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On an island in the middle of a distant ocean, I was gathering people to live together. I’m experimenting with them. I watch them react to the foods I feed them and the strange clothes I put on them. They call me divine.
I call this island “Togetherness.” That’s totally fine, isn’t it? Everything is fine.
Such was my experience with Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, Nintendo’s strangest game Converts The game is in for a long time. A sequel to a Nintendo 3DS game I’ve never played, it’s a life simulation — a bit like Animal Crossing, if Animal Crossing were completely messed up and full of people you created yourself.
It’s also a place where Miis – Nintendo gaming avatars that have been around since the Wii – are highlighted. You create them, you make them meet each other, you watch them do weird things and just… keep going. It offers an amazing amount of customization, and even comes with its own created scary sounds, which you can set to be as annoying as you want.
I found comfort and joy just a few weeks ago Pokemon Bucopia. This time, it’s more about laughter and mayhem. Don’t expect much from the agency at Tomodachi Life. You’re not personally “on” the island, controlling a character like you would in Pokopia or Animal Crossing. Instead, you are the creator, building a world and introducing both useful and chaotic elements.
It reminded me of something I couldn’t put my finger on. Then, while watching a TV show with my child who had never seen it before, the message arrived: It’s The Good Place.
That’s why I created Miis based on all the Good Place characters. She makes Chidi and Eleanor fall in love and get married. Tahani and Jason live next to each other.
You can customize your Miis in many ways. I like my weird one – this one isn’t mine.
For the other islanders, I named my Miis after all the prescription drug ads I saw on Hulu while watching The Good Place. Dupixent, Breztri, Nurtec, Tremfya… they’re all here and do a great job, for the most part.
The “ant farm” was an idea I had as my island slowly grew – more residents arriving, and new facilities appearing, which the game introduced via headlines: a clothing store, a household goods store, a food store, and a news station. As you progress, new features begin to appear. Surprises. Sometimes the islanders sleep and have dreams you can watch, from which things appear: a toy robot, a makeup kit. Sometimes May questions me about my childhood obsessions.
As you progress – feeding your Miis things that make them happy, helping catch them when they fall or playing games with them (red light/green light, guessing games) – you earn money, and they level up. Can be layered with sayings or quirky custom gestures. You can give them gifts or send them on mini vacations (just to take selfies, which I save to my Switch).
You can suggest topics for them to talk about – phrases that are inserted into chats as Mad Libs, like “Weird Al” or “smooth grandma.” At some point, the Guardians and LeBalfi became obsessed with talking about Sam Darnold. Or Kisonla and exile?
Did I mention you sometimes throw a miss in a pickup game?
I felt myself getting a little drunk on my own strength. God of boredom. All these mei multiply as I add more – calling me the Divine One (optional), and doing their weird little things. The strange daily ritual made me and my child laugh, but it’s also a game that starts after a half-hour session. You do what you can, buy things, solve resident problems, then watch for a bit, log out and come back later.
How far does this go? I don’t know. I played about 10 hours and built houses for more than a dozen residents. I can go further than that. You can expand and customize the island through purchases – or even by painting or designing your own items. You can only build as much land as the game allows within fenced boundaries around the perimeter, but these boundaries continue to expand as you add more residents. Every day, or every other day, brings new discoveries. I’m also a bad island designer.
It’s hard to recommend Tomodachi Life. If you want an exotic habitat for your Mii to take care of — or just some weird Nintendo hardware in your life — dive right in. but Animal Crossing: New Horizons And Pokemon Pokopia are better and more engaging games. The passive nature of Tomodachi also feels like it might be better suited for a phone or tablet. And at $60, it seems overpriced.
Sometimes your divine hand just needs to come down to pick up a fallen Mii.
But am I happy to see Nintendo getting this weird less than a year after the Switch 2’s launch? Yes. And I love that this game allows for non-binary characters and fluid gender relationships, which is a rarity for Nintendo.
However, Nintendo has taken the strange step of preventing you from sharing screenshots — moments that are sure to be meme-worthy — on its mobile app so you can view them. Maybe it’s to keep your Tomodachi fantasies more private and secure. Or maybe it’s to protect Nintendo from players who create embarrassing or terrible moments that it would rather not publish. Just be prepared to keep your Tomodachi experiences to yourself, unless you resort to filming your Switch screen, which I’m sure a lot of people will do. This game looks like a meme factory.
At least it’s playable on both Switch and Switch 2, unlike recent Switch 2 exclusives like Pokopia. But I’m still not sure what to do with the residents of Collective Island. Do I love them? Kind of. Will I care about them? Maybe not.