What a great little game that's swept Japan up in Tamagotchi fever once again! This time around, the aliens that had Japan entranced 10 years ago have grown up a little, and they've brought their friends along. You begin with a choice of three different aliens to raise. You give them a name, and the game starts out in your house with your Tamagotchi friend. The house looks pretty empty, and you can't access any of the usable items yet, not even the food. To earn things to decorate your house, dress your Tamagotchi, and feed him as well, you need to earn some money!

Your Tamagotchi starts out with only two shops unlocked, and you have to work in these shops to earn money to buy things. The two shops you start out with are different for each kind of Tamagotchi, as there are three levels related to each of the aliens, and there are a handful of shops in each area. For the alien that I played with -- the green guy with huge lips -- you start out in Pacchi no Mori with a Takoyaki shop and a bath house. When your Tamagotchi works at these places, he earns money from every customer the shop gets. A perk to seeing Tamagotchi finally interact with something besides you is seeing them talk to each other. The conversations they have are simple and to the point, and some of them will add a cute sound to the end of every sentence.


Your work is rated in smiley faces. If you burn your Takoyaki, or you let the bath house water get too cold, you're rated lower. Get a 0 smiley rating too many times in a row, and customers will stop coming by as often, forcing you to wait for new ones. It's not hard to keep the customers happy once you get into the swing of things, and as long as you keep your ratings high, you'll constantly get new people coming in. After quite a few customers, a Tamagotchi friend or relative of your Tamagotchi will come in and try out your services. If they like what you do, they'll give you enough money to upgrade the shop you're working in.

When each shop is upgraded, you will unlock a few items that you can now buy for your Tamagotchi, or maybe even a new shop to run, like cake decoration or dentistry. With each new upgrade, you're able to earn more money to buy the more expensive items you unlock. When a shop is expanded as far as it can go, a flag will show up on the top signifying that. (You can still work in the shops that have been completed.) There are a great number of unlockables: new stores, different kinds of sweets and food, clothing for your Tamagotchi, wallpaper and carpets, light fixtures, furniture and more. The items may seem expensive at first, but you'll be raking in cash as your shops gain levels.