Since then Tamagotchi Uni became available globally last summer, it feels like a product with a lot of unrealized potential.
Note that I say this as someone who loves this device and has used it daily since launch. But in addition to all the basic activities expected of a digital pet toy at this point, the Wi-Fi-enabled Tamagotchi Uni promised users “Tamaverse,” a virtual playground that will expand the Tamagotchi experience like never before. So far, it really hasn’t.
Sure, players could send their characters there to “meet” others, go on little vacations, and buy outfits, but these little activities don’t really add up to much. The “Journey” experience involved watching a short animation and sometimes eating a special food, item, or achievement badge. Even the blending aspect was quite limited, allowing players to send only one Heart (a “like” to receive another player’s Tamagotchi) per day.
Despite being Uni’s biggest selling point, the Tamaverse has been slow to live up to the expectations Bandai has set. This seems to be changing in a big way.
With the update released on March 19th – version 1.6.0 – Bandai has opened up the Tama Portal, an area of the Tamaverse that has been under siege all this time. A few days later, he released the first two DLC packs for Tamagotchi Uni in the form of “Tamaverse Tickets”, which allow users to travel to new locations through that portal. In a bonus, unrelated Tamaverse move, the update also answers players’ desperate pleas for more item storage by adding “My Box,” where excess items can be stacked so you don’t have to delete old gifts to make room for new ones. .
The first two Tamaverse Tickets, dubbed DLC, are available now. Someone who takes you Very Berry Landis free and the other is for LoveMelo concert, the price is $6. Each new area comes with a number of additional characters you can level up (including some new to the franchise), a themed minigame, and a shop with new food, items, accessories, and furniture you can buy with Gotchi Points. .
This is the kind of depth that virtual space always implies. Now it feels like we’re finally seeing what the Tamaverse can really be. Hopefully, this is just the beginning.
There will certainly be those who balk at paying for some free DLC, and while I can’t say I blame them for that, it doesn’t bother me for what we got. Buying a ticket gives you access to a download code that can be used three times. Once the code is registered on the device, you can visit that location as often as you like and switch freely between the different locations you’ve downloaded. This means I was able to use the same codes to download Very Berry Land and LoveMelo Concert on both Tamagotchi Unis, leaving me with one use per ticket in case I ever need to reset.
As in Tamagotchi Smart’s DLC, physical TamaSma cards, only one Tamaverse Ticket can be active at a time, so switching will remove any location-specific items or food in your inventory, but you won’t need to re-enter the code to switch back. When you visit the Tama Portal, all of a person’s uploaded locations can be found in a new list called DL Area.
It’s not just the one or two characters that come with each location, you also get it six. Some people buy brand new devices for this kind of expansion (definitely not me… haha…). And the free Very Berry Land brings back the fan-favorite Ichigotchi, which feels like a win for everyone.
The DLC also reintroduces the method of obtaining special characters by feeding your newborn Tamagotchis certain foods or playing with a certain item three times before reaching adulthood. I was very excited to try and get Tanghulutchi, the new character that came with Very Berry Land, and I fed teenage Tama plenty of Fruity Candy snacks in the hope that he would make it out. It worked! (I’m still dying real candied fruit treat on its own behalf, Tangulu. Thanks Bandai).
I’m strong enough to leave once Memetchi On my other device running LoveMelo Concert, I’ll probably try to get the new character Drumcrubitchi.
All the items you can buy at Tama Portal locations are currently significantly cheaper than regular Tama Mall offerings, with furniture and accessories ranging from 200 to 500 Gotchi Points. It’s really nice to have some new mini-games to freshen up the daily mode, since there aren’t many games on the device when offline, and the games they added to the first Tamaverse locations are great.
In Very Berry Land you can play Cake Factory, where you have to move your character to place strawberries on slices of cake as they go down the conveyor belt. It’s a style of play we’ve seen before, but it’s a bit more exciting than other similar versions, as the pace really picks up in the second half of the round.
LoveMelo Concert brings back celebrities Guitar Hero-style rhythm game format that we saw in Tama Arena (twice). Nyanoe dancebut new Happy Happy Harmony presents a different song to try and follow. It’s actually quite a difficult game, and the kind of game I’ll have to obsessively revisit until I can improve it. Nyanoe dance it’s clearly been well received and I’m sure many fans will be delighted to see a version of it find a permanent home at Uni one way or another.
One of the best things about earlier versions of the modern Tamagotchi, like the Tamagotchi On, was the joy of discovery when you unlocked a new location. The new Tama Portal directions have the same feel, and I can only hope that Bandai continues it beyond the extra expansions it sold with the 1.6.0 update.
The announcement materials indicated that there are at least three more DL areas on the way, including a DL area Tamamori fashion show set to drop at the end of May. This world features a few completely unreleased Tamagotchi character designs — like a pair of anthropomorphic work boots, I kid you not, Bootsbrothers — and I really can’t wait. Other areas have not yet been announced.
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