If you’re a new owner of a Tamagotchi On or Tamagotchi Meets, you may not know how to take care of your Tamagotchi. It isn’t too hard—your Tamagotchi really only needs you to manage three things:
- Hunger
- Health
- Happiness
As long as you provide it with entertainment, food and keep it from getting sick it will live a long, happy life.
How you care for it will only affect how it evolves during the first generation (first time starting a Tamagotchi On or following the death of a Tamagotchi). Growth will happen automatically after a certain amount of time has passed.
1. Hunger
Hunger is a straightforward mechanic that can be filled by giving your Tamagotchi food. You can find food in your fridge, at the restaurant, or in shops at different travel destinations. Some snacks will raise happiness and fill your hunger meter, but not all will.
Adult Tamagotchis will show a disgusted face if they are forced to eat the bland rice bowl from your fridge, but don’t worry—it won’t lower their happiness or affect their health. You just have to decide how good of a Tama-parent you want to be.
Experiment with different foods to find your Tamagotchi’s favorite! Favorite foods will fill more hunger slots (the rice balls).
2. Health
From time to time, your Tamagotchi may get sick. This will be represented by a skull icon next to them. It’s very important you take care of them as soon as this appears! Leaving them untreated may cause your Tamagotchi to die. Luckily a Tama can be cured by selecting the Medicine option from the menu!
Your Tamagotchi may get sick from:
- Empty Happiness meter
- Empty Hunger meter
- Poop left in their room
- Random occurrence
If your Tamagotchi is close to death a black ghost will appear next to it. This means time is very short and you’ll need to try to save it. An adult Tamagotchi that gets sick four times in its adult stage will die without a chance to save it.
3. Raising Your Tamagotchi’s Happiness
Filling your Tamagotchi’s happiness meter can be a daunting task. It’s important to keep in mind that it can only be filled half-way until your Tama reaches its adult stage, so when it is a child don’t worry if the meter doesn’t fill completely.
You may notice that your Tamagotchi looks sad every now and again. That’s a sign that you need to check its happiness meter and raise it accordingly. A Tamagotchi that has completely depleted its happiness will eventually get sick, which can ultimately lead to death. A Tama without any happiness will appear sulky with three lines and a care icon in the upper corner.
There are three main ways to to make your Tamagotchi happier: games, snacks and toys.
★ Games
The mini-games in the Tamagotchi On or Meets can be found in the Department Store or in other locations. Here is a list of where to find them:
- Dept. Store: Surfing, Dolphin
- Gourmet Street: Sushi
- Toyland: Trampoline
One benefit of using games to raise your Tamagotchi’s happiness is that you’ll also earn Gotchi Points (GP) which can be spent on snacks, toys, accessories and room backgrounds.
★ Snacks
There is a basic snack that your Tamagotchi can eat for free in your fridge. For more effective snacks you can go to the restaurant and pay for them or buy them in the stores of the different locations while travelling. Your fridge can only stock 3 of each item, so make sure not to waste your money buying more until you eat the first three!
You may find that your Tamagotchi loves certain snacks. It’s more cost effective to buy those since they will fill up your happiness meter faster!
Be careful—eating too many snacks can give your Tamagotchi a toothache! Luckily this type of sickness has no lasting impact on its lifespan if cured immediately with the medicine icon.
★ Toys
Toys can be found stored in your Item Box under “Item”. When your Tamagotchi reaches the adult stage it will have a favorite toy to play with; using a favorite toy will increase its happiness faster! Likewise, there are also toys it may not like. Try not to use those if your Tama seems disinterested.
New toys can be bought from the Dept. Store or from other travel locations.