This is a collaborative post
Having grown up as a child. of the 90s, I remember my first-ever Tamagotchi with fondness. These adorable virtual pets were like nothing I’d ever seen before, growing and evolving through my care, love and (very) regular attention to become a super cute character that I would have done literally anything to protect.
Well Tama fans – Tamagotchi is BACK – and they are bigger, better and more interactive than ever!
If you’re looking for a fun, interactive pet to buy for your child (a great way to encourage responsibility and empathy), read on to learn everything you need to know about these adorable virtual pets.
What’s in the box?
- Tamagotchi Uni
- USB Charging cable
- Watch strap
- Manual
What is a Tamagotchi Uni?
Tamagotchi Uni stands for Tamagotchi University. The Tamagotchi Uni is an upgrade to the Original Tamagotchi and Tamagotchi Pix, and the first ever full colour screen. It comes with a wrist strap for motion sensor activities and games, and the ability to link up with other Tamagotchi users via the online Tamaverse.
How do you set up your Tamagotchi Uni?
Setting up our Tamagotchi Uni is really very simple to do.
First you choose the correct language, set the current date and time and then simply follow the prompts on the screen, including personalising your Tamagothic by giving your Tama a name.
You also get to pick where your Tamagotchi character lives, with a choice of Tama Japan, Tama North America or Tama Latin America.
How do you link the Tamagochi Uni to Wifi?
As part of the set up process, you need to link the Tamagotchi Uni to your wifi. This is so that you can receive the game updates (including themed events and gifts) and so that you can meet other real charcters in the Tamaverse. Setting this up is really easy to do via your phone, simply following the instructions on screen with a QR code and your wifi access code and you’re in!
Hatching your Tamagotchi ‘Tama’ character
WHen you use the Tamagotchi Uni for the first time, you choose a coloured egg from a choice of three.
Around 5 mins later your egg will start to shake vibrate and hatch – and your cute baby tama will be born. Over the next few days, your Tama will grow through several life stages including a teenager and adolescence.
Tama’s Status
You can check on your Tamagochi’s status at any time – using the menu and heading to the Status tab. This will show a visual scale of your Tama’s happiness and hunger, as well as how much money you have (more on that later). If your Tama’s mood or hunger rating gets too low, your Tama will become unwell, so it’s important to keep an eye on it regularly. You can also visually see when your Tama is unhappy as it looks sad, doesn’t move much, or sits in the corner of the room setting.
When your Tama is first born, like most newborn babies, he will be very grumpy and absolutely STARVING – so its time to give him a snack.
Feeding your Tama
Using the buttons, click through to the Food menu – here you will be given a choice of food and snacks (with delivery options coming later in. your Tama’s lifecycle). Initially, there will be only one choice – milk – and your Tama will want a LOT! However once your Tama reaches adolesense, there are lots more food options to buy – everything from Sushi to soup!
Items
Items are used to entertain, play and occupy your Tama. and initially these can be basic items such as a rattle and cleaning robot. As your Tama grows, more options will be available and you can use these items to gauge how much your Tama enjoys them. Each tama has a favourite item so it’s worth checking out them all. If you use the item that they love, their happiness rating will jump up far more quickly.
Hygiene
It’s important you keep your Tama happy and that includes cleaning up poop and bathing him. We’ve noticed that just like a potty-training toddler, our Tamagotchi Uni never seems to need the loo when you ask. but regularly poops on the floor. It’s quick and easy to clean, however, touching the bath icon to wash away any mess he’s left behind. The bath icon gives your tama a full scrub in the tub, leaving him fresh and clean ready for the day ahead.
What is a Tama walk?
Tama walk options kick in once your tama has entered child mode. Using the included wrist strap or simply holding in your hand. the Tamagotchi Uni will measure steps and movement, encouraging your children to walk for twenty minutes (whether that’s outside, or in Neve’s case, pacing around the living room like a caged lion).
As they walk, they can collect prizes and items from the Tama’s location during their travels. These items can be used later to make or craft new accessories and outfits.
What is the Tamaverse?
WIth Tamagotchi Uni, your Tama characters get the chance to meet other real Tamagotchis in the Tamaverse by heading to a Tama party. If they’re an adult, they can even choose to date another Tama and marry them! You can also complete in the Tama games with other users across the globe (once a day). It’s important to note (as we had a bit of upset when we did this for the first time) – that once you decide to marry your Tama, they drive off into the sunset together and your Tama effectively leaves, being replaced with a new egg. Tama’s do tend to like to leave after around 25 days, but Neve is stubborn and likes to keep hers for as long as possible.
What can you do with your Tamagotchi Uni?
Mini games
There are a selection of Mini games on the Tamagotchi including Matching, Speed Customers and Dancing (using the wrist strap) all of which can help you earn money to spend on food and drink (via the uber eats style delivery) or head to the Tama Mall for some more substantial shopping.
What is the Tama Mall
Using the money you’ve earned in the mini-games you can head to the mall and buy new items, accessories or even furniture for your Tamagotchi Uni’s home. You don’t have to spend any REAL money at all, so there is no need to worry about your child accessing anything they shouldn’t. Neve has bought a range of items for her Tama’s from hats, sleep masks and carnival outfits to new beds, new sofas and even Halloween decorations.
What are care icons?
If you are a good VIrtual Pet owner and take care of your Tama, you ca earn care icons which are displayed in the profile tab of your tama. You can check what care icons have been achieved at any time by going to the care icons tab on the main dashboard (under status).
Our overall thoughts on the Tamagotchi Uni
What we love
- Tamagotchi Uni comes with a USB-C rechargeable battery and the battery life is pretty good – around 3-5 days. The Tama does give you a bit of warning when it’s time to plug it in (although that didn’t stop Neve from panicking that her Tama was going to die.
- The Tamgotchi Uni device updates regularly to include seasonal items in the Tama Mall – something that Neve really appreciated! She also loved that it told her happy birthday and decorated her home for Halloween.
- The Tama Walk and Dancing games promote movement and exercise, getting children more willing to get up and gp outside. A bit like Pokemon Go, there is an incentive to collect items on the Tama Walk which makes a great reward when they get home.
- Your child can really get involved with personalising their Tama’s world, including their style, clothing and home.
- The graphics have improved A LOT since the basic ones we had back in the 90s, with a colour screen, sounds (which can be turned off) and a high level of attention to detail.
Things you need to know about Tamagotchi Uni
Here are some things that you may want to bear in mind before you get a Tamagotchi Uni.
- First up – Nothing averts panic quite like the words ‘Where is my Tamagotchi?’. Neve has put her Tamagotchi down around the house MANY times and then almost had a nervous breakdown because she could not find it. Of course this is usually at nighttime, or just before bed.
- You can give your Tama a babysitter once a day, meaning your tama will be looked after if your child is at school – otherwise you may find that you get roped into doing it! The babysittng is a really valuable feature, but it’s important you don’t leave them with one for any longer than necessary or your Tama’s mood will be effected.
- Unlike some of the earlier Tamagotchis, there is no tama app with this one – presumably to remove the need for the child to have a smart phone or tablet device.
- When you wish to marry your Tama, you only get a choice of four to marry – which feels a bit stingy. Marrying also makes your tama leave – something my child actually cried about!
- It’s also worth noting that there is no gene mixing – so the new egg (your couple’s baby) won’t necessarily look like its parents – they appear to be chosen at random
Can your Tamagotchi Uni die?
There have been a few occasions where we have left our tama behind when we’ve gone out and were worried he would be dead by the time we returned. The good news is, although happiness and hunger were very depleted and he was sat in the bottom right corner looking VERY sorry for himself, we were able to revive him by tapping the keys lots and giving him a healthy dose of food and attention.
One day I accidentally left him at home all day and he did die – I felt awful! This was after a good 8+ hours without attention, so kind of understandable. If tis happens, you need to reset the Tamagotchi Uni and a new egg appears on the screen. You can always see details of previous Tama’s in the profile tab, so even when they;re gone, they’re never truly forgotten.
