintendogs games. But now, more memories are about to be resurrected, because one of our favorite childhood toys is now a free app, Tamagotchi L.i.f.e.. That’s right, I’m talking about Tamagotchis.
Yep, I’m serious. You can now have your favorite little digital pets on your phone without having to worry about paying the $15 for a device with those short lived batteries that are incredibly hard to find.
For those of you who don’t know (or don’t remember), a Tamagotchi is an egg shaped, handheld virtual game which houses a digital pet that kids can take care of. The name “tamagotchi” is a combination of the Japanese word for egg, “tamago,” and the English word “watch.” The games were first sold by the Japanese company Bandai in 1996 and were extremely popular worldwide.
Navigating through this device is simple, and after a while of playing you’ll find yourself getting caught up with how the pet is evolving. The device originally has three small buttons on the front: a selection button, an “okay” or action button, and a cancel button. The game starts with small screen showing an egg that wiggles for a bit and then hatches into a small pixelated pet. Each pet can be monitored through its hunger meter, happy meter, and discipline meter. Weight and age are also monitorable. The player must feed the pet meals to keep it full, play games or give the pet snacks to keep it happy, discipline it to train it, clean it, and give it medicine when its sick. With the player’s help, the pet can grow through all of the stages of its life: baby, child, teen, and adult. However, if some of the pet’s needs are not met, it could die. In the instance that the pet does die, the game can be restarted.
The app, Tamagotchi L.i.f.e., functions just like the original device, but with more additions. At the start of the game, the player can choose between a Generation 1 or Generation 2 setup. Generation 1 has the six original pets, and Generation 2 has sixother pets from a later version of the game. Different pets, shells, and background choices are available and can be unlocked as the pet matures. There are also two different modes to view the game on. There is the Toy mode which looks like the original game, egg included, and the App mode which allows the player to play in color on a full screen.
With all of the new additions and options on the app, Tamagotchi L.i.f.e. is still the fun little game you know and love, but revamped. However, this app will be terminated from the iPhone App Store on Dec. 15, so hurry up and play it while you can.
