User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 258 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 22 out of 258
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  1. Jun 6, 2014
    10
    Tomodachi Life is a fun game. Overall, I enjoy the feel of it. Its happy, silly and fun! 10/10. Also, don't mind the social justice warriors. They tried too hard to hurt the game.
  2. Aug 7, 2015
    9
    This is a really fun game I've been playing recently as of this review's date, and the possibilities I'd say pretty much endless. Tomodachi Life is more than just a game, it is basically a Sims game based off of Mii characters. The graphics are good for the 3DS. The voices are okay. The Concert Hall is awesome, and they even let you have uncensored profanity for certain words. The clothsThis is a really fun game I've been playing recently as of this review's date, and the possibilities I'd say pretty much endless. Tomodachi Life is more than just a game, it is basically a Sims game based off of Mii characters. The graphics are good for the 3DS. The voices are okay. The Concert Hall is awesome, and they even let you have uncensored profanity for certain words. The cloths are awesome. The imports are cool. The interiors are cool and the golden one; I FRICKIN' want that! The foods look realistic. The Compatibility Tester is a piece of crap. Tomodachi Life is a very good "Game" and you should buy it and if you hate it, you're silly as JB. Expand
  3. Jun 14, 2014
    8
    Tomodachi Life is one my fav games by Nintendo i love the things and taking care of miis as well it may feel like a sims game but it different towards then that it more a "friendly game" of The Sims,
    i hope that we get more Tomodachi here in the future. the game was fun play and very relaxing game just to play
  4. Jul 5, 2015
    7
    I found Tomodachi Life to be a pleasant, albeit repetitive experience as I put my 20 hours into this game. The game starts off slowly, but quickly picks up momentum. It’s not really a game meant to be played for long periods of time, so don’t expect to be able to play it for two days and complete + access all the materials and events. The customisation for apartments is very detailed, andI found Tomodachi Life to be a pleasant, albeit repetitive experience as I put my 20 hours into this game. The game starts off slowly, but quickly picks up momentum. It’s not really a game meant to be played for long periods of time, so don’t expect to be able to play it for two days and complete + access all the materials and events. The customisation for apartments is very detailed, and what you can do with your citizens are quite fun. While it becomes slightly mediocre and boring after the 10-15 hour mark, it still serves a good 10-30 minute dose of play when you have literally nothing else to do. The music is alright, though nothing special comes out - and the implementation of the robot voice leaves me with no opinion. If you need a life-sim game such as animal crossing, but with your precious miss, then take the time to get this game! If not, well then… it’s up to you!

    Gameplay: 8/10
    Story: N/A/10
    Music: 6/10
    Presentation: 8/10
    Length: 7.5/10
    Overall: 7.5/10
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  5. Jun 9, 2014
    9
    Tomodachi Life is a great game. It may not appeal to every kind of gamer but if it clicks with you, it will be a fun experience. I think you're able to enjoy the game much more if you have a lot of real life friends or a lot of favorite famous people/characters to add. The game has made me laugh so many times and even when I've played more than 10 hours it I still want more, though I'mTomodachi Life is a great game. It may not appeal to every kind of gamer but if it clicks with you, it will be a fun experience. I think you're able to enjoy the game much more if you have a lot of real life friends or a lot of favorite famous people/characters to add. The game has made me laugh so many times and even when I've played more than 10 hours it I still want more, though I'm starting to feel it a bit repetitive. I'd recommend adding few characters first, specially if you want a special pairing/relationship, cause the more characters you have the hardest is for them to "find" each other. Then you should add tons for more random relationships. I'd recommend this game to everyone who isn't really into violent or action games. Expand
  6. Jun 20, 2014
    9
    This isn't a game I would see myself getting but I love the Sims and I NEEDED This. I love this game. I had so much fun while I played and I love how it gives you the feeling of a classic sims game. Its way better than My Sims. You are going to want to go back and replay a lot to see what else you can do with different Mii characters. I also loved how it was possible for your Mii's to haveThis isn't a game I would see myself getting but I love the Sims and I NEEDED This. I love this game. I had so much fun while I played and I love how it gives you the feeling of a classic sims game. Its way better than My Sims. You are going to want to go back and replay a lot to see what else you can do with different Mii characters. I also loved how it was possible for your Mii's to have feelings. I really liked how they took Tomodachi Life just like real life or the Sims. The only flaw is that after you unlock everything there isn't much to do. You also cannot control what your Mii's do. If you like the Sims, you will like this and it is a MUST BUY for the 3DS.

    Tomodachi Life gets a 9/10
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  7. Aug 9, 2014
    9
    Addicting, entertaining and well designed, Tomodachi Life is a fun way to integrate all the people you know into the game in a way that actually adds to the game play, and a great way to spend your time.
  8. Jul 14, 2018
    8
    When I started this game, I had high expectations. Those expectations were definitely met, but around now I have played for almost 80 hours, and it gets rather repetitive. This isn't saying that it wasn't fun to play. This game is such a cute little game you can pop open and play for an hour. I love this game, and it deserves the praise it gets, but soon situations repeat, and after aboutWhen I started this game, I had high expectations. Those expectations were definitely met, but around now I have played for almost 80 hours, and it gets rather repetitive. This isn't saying that it wasn't fun to play. This game is such a cute little game you can pop open and play for an hour. I love this game, and it deserves the praise it gets, but soon situations repeat, and after about 40 hours, it loses it's originality. I would give it an 8, definitely a must-own. Expand
  9. Apr 9, 2021
    10
    really good
    kind of repetitive after a while, but one of my favourite games.
  10. Jun 7, 2014
    8
    Fun game and enjoying watching the everyday interactions of miis. But sad to say you will either love or hate this game. The game is fun, silly, funny but can also be shallow, weird, and bizarre at times, I cannot really recommend it to everyone.
  11. Jun 6, 2014
    10
    This game is probably going to get a lot of hate because of all the social warriors. The fact is, this is a great game. It's very funny and random, like an ultimate tamagotchi. It's also uncanny how easily this game puts a smile on your face! Tomodachi Life is both more and less than just a game, and I believe it's worth trying it out to see what could happen to your Mii's. There's notThis game is probably going to get a lot of hate because of all the social warriors. The fact is, this is a great game. It's very funny and random, like an ultimate tamagotchi. It's also uncanny how easily this game puts a smile on your face! Tomodachi Life is both more and less than just a game, and I believe it's worth trying it out to see what could happen to your Mii's. There's not much to hate in this game, unless you expected something completely different. Expand
  12. Dec 25, 2014
    5
    There's not a whole lot to do in this game. Half the time everyone is asleep or just standing around. Occasionally the characters will ask you to play a game or ask you to buy them something. That's pretty much it. I came in expecting the Miis to interact more and for things to actually happen. Nothing happens.
  13. Apr 4, 2016
    7
    A very fun game but it absolutely has it's problems. It's got tons of weird, strange features and experiences that will really take you off guard and make you laugh.... the first time you see them. It has a lot of these, so it takes time to have really seen them all, but after a while they really get sorta tiresome. I've also never really seen a game that's had such an annoying way ofA very fun game but it absolutely has it's problems. It's got tons of weird, strange features and experiences that will really take you off guard and make you laugh.... the first time you see them. It has a lot of these, so it takes time to have really seen them all, but after a while they really get sorta tiresome. I've also never really seen a game that's had such an annoying way of giving bonuses after leveling up that I've specifically went out of my way to not level up as much as I can. At first it seems like a good idea- you get to pick a bonus item to have when you level up! However, as soon as you run out of the bonus interiors and music and you've given your character 8 items, you can choose between clothes, hats, and replacing one of your 8 items with a different item. Which either means I have to give up one of my already chosen items, or I have to accept a piece of clothing and then go back to the clothing menu to get back the outfit I was already wearing, which once you've collected enough clothes, can be a fairly annoying task. However, a lot of the clothes are fairly cute, so it can be nice to get a large collection, even if it makes changing outfits a much bigger task.
    It also has a very similar sense of time as Animal Crossing, in the sense that it uses your clock to figure out when real day and night are, and the Miis will act accordingly, making the game quite boring to play at night unless you've made so many Miis that you've managed to make a few of them night owls.
    There are also some issues such as that they purposely made it so that gay relationships aren't allowed (although you could do what I did and just list some of your female character as male and some of your male characters as female), or how random cultural items are thrown in there in a way that doesn't have much context and feels a lot like cultural appropriation.
    Overall, I would be lying if I said the game wasn't fun, but it has big enough problems to take note of, and after a while, gets kinda stale and repetitive.
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  14. Aug 15, 2014
    6
    Tomodachi Life is a life sim. you can put your MII's in the game and give them food, cloths and songs they can preform. you might think to put your friends in the game but don't i made the mistake and now my one friend fell in love with someone he dosent know in real life. but after 10 days Tomodachi life gets really boring and that really holds this game back. Tomodachi Life gets a 6/10
  15. May 3, 2015
    7
    You will have a blast the first week or so that you play this. Once you spend enough time on it and earn all of the buildings, it can start to feel boring. Even though there are tons of things to do, each thing doesn't hold its own to complete an experience. That may just be me though. That being said, it's really cool to go to all of the shops and see the clothes/food of the day andYou will have a blast the first week or so that you play this. Once you spend enough time on it and earn all of the buildings, it can start to feel boring. Even though there are tons of things to do, each thing doesn't hold its own to complete an experience. That may just be me though. That being said, it's really cool to go to all of the shops and see the clothes/food of the day and buy stuff for your people. I would give it an 8 because I think this game may just not be for me, but it is my review so I'm giving it a 7. Expand
  16. XV_
    Mar 8, 2020
    6
    I didn't mind this game that much until I found out that it has some value and I was lucky enough to get a cheap copy of it.

    My only "sim" experience before Tomodachi Life was Animal Crossing and I don't think they're that similar, so this review is for an amateur simulator player. The premise is simple, you create or download miis and have them in a building, they can interact with
    I didn't mind this game that much until I found out that it has some value and I was lucky enough to get a cheap copy of it.

    My only "sim" experience before Tomodachi Life was Animal Crossing and I don't think they're that similar, so this review is for an amateur simulator player. The premise is simple, you create or download miis and have them in a building, they can interact with another miis if you're lucky, feed them, give them items and different apartment skins and that's pretty much it. Occasionally, they'll fall in love and in some cases, they get married, which I assume is the main goal of the game.

    At first, it was fun, I enjoyed quite a bit making friends and relatives and give them personality traits and clothes that match them, but then when I was making my 40/100 mii I have a realization, that I was having more fun making miis than playing the game. There is certain charm to it, but it can be easily transformed into a chore, if I can wrap this game into a word it may be 'repetition', you'll be hearing or reading the same dialogues and interactions over and over, there are some "mini-games" or cutscenes (which come through dreams mainly) but they get old way too fast, the game updates its content once a day with new food, clothes, and apartment skins, but by one week of 30 minutes a day you'll find out that is basically a resume of what will be the game for the rest of your gameplay.

    That said, I have some really good moments which I won't spoil and it has some charm to see people you know interact in a similar fashion like their real counterparts, although your fun is also dependant on how creative you can get with certain things, the game doesn't help you that much.

    Maybe I'm missing something but from a mechanic and technical view this game falls short, it can be repetitive and boring way too fast and it relies a lot on padding with its daily mechanics, hard to recommend only if you're into rare game collecting.
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  17. Oct 29, 2019
    8
    Tomodachi Life is definitely one of the quirkiest games I have ever played. With your mii characters in the center, quirky wits, and handfuls of weird activities, you should definitely consider playing this game if you’re into the life simulator genre, or if you want something a little more quirky.

    You get a real sense of customization when you realize that you can customize your miis
    Tomodachi Life is definitely one of the quirkiest games I have ever played. With your mii characters in the center, quirky wits, and handfuls of weird activities, you should definitely consider playing this game if you’re into the life simulator genre, or if you want something a little more quirky.

    You get a real sense of customization when you realize that you can customize your miis looks, voice, and even personality, to make each mii unique in their own way. You also have the ability to customize the clothing they wear, the look of their apartment room, their catchphrase, and even the lyrics for their next greatest song at a concert. You can put any type of mii into the apartment for your mii to get along with, from your family, to friends, to celebrities, to complete strangers or made up people, or even video game characters. This ability gives off a strange vibe that no other life simulator gave me before, and I can’t explain it, but it rocks.

    When your miis move into your apartment, you can feed them, solve their problems, change their attire, let them sing their heart out at a concert, or you can watch any action unfold by simply seeing what your miis are up to. Your miis even have the chance to romance and make babies, which is really cool to witness.

    One feature I loved is the concert feature, where you can give your miis the ability to sing at a concert, with you being able to change the lyrics to whatever you please. With 8 different genres to choose from, and enough lyrics to customize, the possibilities feel almost endless. I could go on and on about the amount of weird activities that your miis can do, but that would take forever.

    My only problem with the game is repetition. Once you put enough time into the game, you eventually see events begin to repeat themselves, and eventually you’ve seen everything the game has to offer, and it loses its appeal. However, it doesn’t occur for a good while and the amount of content in this game to begin with is astonishing on its own, so don’t feel repelled by the eventual sense of repetition.

    All in all, Tomodachi Life is a wonderfully quirky and unique life simulator that puts your miis at the center and creates an experience unlike anything else. Although it isn’t perfect, it is definitely a game to pick up if you enjoy life simulators, quirky experiences, or both.
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  18. Jun 7, 2014
    7
    Kind of feels like an extremely limited animal crossing. Can't control the characters, only suggest things to them. There is a real lack of things to do. Even so, it has a certain charm to it..
  19. Aug 2, 2015
    3
    It's the sort of game you're meant to check up on, but not really play.
    It looked fun but I regret buying the game.. I put mine up for sale now, it got too annoying.
    It's cute but there's no 'real' thing to do, no goals and you can't plan the way things are going, it's just like watching a Mii movie or something.
  20. Jul 8, 2018
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I love the simulation, but I hate the animations. This game has a lot animation errors. The developers don't know how to rig Miis. I never saw the future spouse and baby's face. The future spouse has a blank white face with a question mark, and the future baby's face is not shown due to the orange screen blocks it (the future baby barely tries to look at the camera). If I have the ability to break the game's code, I will see the future spouse and baby's face to see what they actually look like. In the ending, I saw an animation that is easily shown, when the baby crawls, the legs go through the body, that animation is terrible. It came out 2013-2014, but why is the animation old and terrible. They want to release that game now. They should delete Tomodachi Life, and make a better version of it. It should be called Friend Life. There will be no animation errors, and we will get to see the future spouse and baby's face look like. Expand
  21. Dec 25, 2015
    0
    I created a Mii. I created 5 more. I wrote a song. I wrote 5 more songs. I waited...........

    And waited..................

    And then played Star Wars Battlefront.
  22. Jun 9, 2014
    10
    Very fun game. If you can challenge yourself and let the game make experiences for you, you'll have a great time. It's a fishbowl game, you don't really do chores in the same way you would in Animal Crossing.
  23. Oct 3, 2014
    8
    People have been saying that this is the Sims meets Animal Crossing. I wouldn't go that far, but I can certainly see the connection. It's a simulation of life and relationships with Japanese charm and quirkiness. You don't really have power over what your people do but you do influence them by giving them incentives and approve or disapprove their decisions. Though sometimes I got a bitPeople have been saying that this is the Sims meets Animal Crossing. I wouldn't go that far, but I can certainly see the connection. It's a simulation of life and relationships with Japanese charm and quirkiness. You don't really have power over what your people do but you do influence them by giving them incentives and approve or disapprove their decisions. Though sometimes I got a bit annoyed that a character of mine disliked a food they actually liked in real life or in fiction. And that's really the only thing wrong with this game is that they are too free willed. I can't freely set their likes and dislikes, it's all on chance. Also getting people to be friends or lovers takes a long time, mainly because again it happens on chance whether or someone will talk to the person you want and whether or not they like them. Not only that but you've also got no option to make a character gay or bi, so if you have a gay friend or you like a character that's gay, either you have to deal with them being straight by default or you can cheat and make a female looking guy character or vice versa.
    Other than that it's a game that really should be played in short bursts or every once in awhile, it's a quick game where you pass time by playing the little minigames, sorting out each of the islanders life problems, buy the new clothing items and food, see what else is happening on the island then check the next day and do the same thing (which is where the Animal Crossing parallel comes into play).

    Overall it's a game with a lot of potential if Nintendo change up the formula a bit and fix the frustrating things. It's the type of game where either you'll have fun or won't, and if you can ignore the control of little people being taken away from you and you don't mind playing in short bursts. (fingers crossed) If there is a sequel, hopefully it'll also get a Wii U release because this would be a great game for the Wii U also.
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  24. Oct 19, 2016
    0
    Grandparents can **** with their grandchildren.
    In fact you can do all kinds of incest. At the end everyone ends up ****ing each other and created a strange community.
    Who has programmed this have a serious problem. They could have done better and more beautiful.
  25. Jun 11, 2014
    10
    I've been following this game for a while before it released so I thought it looked cool and put my pre-order in, at first I didn't know what to think of the game when I started playing it. But After a few hours of playing it it grew on me and I really love Tomodachi Life it's very fun and addicting, hours past in mere seconds I don't think I've ever had so much fun with a video gameI've been following this game for a while before it released so I thought it looked cool and put my pre-order in, at first I didn't know what to think of the game when I started playing it. But After a few hours of playing it it grew on me and I really love Tomodachi Life it's very fun and addicting, hours past in mere seconds I don't think I've ever had so much fun with a video game before but in the end that's all that matters in a video game the fun factor.

    The only CON for me was there were a couple of scenarios, characters, story elements that were weird and I didn't understand at all and the game makes no attempt to explain it, I won't spoil it buy the game to find out :P it's strange, amazing and weird. But it doesn't affect the overall game.

    Tomodachi Life is a lot of fun and addicting, I highly recommend it.
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  26. Aug 6, 2014
    10
    I've been gaming for most of my life and this is easily my favorite game. Good gameplay, easy to enjoy, and filled with new surprises. Plus I've only played the demo!
  27. Oct 23, 2015
    10
    I was excited about the game before its release, and a year after the release I was still excited about it. I finally bought it, and I was not disappointed. The trailer and the gameplay that others put online seemed promising and not overhyped. After three days of playing the game to see for myself if it was really what I hoped it would be, I was not disappointed! I was hooked. This gameI was excited about the game before its release, and a year after the release I was still excited about it. I finally bought it, and I was not disappointed. The trailer and the gameplay that others put online seemed promising and not overhyped. After three days of playing the game to see for myself if it was really what I hoped it would be, I was not disappointed! I was hooked. This game was very addicting. It's interactive, refreshing, stimulating, and I feel attached to characters that I've put in this game. It's adorable. If you're into the Sims and you're observant and love to interact, this is your kind of game! :) Expand
  28. Apr 8, 2018
    7
    Endless. The game is creative but proposals are rare which kinda upsets me. I have like 30 miis still no proposal
  29. Jan 30, 2015
    9
    Tomodachi Life is a casual simulation game made and published by Nintendo. Tomodachi Life was some kind of a risk, because this game is a one of a kind nobody would know what people would think of the game and actually like it or not.

    In Tomodachi Life you have a Island with all your favorite Miis. You start the game by giving the Island a name and after that you have to import your
    Tomodachi Life is a casual simulation game made and published by Nintendo. Tomodachi Life was some kind of a risk, because this game is a one of a kind nobody would know what people would think of the game and actually like it or not.

    In Tomodachi Life you have a Island with all your favorite Miis. You start the game by giving the Island a name and after that you have to import your first Mii.

    When you have imported your first Mii the game can begin. The game shows you a simple basic tutorial. The tutorial is easy to follow and there are no hard things to do. The basics of this game is mostly, giving your Mii some food, play with them, giving them gifts (clothes, new rooms, items etc.). Because you only have 1 Mii at the moment, it can get very boring quickly so it’s time to add some more Miis.

    TIP: It’s funnier to add in some real life friends and watch them do funny stuff, but celebrities can work as well. Nothing is funnier to see Gordon Ramsay and Michael Jackson dance the Tango.

    The game itself isn’t that hard to play. The more Miis you have the more food you have to buy and the more you have to play with them. It’s fun to see the Miis starting to have their own lifes. Making relationships, go out etc. Ofcourse they do need some help from the player, with love advice, giving them things to say when they are angry and ofcourse to give them stuff so people can play together.

    For example when you give a Mii a football, they can go to the park and play together with that ball.

    Tomodachi Life is a very interesting game. It offers something I haven’t seen in a long time in the gaming market lately and that’s just to have a casual game that is playable from age 3 – 99. Anyone can have fun with this game it’s only up to the player to play the game as he wants.

    Thoughts:
    I really would recommend Tomodachi Life to people that want a casual game to laugh with. It’s fun to import friends and celebrities and watch them mingle. You do need some time to play the game though. When the amount of Miis on the Island grows you spend more time each day to take care of them. My advice would be start with 10 Miis (Like I do in my Tomodachi Life serie). If you still think the game is starting to get boring, just add more Miis.

    Because the community of custom Miis is really big, you can add alot of your favorite celebrities into the game. All the way from Albert Einstein to Darth Vader, nothing is impossible in Tomodachi Life.
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  30. Nov 17, 2016
    8
    I gave this game a 7. But it is a strong 7, and I enjoyed this game. It's good fun. A casual title, but it's interesting seeing how your characters are growing, and changing, and interacting with each other. I especially like how they all talk to you through their electronic voices.

    However, the game does have minor problems. Since the game is so simplified it can be limited at times.
    I gave this game a 7. But it is a strong 7, and I enjoyed this game. It's good fun. A casual title, but it's interesting seeing how your characters are growing, and changing, and interacting with each other. I especially like how they all talk to you through their electronic voices.

    However, the game does have minor problems. Since the game is so simplified it can be limited at times. There isn't always a lot to do, but there's enough to be entertaining. My main criticism of this game is that I feel there wasn't enough for the price.

    Yes. The characters have apartments, which you can change, but you cannot custom design homes, and arrange furnitures like in 'The Sims.' Should every life simulator game try copying The Sims? No, but in this case it would have been appropriate. It would have added a greater depth to something already enjoyable.

    Also, the choice of faces, and body characteristics were limited. Sure, it seems like there's enough at first, but then you quickly realize only a few things are suitable. For a sequel they will need to expand the options.

    Third, not much of a story line. It's not to say there has to be something complex, but each character should have a goal, or a life dream. Maybe they could try to become a doctor, or teacher, or artist, and so on. It would give you something to work towards.

    As for the rest of the game, ignoring some minor flaws, I think we have a very nice title here. I enjoy the concept, and all the little touches. Giving your characters food, and toys, and seeing what they're up to is much more interesting than it sounds.
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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 52 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 52
  2. Negative: 0 out of 52
  1. Aug 21, 2014
    50
    Tomodachi Life tries to be fun, and it sorta is. The problem is that it only lasts for an hour or three, and then the magic’s gone forever.
  2. Aug 19, 2014
    60
    There is plenty to philosophize about regarding Tomodachi Life. It’s an alienating product of its own time: we’re dealing with a game where the player is forced, passive-aggressively, to take the role of voyeur. But as a game, Tomodachi Life is never really fun. Tomodachi Life is no more than a stiff repetition exercise that is intriguing, yet kind of boring.
  3. Official Nintendo Magazine UK
    Aug 8, 2014
    80
    Stop reading and play: you'll have more fun if you don't know what's coming. [Aug 2014, p.68]