Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream is somehow both a satire of all these life simulator games and also the most wildly entertaining one that I actually want to keep coming back and playing. It’s truly madcap, chaotic fun, and every second of it is a delight. I wish I could share screenshots of just how silly the relationship between Dee Dee and “me” really got. Unfortunately, though perhaps wisely, Nintendo’s made it very hard to get screenshots off the Switch 2 for sharing with Tomodachi Life. Nintendo knew exactly what direction many people’s little communities of Miis were going to go. Nintendo knows us all too well.

Despite having such simple gameplay loops, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream just kept drawing me back in multiple times a day, desperate to see how the little creatures were coping with the daunting experience of being alive. If I used this game to cope with missing my friends, that’s between me and the other version of me. All I know for sure is I loved every second.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream thrives on chaos, creativity, and offbeat humor, offering a constantly evolving experience that improves on the original. It isn’t deeply structured, but that unpredictability is where the fun comes from. While future updates and larger DLC would help reduce repetition, its charm still holds strong. It’s a unique and worthwhile pick for anyone wanting something fresh and different.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is one of the most ridiculous and customizable social sims around. It’s absolutely chock-full of silly features and a surprisingly rich breadth of content, meaning pretty much anybody will be able to have a laugh playing the game. I really wish it were possible to share this fun with other players, so it’s a shame Nintendo has made it pretty impossible this time around, but this is an otherwise excellent oddity that will produce hours upon hours of wacky joy.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream gave me a unique chance to create an ecosystem that would make a 2000s era TV producer weep tears of joy. I can’t say I ever expected a game to give me this kind of experience, but I guess that’s just what it’s like when you’re Living the Dream.

The game offers a quirky life simulation managing Mii characters on a lively island, focusing on relationships, humor, and unexpected interactions, though its long term appeal depends on tolerance for repetition.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a weird, funny, and sometimes endearing life sim where the best moments come from pure randomness and your own imagination. It works best when you just let your Miis interact and watch the small stories they create on their own. The repetition and lack of online sharing are unfortunate, but it still manages to stay entertaining in short bursts thanks to how much personality it squeezes out of simple systems.

Tomodachi Life is easily a game I never imagined would get a sequel, especially 12 years after its release. During my days on the island with my new Miis, I can say that the formula is still extremely fun and I'm very happy that Nintendo has invested in the franchise again. Still, I think one of the strongest points of the original was its surprise factor, since we had never seen anything like it before.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is one of those titles capable of hooking you almost without realizing it, slipping into your daily routine and constantly surprising you with situations as unpredictable as they are hilarious. It doesn’t need grand gimmicks to shine. Its greatest virtue is precisely that: turning the ordinary into something extraordinary, relying on chaos, humor, and the player’s creativity.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream offers an almost limitless toybox of creativity and player expression, held together by a distinct and wonderful sense of humour that still manages to delight me just as much as it did 12 years ago. With the exception of some restrictions and cut features that feel like they are yet to be added, this feels like the ambitious game that the series has been building towards since its inception.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream delivers on its promises. It’s a fun way to design a world with characters you’ve envisioned. Whether you want to base your creations on existing people or make something original, the Mii creation screen is detailed enough to make your wildest dreams come true. The city builder is also intuitive and easy to use, making city management feel great in practice. While interaction between Miis is clearly the star of the show, the lack of goals or quests can sometimes make the game feel a bit repetitive. However, if you are intrinsically motivated and able to set your own goals in a sandbox world, I have no doubt that you will be able to lose yourself in Tomodachi Life for hours on end.

While Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream isn't the full-blown life simulator some people may have been hoping for, fans of the original will feel right at home. Despite lacking any concrete depth, I'm still impressed by the wacky scenarios, conversations, and relationships that blossom. It's been a smash hit in the Valentine household, and that won't change for quite some time. I never thought we'd see another Tomodachi Life game, and I'm so happy that we did.

A game that completely absorbed me with my own created world and characters, but ultimately also made me realize that I mainly had to make it fun myself.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream expands the original formula with unprecedented creativity and personalization, turning your island into a true reflection of your imagination, while its addictive, slow-paced charm proves the series still has so much more to offer.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a hard game to judge by traditional standards. It doesn’t aim to be deep or complex, but instead thrives on unpredictability and player-driven chaos. While repetition and limited interaction may turn some players away, its unique identity and emergent humor make it a surprisingly engaging experience. Not essential, but undeniably distinctive.

If attempting to describe what Tomodachi Life: A Life of Dreams actually is proves complicated, venturing to evaluate it feels like an almost subversive act. It can be one of those games that ends up sneaking its way into the routine of daily life, or an experience that feels immediately off-putting. I found it both adorable and challenging—challenging in the sense that its particular brand of humor would put anyone to the test—though I happen to be the kind of person who enjoys being destabilized by a bit of culture shock.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream reintroduces Nintendo’s zany life-sim to modern gamers. Though it feels a little too similar to the 3DS version at times, there’s plenty of entertainment waiting for both seasoned and new fans to sink their teeth into. Its new customisation tools also ensure it has a long and healthy life ahead as it will no doubt prove to be popular with creative gamers.

I had a lovely time with Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream and its quirky look at human existence made me realise just how silly we all are.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a genuinely funny and personal life simulator, but one that relies almost entirely on your creativity and willingness to put time into making Miis to actually be enjoyable, and even them it can get repetitive after some hours.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream delivers a relaxed, progressive life simulation experience that prioritizes creativity and consistency over traditional challenge. Managing an island populated by Miis feels accessible at first, but it gains complexity as customization options, relationships, and resources expand. Although it does not stand out visually or demand intensive sessions, it offers a cozy pace tailored for fans of the genre. It is a charming title that rewards imagination and daily dedication, but it may not resonate with players seeking immediate action.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream brings back Nintendo’s strangest and most unpredictable life simulator after a long break. The game thrives on absurd humor, chaotic social interactions and the sheer joy of watching Miis behave in ways no one asked for. While the lack of online features are a bummer, the core experience remains irresistibly funny and endlessly surprising. If you’re willing to embrace the nonsense, Living the Dream is one of the most entertaining social sandboxes on Switch.

It’s an interesting title full of whimsy and charm that targets a specific style of audience, but when it’s with that audience, it really clicks. If you’re seeking a fairly mindless fun time but aren’t sure about the full release, feel free to check out the demo before you buy.

Tamadotchi Life: Living the Dream might not be the bold reinvention some fans hoped for, but it doesn’t need to be to recapture the series’ charm. Even with its missing legacy features and a few creative tools that don’t quite hit the mark, it remains a wonderfully daft, personality‑driven sim that thrives on the unexpected. Perhaps what’s most important, though, is that even after spending a serious amount of time with Living the Dream, it remained funny. It’s the kind of game you dip into for ten minutes and suddenly find yourself grinning at a Mii having a meltdown or, well, trying to stop a Mii from making an ill-timed proposal to someone that’s just not that into them. If you’re willing to embrace its quirks and forgive its limitations, Living the Dream is a welcome, delightfully weird return to one of Nintendo’s most eccentric worlds, and an even better introduction to those yet to familiarise themselves with the Tamadotchi universe.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is an inclusive, funny time that, while repetitive, is lovely to dip in and out of over and over again.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is one of the funniest games Nintendo has shipped in years, and the most expressive Mii sandbox Nintendo has ever produced. I had so much fun and struggled so much to put the game down whenever I had free time. At the same time, it’s also a sequel that often feels held back by its own publisher, considering the 3DS-era cuts, the locked-down sharing model, and systems that don’t quite honor what they ask of you. Living the Dream could have been even better, and it’s a bit frustrating to think about where Nintendo could have elevated this game further. Still, none of those flaws changes what this is. Even with everything Nintendo holds back from it, this is the most fun I’ve had with a Switch first-party game in a long time, and there’s nothing else on the system that scratches quite the same itch.

The franchise returns bigger and renewed after 13 long years without a full-fledged entry on a main console. While the creation systems across every aspect of the game, along with the different interactions between Miis, are more than funny, what keeps it from fully reaching the finish line is the lack of an easy, official way to share our creations without having to rely on third-party websites.

Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life is a charming, eccentric, and very Nintendo social simulator. It has obvious shortcomings, but also a huge capacity to generate its own stories. And when a game manages to make us care about the little quirks of our Miis, even the most absurd ones, it means it’s doing something very right.

Tomodachi Life is all about those cozy, 'small talk' vibes. It’s not a big party game, but there’s a quiet charm in crafting things and watching your island grow bit by bit through your Miis—all at your own pace.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream feels like a kind of chemical experiment, where the player’s imagination collides with the game’s unpredictable interpretations to create laugh-out-loud, emergent moments. New systems like Little Quirks and the island’s shared lingo undeniably elevate the series’ core appeal. However, the experience of grinding into that loop ultimately works against it. While the limitations placed on sharing features are disappointing, its distinct identity still stands out—even in 2026, a year filled with rich and varied slow-life games.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream feels like the return of a very Nintendo kind of magic, and a difficult concept to explain without giving it a go. This is the Japanese gaming gurus at their most expressive and charming, with a sequel that still embraces the absurdity. Expanded customisation and Mii gender/relationships options are a welcome change, as is the ability to have more direct interactions to keep the chaos flowing. However, the lack of content sharing and some 3DS modes are a notable miss, something that Nintendo should consider including as a future update. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is an experience that is truly its own thing - ridiculously bonkers, unpredictable and uncensored. Try the demo if unsure.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream delivers exactly what fans want: a chaotic, creative, and relaxing life sim full of charming, unpredictable Mii moments. The expanded creator and island customization make it a strong return for the series. While it still thrives on its unique charm, missing features like the concert hall and limited distinction between child and adult Miis hold it back slightly. Even so, it remains incredibly fun, the kind of game you pick up for minutes and end up playing for hours, making it an easy recommendation for fans.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, won't be for everyone, but the people that it is for, will adore it. It's squarely and solely focused on putting power into the hands of the player through customisation and the ability to manipulate the lives of these little Miis. You can always count on it for a laugh, and if you enjoy sims, I have zero doubts you will sink hours into this game.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a social sim bursting with customization and offbeat humor that brings out the best in Miis on Nintendo Switch. Its creativity is endearing, though longer play sessions can start to feel a bit predictable, and the lack of online sharing keeps it from reaching even greater heights.

Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life is sure to be one of this spring’s must-have releases. By reviving this unique franchise on the Nintendo Switch, Big N reminds us just how powerful and unmatched the Mii characters’ comedic appeal is. Moreover, Nintendo offers us a true respite of lighthearted fun that, like Animal Crossing: New Horizons in its day, allows us to escape a particularly anxiety-inducing reality. While the game’s distinct identity means it won’t appeal to everyone, it will be the perfect choice for anyone looking to treat themselves to short, stress-free gaming sessions full of surprises.

Aimed at players aged 7 to 77, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a quirky game with an original concept and undeniable charm. More engaging than its 3DS predecessor, this unique life simulation combines absurd situations with a high degree of customization. And even if boredom starts to set in quickly, you always end up coming back to see how your Miis are doing.

With its lovely cast of characters, all with their own tiny personalities and intentions, and the freedom to forge friendships, romance and make enemies, it’s a delight to vibe within Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. While this game isn’t as meaty as anticipated, and you’ll need to find your own sense of play, it’s entirely loveable, and easy to invest in.

Tomodachi Life 2 stays true to its unique formula while meaningfully expanding upon it. Greater freedom, new options, and its signature quirky humor combine to create a charming life simulation—one of a very special kind.

If you enjoy simulation-type games, you should definitely enter this particular island, but if you prefer non-stop action, you might want to move on to other games.

Focusing on the relationships between the Mii characters and all sorts of surreal situations, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream has given me some of the biggest laughs I've had lately.

It's not malicious to say that Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a life simulator with a peculiar sense of humor. After all, it's this very characteristic that makes it unique among a community of passionate gamers. For fans of the genre, the real challenge will likely be dealing with countless possibilities and a few fits of laughter during the numerous hours of gameplay.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a video game whose success depends almost entirely on the amount of imagination you are willing to invest in it. It is a life simulator that draws from the rules of absurd comedy and requires an active effort from the player as well, in order to populate its world with unique characters, each with strange habits, tastes, and ways of speaking. These personalities interact with one another, giving rise to an emergent narrative that can be exceptionally hilarious. There are no missions to complete, no objectives to achieve, and progression is represented solely by the structures that will unlock on your island and by the increasingly unusual traits you can assign to your Miis. If you put a lot into it, the game will reward you with its powerful and unexpected sense of humor. Tomodachi Life is genuinely funny, never takes itself seriously, and constantly surprises with its boundless imagination. However, be aware that when your fuel runs out, the great machine of laughter comes to a stop with you.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a very difficult experience to judge using traditional standards. It is not a simulator in the classic sense, nor a structured management game: it is rather a laboratory of absurd situations, built around the player’s creativity. When it works (and it often does), it manages to deliver genuine laughs thanks to intelligent writing and a brilliant use of nonsense.

Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life is a social simulation game where you create Miis and watch them interact in unpredictable ways, generating comical and absurd situations. While it is tremendously fun, certain Nintendo policies hinder what should be a much more community-driven social experience.

Inglese: Wild, chaotic, and entertaining, Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life isn’t a game for everyone, and it probably never will be. But those willing to embrace its rhythm and appreciate its quirks will be rewarded with a surprisingly engaging experience.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a charming game that offers a unique take of social relationships.

Like its predecessors, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is an entertaining collection of ridiculously random set-pieces, tied together in an easy-to-play life sim. It does start getting repetitive after a few weeks, but the exceptionally localised dialogue and the scope for heavy customisation makes it a game the entire family can enjoy regardless.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a delight, with superb character customization and plenty of charming humor. Its hands-off nature won’t be for everyone, and the lack of a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 version is a missed opportunity, but there’s still no other game that offers its special brand of unapologetic weirdness.

Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream is a bizarre delight with unlimited potential, but you must be willing to unearth that brilliance for yourself instead of expecting the game to guide you. It surrenders to repetition far sooner than I’d like, but the sheer amount of things you can make your Miis do, say, and the relationships they gradually develop are so wonderful that it’s easy to overlook some otherwise notable flaws. The more you put into this game, the more you’re going to get out of it. For me, it already feels like it has all the ingredients to become another cult classic masterpiece that will go down in history.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a surprisingly addictive and creative social simulator that constantly delivers bizarre and funny moments. What starts as a simple concept quickly turns into a chaotic and engaging experience, driven by its deep Mii creator and the freedom to shape your island. Its humor, personality, and unexpected emotional moments make it stand out. It’s a great choice for players who enjoy creativity and lighthearted chaos, offering a unique and very enjoyable experience.

What you get out of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream largely depends on how much you’re willing to put into it. Nintendo has expanded their quirky concept into something almost resembling a screwball take on The Sims, but they haven't gone so far as to provide much in terms of set goals or structure. Making you chuckle is still this game's greatest aspiration. Sure, It's all a bit aimless, but it's also oddly addictive, and those willing to dive in and feed the weirdness may need a Tomodachi Lifeline to get back out again.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream builds on the previous entries in the series, with Nintendo crafting a simulation that goes above and beyond with customization elements. It’s as silly and joyful as past games, while letting us basically build the Mii island of our dreams. Minigames can be a hit or miss, especially when it comes to ones that keep proposals from going smoothly. Plus the walled garden nature of it makes it so difficult to share that with others. Unless you can actually manage to meet up with people for local wireless, there’s no way to swap, and it’s a shame that there are extra steps tied to sharing moments. Still, aside from it being locked down, it’s lovely.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a weird game. I could leave my summary there and it would be entirely accurate, but more than that, Living the Dream is YOUR weird. You can have an island of celebrity-alikes hurling expletives at each other, or an island of your friends and family interacting in increasingly bizarre ways, and that’s precisely the point. There’s a degree of weird that’s baked into the game but, from there, what you get out of it is what you put into it.

For all the real Tomodachi freaks out there who have been waiting more than a decade for a sequel, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is everything you could hope for and more, and I cannot wait to see the ridiculous nonsense you are all about to pump out.

Goofy, endlessly surprising and genuinely laugh‑out‑loud funny, the world could use far more games like Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream. I’m ecstatic that its chaotic silliness is back in our lives, and you won’t touch another game this year that works this hard to make you smile. This is Nintendo at its quirkiest, and you can feel the team’s enthusiasm shine through in every bizarre moment. It’s simply unmissable.

There is an immense amount of fun to be had in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, though much like its predecessor, it’s a game that is best absorbed in small bursts. Additions like the little quirks and pronunciation tool do so much to improve upon the original formula, and it’s great to finally see these little guys return to the forefront. I’ve missed them.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a fitting follow up and upgrade on the previous 3DS game. It’s easy to grow fond of your island of Mii’s and their Hot Dog obsessed ways, helping to guide them through the ups and downs of a digital life. There is something for players who want to cover the world with their art and creations, or for players who just want to see what goofy things the Mii residents will get up to next. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is much more joyful than the potentially sarcastic saying it is titled after.

While Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream offers a lot of the same fun and quirkiness as its predecessor, its commitment to player creativity also sacrifices a lot of what made the 3DS game great.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream encourages imagination by giving you all the tools you need to create your own island, and its Mii citizens, at your own pace. Still managing to offer a sense of progression without any real objective, leveling up is done simply by experimenting with the many different ways of keeping your Miis happy; giving them food, items, clothes, and quirks and watching conversations between them unfold in humorously wacky scenarios using the unfiltered lingo you’ve taught them. Although you’ll end up having to skip many repeated interactions, and some of the personality differences between Miis can be subtle, the amount of customization is incredible for creative types who are looking to live out their most outlandish crossover dreams.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is an excellent life sim I can’t put down. Nintendo clearly listened to criticism and feedback since the last Tomodachi Life and offers plenty of variety to keep people coming back. Each day brings its own challenges, thanks to the personalities you’ll cultivate and watch grow on your island, so it’s enlightening to help each Mii find what they want and pursue it. There’s quite a bit to do, too, so be ready to pull out your island design tools. Once you catch the remodel bug, all you want to do is make the perfect destination for your Miis.

Tomodachi is back, and it’s never been better. While the character creation is so nearly perfect, Living the Dream is a welcome trip down memory lane for fans of the original. It builds upon everything that made the 3DS original so special, creating an upgraded adventure that’s filled with even more odd interactions, silly situations, and laugh-out-loud lines that will have you coming back to view this microcosm of the weird and wonderful for countless hours to come.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a humorous, ultra-relaxed life simulation with some creative freedom but low gameplay demands. It's fun to connect the Mii villagers, dress them up, feed them, and play with them. However, you're essentially doing the same things over and over again, which is why some will quickly lose interest, while others won't be able to get enough even after weeks.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a worthy sequel that I can't put down. It's weird, surreal, and a great evolution for Nintendo's iconic social simulator - even if it feels repetitive at times.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is absolutely worth the wait and deserving of the hype.

What is arguably the most absurd and funniest game of the year doesn't always manage to strike a balance between creative freedom and gameplay motivation.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a weird but strangely addictive title that continues to surprise each time you dip in. The level of customisation helps create a truly unique experience, where the Miis, clothing, and more are shaped entirely by your choices, letting you fine-tune every detail to reflect your own quirky vision. This leads to an array of wacky stories and situations that keep you coming back for more. Although there’s a lack of traditional gameplay and not much to keep you playing for longer than short bursts, it’s a successful evolution of its predecessor and a relaxing, cosy experience that’s easy to return to.

Tomodachi Life: WTWW offers a relaxing, charming experience with rewarding systems and playful customization. However, its passive gameplay and repetitive routine can make it feel shallow over time.

This unique life simulator delivers a constant stream of absurd humor through creative Mii interactions and deep customization tools. The new design workshop provides immense creative freedom, yet the experience frequently suffers from repetitive dialogue and shallow minigames. Despite these mechanical cycles, its charming presentation ensures a joyful, if occasionally monotonous, daily routine.

We have often asked ourselves, "How exactly do you *play* Tomodachi?" and the answer is that, perhaps, it is Tomodachi that plays with *us*—and not the other way around. It is the Miis who propose activities involving themselves and request changes to their lifestyles, clothing, diet, and interactions with other Miis; while we, on the other hand, simply sit back to enjoy their reactions and build—in the truest sense of the word—a comfortable environment for them, one in which they can fully express themselves even when we aren't watching. Inevitably, variety begins to wane as time goes by; once you have built your own personal paradise, unlocked all the town amenities, and witnessed most of the game's scenarios, the repetitiveness starts to set in. The most creative players might still find some joy in the drawing editor or in designing new Miis, but the initial spark of enthusiasm simply won't be the same. We firmly believe that a roadmap of "Nintendo-made" content updates is needed to extend the longevity of *Tomodachi Life*—much like what was done for *Animal Crossing: New Horizons*. In the meantime, however, this delightful "Tamagotchi-meets-Mii" title from the Kyoto-based developer remains fully capable—just like its predecessor, but with an expanded toolkit—of entertaining and surprising anyone in search of a good laugh and a healthy dose of absurdity. Case in point: a wedding between your own grandmother and Hideo Kojima. A true story—at least on our island...

If only its laudably permissive tools were supplemented with more substantial material, it would be a top tier production. A weirdly large selection of unlockable fences just doesn't put any gas in the tank, but it really is a fun ride while there’s fuel.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a chaotic breath of fresh air, even if it doesn’t offer a ton of things to do.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a bizarre and charming life simulator that thrives on creativity and unpredictable social interactions. Building and managing your own island full of Miis can be hilarious and surprisingly addictive, especially for players who enjoy slow-paced, relaxing experiences similar to Animal Crossing. The freedom to customize characters and influence their relationships creates a unique “virtual reality show” full of funny and unexpected moments. However, its slow rhythm, repetitive tasks and lack of Portuguese localization can hurt accessibility, especially since understanding dialogue is a big part of the experience. Even with these flaws, it remains a fun and relaxing game for those willing to invest time into their quirky little community.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream returns as one of the quirkiest life simulators in the genre. Unlike other titles, it bases its premise on random interactions between Miis, from which anything can happen. Although it lacks a bit more depth, it is a game with a lot of charm, but also very niche.

Easily the game with the highest meme potential of 2026, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream’s combination of zany (if repetitive) writing and player input makes for a memorable time. The open-ended play is balanced with a steady flow of bite-sized activities for structure, and while the game could have used a bit more substance, it’s surprisingly addictive nonetheless.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream has all the charm of the original Tomodachi Life. Thanks to the quality-of-life improvements and creative tools introduced, we have more control over our island than ever before. Unfortunately, the game also takes quite a few steps backwards, preventing it from reaching the full potential of the franchise. Although it left me slightly disappointed in places, the expansion of the core mechanics ultimately still makes it a better game than the original.

My best piece of advice here is to take advantage of Living the Dream‘s publicly available demo; create a couple Miis, set them loose upon one another, and get the flavour of what’s going on. From there, it’ll be up to you if you want to go whole hog.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a surreal social sim that trades environmental creativity for hilarious Mii antics. Though it boasts deep character customization, the gameplay eventually settles into a repetitive cycle of maintenance that feels more like a quirky virtual pet than a game.

The game has a fantastic premise and offers legitimate moments of joy, but it feels like it could be so much more with additional content added to the mix. More hairstyles. More facial hair options. More conversation templates for our lingo to be slotted into. The ability to encourage a Mii to confess their love or propose, rather than just waiting for them to figure it out. More “toys” for them to play with. Just… more. As it stands, I don’t think Living the Dream will have as much longevity for me as something like Animal Crossing: New Horizons or Pokemon Pokopia (two other life simulation games on Nintendo Switch), but I’m still enjoying checking on my Miis multiple times per day, at least for now.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is an enjoyable simulator of managing society from the advantage of an overlord who can play with the characters as if they were dolls, but never fully control the unhinged nature of human interaction. The dialogue and events are full of silly whims and this funny mood gives form to its comfortable experience. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that much of what it offers depends on how much the player dedicates to it and the repetition may boggle it down.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is the kind of strange Nintendo experiment that can even push fans of Japanese eccentricity out of their comfort zone, leaving them wondering what they’re actually playing. The creative tools offer plenty of freedom, and players looking to shape their own experience will likely spend most of their time there - only to end up with something they can barely share with anyone else. As a solo experience, it can be mildly entertaining, but only for the patient.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream offers a fun, creative and personal experience. Building your own little world and witnessing the absurd yet equally entertaining events your characters experience is truly a unique feeling. However, it is unacceptable for a game that is supposed to be so social to isolate its players to such an extent. Living the Dream generally succeeds in providing players with a fantastic playground, yet it barely allows you to share that space with others.

Tomodachi Life expects nothing more from us than that we peck at it like a small box of nuggets. It is the side dish you order at a fast-food joint when you still have a bit of a craving after the burger. Unfortunately, you realize far too late that the employee forgot to include said burger in the order (you know exactly what I’m talking about). You will, therefore, have to make do with this little appetizer. The additions introduced in the 3DS installment are welcome; the customization is fabulous, and the Mii editor stands as a classic in its own right. However, Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life is no masterpiece of the life-simulation genre. That said, it is probably the funniest entry in the genre. If you are looking for a title to sink hundreds of hours into, you might find the island to be rather deserted. But if you need to see your boss dressed in an egg costume every now and then just to take your mind off your overdue emails, then the experience is well worth checking out.

Tomodachi Life does offer a dreamlike life, but for now it will mainly appeal to those who enjoy meticulously customizing every detail of their characters and have someone nearby to share their creations with. The base package is hilarious, yet somewhat lacking, and it runs out of steam fairly quickly. As a result, it’s hard to wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone, although there are plenty of interesting possibilities should future updates expand the experience. Still, if cozy vibes and pure nonsense are your thing, the Mii will welcome you to their island with open arms. In their own peculiar way.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is the strangest thing you’ll play from Nintendo, bringing with it laughs and creativity in abundance. But even with improvements over the 3DS game, it follows a familiar structure that isn’t always enthralling or hilarious. Tomodachi fans will certainly be living the dream with this new entry, but I’m not desperate to keep coming back to my island. A little more variety would’ve been welcome, but the customisation, and the thought of my cat being best friends with DMC’s Dante, will have me peep in every so often for a little pick-me-up.

t may fall short if you’re looking for a deep city builder or life sim, but as a piece of absurdist Dada comedy I absolutely love Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. Every day I look forward to booting it up, making a Mii or two, seeing what unlikely friendships are forming, and watching ludicrous vignettes play out. I’ll boot up Stardew Valley or Pokopia if I’m looking for something mechanically deeper, but I know I can count on a good laugh whenever I check in on Kayfabe Island.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a deeply funny and equally personal civilization simulator fueled by your creativity, but ridiculous sharing restrictions put a dark cloud over its otherwise delightful paradise.

Everyone will approach Tomodachi Life differently, and that is what makes it such a unique experiment. However, if you don’t have the time or creativity to imagine and engineer unique dynamics between tens of Miis, Living the Dream’s removal of the social features cannot serve as a safety net as it did with the 3DS release. And sadly, outside of the daily dose of comedy, there isn’t much more to buoy this release.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is cosy and full of creative joy for anyone willing to take the time to build a Mii community with personality. I would argue that it requires a fair bit of imagination on your part as a player to get the full value out of the experience. By that, I don't just mean a desire to create visually, but also an overarching concept of who your characters are and what their relationships with the other residents should look like. Essentially, build your own story and see what happens. For me, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is primarily a great tool for creative thinking, whilst it's then up to us as players to decide what we want to create.

There are myriad ways to customize the Miis and shape their lives through a variety of humorous situations. However, the game moves at a very slow pace, which proves to be its biggest drawback, as players are often left simply waiting for something to happen.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream's gameplay isn't meaty enough, and it's disappointing that there are some features missing that were present in the 3DS version, like the Concert Hall. But the game is undeniably bursting with charm and is a decent distraction for a little while. Playing it in short bursts is the ideal experience, and while I don't feel the same kind of pull to never stop playing like I do with more well-rounded cozy games, I still plan on checking in on my Miis from time to time. $60 is too steep of an asking price for what's on offer, though.

This 15-minute daily sitcom is wonderfully charming and often makes you laugh. But like a swing that you have to occasionally push, it’s only fun as long as you’re willing to put something into it. Occasional repetition and Nintendo’s sharing restrictions are annoying.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream reveals a little too clearly that it offers a predetermined template into which Miis are simply slotted. It simply needs more variety and a more specific engagement with the characters. Nevertheless, the template itself still allows for the creation of a colorful world—one whose fate you will want to continue following.

Living the Dream is a social simulation experience in which you take on the role of a godlike figure to create Miis and guide them through their lives. Your imagination and patience will be key to defining how interesting it is in the long run.

As part of its gameplay loop, Living the Dream incorporates real-time elements, with shops refreshing daily. That does make you want to keep coming back to see what new items you’ll unlock. And checking in on the Miis is pretty entertaining at first, too. But as I mentioned, many of the requests and cutscenes start to repeat, which unfortunately made this game grow a bit stale for me far sooner than I would’ve liked. I enjoyed Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream very much for the first several hours I played it, but after the novelty wore off, I found myself wishing for a bit more.