Children of the 80s and 90s, rejoice! Sync Beatz Entertainment — through a partnership with Bandai — are returning Tamagotchis to pockets everywhere. In true Tamagotchi fashion, the toy has been reset and brought back from the dead, this time as a smart phone app.
Tamagotchi L.I.F.E (Love Is Fun Everywhere) is now available for free from Google Play for Android phones and tablets. An ad-free version is also available for 99 cents. Just like the original keychain device, this app allows users to care for their virtual pets through regular feedings, playtime, disciplining, and picking up pixelated poop.
With two modes of play, users can opt for a classic experience that displays the original egg-shaped device controlled by three simple buttons or the full-screen app mode, which includes new features like playing rock-paper-scissors with your pet that’s controlled through the touchscreen. Properly care for your pets tol be rewarded with access to unlockable content like new characters, backgrounds, and shells.
Reaching even deeper for those memory-driven dollars of the Tamagotchi’s original users, Sync Beatz Entertainment is also adapting the app for the iOS. Moving beyond just gameplay, Sync Beatz is also preparing a Tamagochi product line including clothing, furnishings, and accessories to be released later this year.
For the foreseeable future, Tamagotchi lovers can look forward to new and extended game play. According to Shino Ueno, chief marketing officer at Sync Beatz, “As we move along, every two months, we’ll refresh the app, and it will evolve.”
Huh. But wasn’t half the fun that the battery would die or you’d forget about it for a week?