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Maybe a Tamagotchi Will Help
Why digital pets are sparking joy right now
My Tamagotchi, which I’ve named Tamagotchi III, chirps beside me as I doomscroll. I detach my eyes from Twitter and attend to Tamagotchi’s needs: He is hungry but refuses the apple pie I offer him, opting instead for a bottle of milk.
He’s my third Tamagotchi hatchling; the first, Tamagotchi I, died — I forgot about him for a day, so he starved. The second, Tamagotchi II, grew fat and happy and returned to his home planet. Now I nurture Tamagotchi III all day every day so that he will hopefully do the same, making way for Tamagotchi IV.
Though my mother says I had a Tamagotchi when I was a kid — which she claims was “so annoying” — I don’t remember it at all. Therefore, I consider this Tamagotchi device, which has birthed the above three hatchlings so far, my first. The product, a Hello Kitty Tamagotchi that launched in December 2020, is the latest in the device’s parent company Bandai’s yearlong attempt to reintroduce Tamagotchi to a younger American audience 25 years after its initial 1996 launch.
Here’s the thing: I love my Tamagotchi. I love that it gives me a momentary respite from my phone or computer. I love caring for this odd little alien (Tamagotchi, canonically, are aliens) so that he’ll grow up happy and healthy enough to return home. I love how straightforward, easy, and accessible the job of taking care of him is. I love the product’s smooth, egg shape, and I love that when I’m bored or tired or stressed out by the world, I have a little creature who not only is fun to play with but actively needs my attention to survive.
For these reasons, I think you should consider coughing up the $15 to $58 (depending on the model) for your own Tamagotchi and get one for your kid while you’re at it. For some folks, the pleasure gleaned from the nostalgia factor makes it worth the money alone. Others, like myself, will appreciate how simple and rewarding it is to nurture a Tamagotchi from a freshly hatched baby to a full-grown, independent animal alien.
Tamagotchi have remained popular in Japan over the years, but in the United States, the late ’90s fervor over the miniature handheld virtual pet subsided quickly, leaving long-time American Tamagotchi fans to resort to the…
