Tamagotchi Plaza brings the beloved virtual pet simulation toy line to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, with the latter featuring some exclusive mini-games that take advantage of the new Joy-Con 2 controllers.
As a former child of the 90s, the Tamagotchi craze was once an integral part of the playground experience. As an adult, I’ve come to learn that Tamagotchi extends beyond the fad of keychain trinkets and into the realm of video games and other multimedia initiatives, including Tamagotchi Plaza, a mini-game collection suite aimed at younger audiences and diehard Tamagotchi fans alike.
I’ll preface the rest of this review by stating that if you’re a serious fan of the Tamagotchi brand, then Tamagotchi Plaza does a good enough job of bringing the eclectic cast of virtual pets to life in vivid colour and fun animations. Still, for everyone else, Tamagotchi Plaza can quickly devolve into a shallow and grindy experience that leaves something to be desired.
Tamagotchi Plaza has you, as the player, become the latest resident of Tamahiko Town, aiding Prince Tamahiko to spruce up the town in order to win the upcoming Tamagotchi Plaza Festival event. Levelling up the Tamagotchi Plaza area simply boils down to accruing points by completing mini-games and spending those points on Plaza upgrades, which eventually require more and more, depending on the tier or star level of said area.
“If you’re a serious fan of the Tamagotchi brand, then Tamagotchi Plaza does a good enough job of bringing the eclectic cast of virtual pets to life.”
As far as the upgrades themselves, well, they mostly feature cosmetic upgrades for the Plaza Square, such as added decorations on the walkways or expanded sitting areas in the park, while some of the more substantial upgrades include slightly more expanded takes on the existing mini-games, once the player upgrades the mini-game vendor of choice. There are 12 mini-games present in Tamagotchi Plaza, including some secret ones I won’t spoil, on top of some exclusive Switch 2 games for that version of the game.
Unfortunately, the mini-games in Tamagotchi Plaza become repetitive and get old quickly. The overly simplistic mini-games are accompanied by expensive upgrades for your town and facilities, resulting in repetitive gameplay that detracts from the novelty of each mini-game by repeated attempts. In many ways, the same can be true about the structure found in the Tamagotchi virtual pets themselves, but the difference is that the keychain toy only seldom requires a few minutes of attention from the player. In contrast, Tamagotchi Plaza requires a significant amount of time to complete if you want to max out the town rating.
Mini-games in Tamagotchi Plaza include tailoring clothes, making designer glasses, crafting manga and comics, setting up high tea parties, participating in rap battles, practising dentistry, operating a bike repair shop, serving as a poolside attendant, offering fitness coaching, and working as a galette pastry chef, in addition to a sushi and ninja star mini-game, exclusive to Switch 2 owners.
“The moment-to-moment gameplay in the mini-games of Tamagotchi Plaza is charming but shallow, even after the player fully unlocks the higher tiers of each building.”
None of the mini-games, outside of the Switch 2 exclusive Joy-Con 2 games, feature any instructions, which means the player has to gradually figure out and improve at them through trial and error. Thankfully, none of the mini-games are overly complicated, making it fairly straightforward to learn how to improve your initial rating. The moment-to-moment gameplay in the mini-games of Tamagotchi Plaza is charming but shallow, even after the player fully unlocks the higher tiers of each building.
One of the more stand-out mini-games for me was dentistry, which requires the player to see through an endless stream of Tamagotchi residents that make their way into your practice, with the game itself revolving around cleaning teeth by choosing the correct toothpaste, the correct colour-coded gauze, removing parasites (very cute) filling in gaps while juggling the water jet from overflowing and hopefully coming out of it with a 3-star rating.
Another novel experience present in Tamagotchi Plaza was the Glasses mini-game, which has the player designing prescription glasses for the residents of Tamagotchi Town, which involves first going through a list of typographical characters, which discerns the right prescription, choosing the correct style of lens, including the frame and colour, before finally trimming said lens via a satisfying cutting sequence and presenting them to the customer.
“The Switch 2 exclusive content isn’t earth-shattering, but it is a nice touch nevertheless in a game already lacking in overall content.”
One of the undeniable strengths Tamagotchi Plaza has going for it is its charm and personality, with each individual Tamagotchi character full of life and unique quirks, which are further enhanced when they interact with the player in the various mini-games present, adding to the overall charm.
As far as the Switch 2 exclusive elements are concerned, three of the mini-games present in the game make use of the Joy-Con 2 controller, such as holding the controller with the mouse sensor and camera pointing towards you in order to approximate the motion of throwing ninja stars by swiping with your palm on the laser, while games like the sushi min-game require a more traditional approach to using a computer mouse. I found the Ninja game, in particular, to be somewhat finicky when registering swipes of the palm, but this did not significantly detract from the overall experience.
Overall, the Switch 2 exclusive content isn’t earth-shattering, but it is a nice touch nevertheless in a game already lacking in overall content, making the Switch 2 version the ideal choice. Finally, outside of the min-games themselves, Tamagotchi Plaza features some small extra activities, such as collecting trash and finding gemstones and other items strewn about the hub world, in addition to a feature that allows sending passcodes between the game and a real Tamagotchi virtual pet to gain some extra in-game currency.
Ultimately, Tamagotchi Plaza is a fairly lacklustre game but one that appropriately represents the Tamagotchi brand to the point where enthusiasts and young children may forgive its shallow gameplay loop.
