Tamagochi Forever Review

If you were born in the 90's, you probably remember the beginnings of virtual pet popularity. Tamagochi, Digimon, Gigapets, and Neopets were some of the first and greatest virtual pet toys and websites to hit the scene. I was always a fan of robot pets myself (Furby, Micropets, Robopup, etc.), but I did indulge in my fair share of virtual pet joys. Tamagochi was probably the most well known at that time, and it's been making a hard comeback in recent months with the release of new Tamagochi toys and the mobile device app Tamagochi Forever, which I'll be reviewing.

Tamagochi Forever is a free-to-play virtual pet app with in-app purchases. You will adopt a variety of cute little Tamagochi pets and raise them to adulthood, evolving into new Tamagochi as they grow. To help them grow, you will do activities with them like bathing, feeding, playing with them, and even helping them go to the bathroom. Another fun feature is the ability to customize and decorate the inside of your Tamagochi pet's house as well as the neighborhood outside, although there's very limited options for this right now.

Caring for your Tamagochi is a fun activity, but it's short-lived. It only takes about 3 minutes to feed and clean the Tamagochi. The real fun is in the arcade games you play to make your pet happy and accumulate more coins to buy food and new decorations for your house. There are 6 games you can choose from that will give you coins, including atypical match three game. The Hide-and-Seek game uses AR technology, making it a fun experience. TIP: The best game for getting coins quick is Band Practice. Save your double coins option for this game. 

The biggest downside to this game is its constant bombardment of video advertisements. Of all the apps I've played, this one is the absolute worst of them. There is a video advertisement for just about every feature. You can watch a video to get a free gift, instantly raise your Tamagochi's energy, continue a game after a game over, double your coins earned from a game, buy certain foods, and even some mandatory videos that just pop up when going to different screens. You can, of course, rid yourself of these ads by purchasing a premium subscription. Lastly, there are ad banners at the top of the game almost all of the time.

While video ads typically don't deter me from playing a game, this game is pushing my patience. While playing for free, you can easily spend around a third of your game time or more just watching ad videos. But, if you don't mind it, it's a cute game with some fun features. If anything, it's a good way to spend your time on the toilet or at the DMV, but I wouldn't suggest going out of your way to play this on a regular basis or you risk going insane from seeing too many Toon Blast ads.