Growing up in the last 90s and 2000s, Digi devices such as the original Tamagotchi and Digimon virtual pet device gave me hours and hours of fun, and hundreds and hundreds of poop to clean. Watching my digital pets evolve over time allowed younger me to form bonds over time, and even mourn when they eventually died. Tamagotchi Paradise is the latest device in the Tamagotchi range and my first Digi device in around twenty years.
Technology has evolved immensely in the last couple of decades. I was shocked opening up my Tamagotchi Paradise to immediately see a fully coloured screen as well as a turn dial on the top right of the device (more on that later).
The turn dial is a new feature that allows users to view their Tamagotchi from four different “views”: Space view, Field view, Tama view, and Cell view. Each of these views has different functions and allows you to interact with your Tamagotchi in different ways. In Field view, you can clean poop and watch your Tamagotchi play with objects you’ve placed in the field. Tama view is where you care for your Tamagotchi by feeding, cleaning, and playing with them. Cell view is mainly for when your Tamagotchi is feeling ill, you can zoom inside your pet’s body and cure any illnesses they may have.
Space view allows users to view their Tamagotchi planet. The Tamagotchi Planet is born as soon as you turn on your Tamagotchi for the first time, with a predetermined Tama Field relating to the colour Tamagotchi you own. The pink-shelled Tamagotchi Paradise has the “Land” Tama Field, blue has the “Water” Tama Field, while the purple sky-shelled device begins with the “Sky” Tama Field. No matter what device is owned, all three Tama Fields can be unlocked after some progression with your Planet level. Each field has exclusive species of Tamagotchi, so it is worth experimenting with different Fields once unlocked.
Tamagotchi Paradise brings over 50 Tamagotchi characters with up to 50,000 possible combinations of Tamagotchi available through breeding different genes. I’ve only experimented once with breeding, but I’m excited to see what different variants and variables I can create using different pairs.
While watching your Tamagotchi thrive, you can participate in two different types of games. First, in Tama view, you can play some games with your Tamagotchi to increase its happiness. These games are fairly simple, and use the A and B buttons, with only one utilising the turn dial, which ended up being my favourite of the four.
The more entertaining Mini Games, where you can earn Gotchi Points, can be found in the Tamagotchi Paradise’s in-built Lab Mode app, which grants access to new menus, including your user info and mission progress, as well as a Shop where you can spend the Gotchi Points you have earned.
As you can see, there’s a lot of content within this little device. I’ve barely scratched the surface, as more features become available as you level up your Tamagotchi Planet. I felt a bit overwhelmed by how much more complex Tamagotchi has become since I last owned one, but was surprised by just how much depth this particular SKU has. Tamagotchi Paradise is an easy recommendation to long-time Tamagotchi fans, or new and younger ones that want a digital friend that we all had when we were younger.
