How long does a Pac Man Tama live for?

[321Boom]

Hello everyone!

I received my Pac Man Tama yesterday and started it up! It evolved into Mimitchi like 2 hours ago!  I just can't find specific info on how long they live for on this version. According to the wiki page (https://tamagotchi.fandom.com/wiki/Pac-Man_Tamagotchi) (ignore Death from ghosts and bugs, and Running Away from sulking, I don't think I leave my Tama alone long enough to reach that criteria) it states: 

• Departure: If the user takes good care of the Tamagotchi, never allowing it to sulk for too long and chases all of the ghosts away, the Tamagotchi will leave once enough care mistakes are made. It will appear standing next to Pac-Man, perform a final Close-Up, and walk away through the left side of the screen. Pac-Man will appear idling from one side of the screen to the other, and back again.
  

These are my questions:

So it'll live for as long as I don't let enough care mistakes accumulate?

How much is 'enough' care mistakes?

Does it get needier the more it ages like other Tama versions?

Thanks in advance for any help, and sorry for all the questions, I'm completely new to Nanos and this Pac Man one  (it's so small and cute, I didn't think it would be soooo tiny!!)

 

[iAM]

I believe as long as you take care of your tama and not letting ghosts attack them they will stay. I don’t own Pac-man tamagotchi nano so I don’t really know how to answer the rest of the questions.  

 

[321Boom]

Thanks for pitching in @iTamannadi. I've had it for 6 days so far and everything seems to be going well. It's a VERY low maintenance Tama, I reckon it could go around 4 hours not checking it before it starts calling for attention. Ghosts attacks are so infrequent, I really don't know how people end up getting the kill screen bug. It takes around 2 hours for a ghost to show up, and if the kill screen bug appears after having 4 ghosts on-screen, that's over 8 hours not looking at your Tama! Maybe it gets extremely needier with time? We'll see. . . .

For now Mimitchi is just happily jumping around while riding on Pac Man! xD

 

[Penguin-keeper]

I really don't know how people end up getting the kill screen bug.

By forgetting it's there because it's such a quiet and low-maintenance Tamagotchi. That's what happened to me, anyway - it was how my first run with the device, which took place after having not run anything for an extended period of time, ended.

As an aside, the kill-screen death is fairly "creepy", since you find your Tamagotchi having fallen before the bugs, then they're consumed by them when you try to call Pac-Man, and then the screen goes black. It sounds like something out of an edgelord-authored creepypasta.

 

[321Boom]

the kill-screen death is fairly "creepy", since you find your Tamagotchi having fallen before the bugs, then they're consumed by them when you try to call Pac-Man, and then the screen goes black. It sounds like something out of an edgelord-authored creepypasta.

Wow, that is creepy, and very dark for a kid's toy  Sounds like a Tamagotchi horror movie. I'll DEFINITELY make sure to not let my poor Mimitchi succumb to a fate like that. . .

 

[Penguin-keeper]

Wow, that is creepy, and very dark for a kid's toy  Sounds like a Tamagotchi horror movie. I'll DEFINITELY make sure to not let my poor Mimitchi succumb to a fate like that. . .

It's very in-keeping with how we used to look at bugs and glitches back in the day, though, so it's certainly fitting!

 

[321Boom]

It's very in-keeping with how we used to look at bugs and glitches back in the day, though, so it's certainly fitting!

Agreed! Glitches are still terrifying to this day! So it certainly is fitting! That's still quite a cruel way for the Tama to go though. . . 

 

[Eozeda]

I've been super interested in getting another character nano and forgot all about the Pac Man edition. I can't bring myself to open and play with Eevee-gotchi. (Pokemon and tama collecting mortal sins?) So I'm mostly considering a Gudetama, Usapiyo, or Hello Kitty for casual play -- but I haven't made up my mind.  ^_^  I think it's super cool that the Pac Man doesn't die of old age from what it sounds! I was just wondering what kinds of glitches were you guys discussing by the way? I think I should be more wary when I start playing the other models I have. 

 

[321Boom]

I think it's super cool that the Pac Man doesn't die of old age from what it sounds!

I'd have to disagree. There's no way of getting it married, or moving on to the next generation when you want to raise a new character, so the only way to do that is by building up care mistakes (and the Pac Man Nano is soooooo low maintenance that you have to PURPOSELY make care mistakes). I felt horrible having to leave it unhappy for like 4 hours to completely empty it's happiness, then just play 1 game to fill up 1 heart, and rinse and repeat the process (better than starving the poor thing!) so it could depart so I could aim for another character  I had the same character for 15 or 16 days iirc, and it wouldn't leave on it's own. I am curious if I had to keep it for longer if it would actually leave without needing to do the care mistakes.

I was just wondering what kinds of glitches were you guys discussing by the way?

We were talking about the Killscreen bug/glitch that was present in the actual Pac Man game when you reach level 256 (more info here: https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/Map_256_Glitch#:~:text=The split-screen,It is impossible to beat.). Don't worry, it's not an actual glitch in the Pac Man Tama, it's just a representation of the glitch from the actual Pac Man game that was put into the Tama as a tribute to the original Pac Man game. When you let 4 ghosts accumulate on screen (it takes hours, like 6 hours or more I think!) the 'Killscreen bug/glitch' will show up on your Tama and if you leave it long enough it will kill your Tama!  

 

[Knighttchi's Ballad]

I felt horrible having to leave it unhappy for like 4 hours to completely empty it's happiness, then just play 1 game to fill up 1 heart, and rinse and repeat the process (better than starving the poor thing!) so it could depart so I could aim for another character

I ran into a similar rut with my V4 who became an oldie. I totally didn't want to end up with another generation of Oyajitchis so I just starved him to death... which is terrible. At moments like this, it's better to just hit the reset button because either way your tamagotchi is going to have a miserable life and be discarded, so just flat out resetting it results in the same thing but is much more humane because it's so quick. It's a bit like euthanasia in the case of animals - absolutely not people - since it prevents the animal from experiencing needless suffering. If you want to feel a bit better about it, you could say your goodbyes to your nano before you press the reset button (a ritual I take up with my vintages). There's also a friendly bit of lore where whenever a Tamagotchi leaves its device, it is supposedly returning to Tama Planet or taking up residence in another part of the world its device is based on. In light of that, you could argue that reset tamas are not in limbo but are actually evicted with all of the resources needed to find a new home.

 

[321Boom]

I ran into a similar rut with my V4 who became an oldie. I totally didn't want to end up with another generation of Oyajitchis so I just starved him to death... which is terrible. At moments like this, it's better to just hit the reset button because either way your tamagotchi is going to have a miserable life and be discarded, so just flat out resetting it results in the same thing but is much more humane because it's so quick. It's a bit like euthanasia in the case of animals - absolutely not people - since it prevents the animal from experiencing needless suffering. If you want to feel a bit better about it, you could say your goodbyes to your nano before you press the reset button (a ritual I take up with my vintages). There's also a friendly bit of lore where whenever a Tamagotchi leaves its device, it is supposedly returning to Tama Planet or taking up residence in another part of the world its device is based on. In light of that, you could argue that reset tamas are not in limbo but are actually evicted with all of the resources needed to find a new home.

I totally understand what you mean about the V4. I'm always on edge when running that one once it becomes an adult (although it's one of my favourites) because if it becomes an oldie, I'm stuck, no one around my area plays with them, and it's my only Connection, so I can't progress the family tree further. Apart from that, I read (but never tested) that if the Connections die, you lose ALL your items (and I have stuff from way back when Tamatown was alive like the Scepter and the King's Costume, which I really don't want to lose).

Yeah starving is absolutely horrible, I like to think of letting the happiness drop as more humane (albeit still not nice making the poor thing feel so neglected and unhappy  ). Ah, that's a much nicer way of looking at the reset at least, thanks for the idea! But then, for the Pac Man Nano, you will actually get a good ending, where the Tama departs and it's happily cheering alongside Pac Man (after doing 5 care mistakes in adult form give or take). If there's an actual 'good' ending built into the device, I would rather go for that one. Which is why I would have preferred it if the Pac Man Nano actually had a set lifespan to when it departs, rather than me having to purposely tac on care mistakes to force it to leave, or better yet, if there was a way to progress to the next generation like pass on an egg.

This is what I really like about the ON, V4, and Friends (I only mentioned these cause they're the only Tamas I own that could get married), is that they could happily get married and we take care of the next generation (the V4 is especially super-cute having your adult alongside the newborn baby taking care of it for 2 days!). No need for us to 'force them out' and no need to view death sequences either from dieing of old age!  ^_^  It's a perfect win-win situation! 

 

[Knighttchi's Ballad]

It's always interesting hearing your perspective on Tamagotchi mechanics  as someone with a foundation in the newer models, as opposed to someone with a foundation in the older models. Although both of us grew up with the connections, I was re-introduced to Tamagotchis by Mimitchi.com's vintage logs and thus built my knowledge from there (can't really say my 6 year old self actually collected any tama knowledge so that I could rebuild). I feel that the vintage models with their programmed lifecycle are so much lifelike than the other versions due to expected death making their lives seem fragile, precious, a spectacle that is either witnessed or missed. In a way, it captures how animal lives appear so very short to us as we, as human beings, outlive them perhaps 3 times over. I've probably raised over a hundred virtual lifeforms by now and yet it has only been 4 years since I first activated a virtual pet. That's not very long at all, a mere fraction, in regards to our lifespans.

As you see it, being able to start a new generation is the perfect way for the owner and virtual pet to mutually enjoy their lives while still allowing the lifecycle to occur via a new generation. In a way, this lifecycle reflects the life of a community, since young people tend to marry and move to a new community and being a new life, as occurs routinely in my church. Interestingly, the Osutchi and Mesutchi models are capable of living both lifestyles as they are vintages that can marry, thus allowing the tamagotchi to depart by either marriage or natural death. Most people run both counterparts at once to go through generations and reach higher Tamagotchi Mating Power levels which provide a new range of characters. I've been a bit curious about running one as a regular vintage and one day achieving a familiarity with each level that I can aim for specific characters routinely, in a similar fashion to the logs on Mimitchi.com.

It might be worth starting a topic about how long most people keep their colour tamas for. They can practically live forever and I here the system is very forgiving, but I find they are too high-maintenance compared to the older models that I usually marry them off within a week. I think the main problem is how the happiness bar can be a pain to fill since it's so long and if it goes to low, the tamagotchi starts sulking and making me feel bad. There are ways to keep it manageable but the fact that the screen turns off really breaks the connection for me. The Dream Town partially remedies this by having the background turn off while the tamagotchi still remains on the screen.

 

[Eozeda]

I'd have to disagree. There's no way of getting it married, or moving on to the next generation when you want to raise a new character, so the only way to do that is by building up care mistakes (and the Pac Man Nano is soooooo low maintenance that you have to PURPOSELY make care mistakes). I felt horrible having to leave it unhappy for like 4 hours to completely empty it's happiness, then just play 1 game to fill up 1 heart, and rinse and repeat the process (better than starving the poor thing!) so it could depart so I could aim for another character  I had the same character for 15 or 16 days iirc, and it wouldn't leave on it's own. I am curious if I had to keep it for longer if it would actually leave without needing to do the care mistakes.

Oh yuck I just thought that through a bit better. You're so right, it would be heartbreaking when it feels the has time has come, that it simply refuses to move on without starvation or neglect. Even without a marriage option, I can accept nanos as generally stripped down versions, which serve more as a dear collectible or accessory. However, building up care mistakes and forcing a tama to be unhappy for hours is something I'm physically incapable of doing. 

We were talking about the Killscreen bug/glitch that was present in the actual Pac Man game when you reach level 256 (more info here: https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/Map_256_Glitch#:~:text=The split-screen,It is impossible to beat.). Don't worry, it's not an actual glitch in the Pac Man Tama, it's just a representation of the glitch from the actual Pac Man game that was put into the Tama as a tribute to the original Pac Man game. When you let 4 ghosts accumulate on screen (it takes hours, like 6 hours or more I think!) the 'Killscreen bug/glitch' will show up on your Tama and if you leave it long enough it will kill your Tama!  

Oooh that makes better sense! I was super confused and worried about my tamas for a minute.   Thanks for the explanation though!

 

[321Boom]

It's always interesting hearing your perspective on Tamagotchi mechanics  as someone with a foundation in the newer models, as opposed to someone with a foundation in the older models. Although both of us grew up with the connections, I was re-introduced to Tamagotchis by Mimitchi.com's vintage logs and thus built my knowledge from there (can't really say my 6 year old self actually collected any tama knowledge so that I could rebuild).

Thanks, glad you find my perspective interesting at least, cause sometimes I know I obsess and overthink something too much and fear I might sound like a complete nutjob/weirdo lol   (blame OCD argh!!). Small correction to your statement though, I didn't start off with newer models or colour ones. Tamas have always been an on and off thing in my life (although they feel far more precious to me now than they ever did in my life!). I started with a 1996 P1 Japan import back when I was 9/10 years old! Followed by the P2 and then a bunch of knock-off virtual pets, then went on a hiatus. I got back into it when I was around 19 with the V4 (this was mega fun cause I also got one for my girlfriend at the time, and we both used to use them together a lot and making lots of connections!), about 6 months down the line, the next hiatus came. Then when I was around 25 I heard about the Friends, and got back into it then (my sis and a friend got one too so we had some good times connecting also). Same story, did about 6 months till I finally stopped using Tamas again. I always wanted a colour Tama, I saw that there was the P's and other colour versions, but never attempted it cause of them being in Japanese. Last May I got the Tamagotchi itch and wondered if they finally made a colour version in English, and finally. . there was the ON!!! And that re-kindled my love for them again!  (Thankfully it's been 7 months now with no intention of a hiatus in sight! Plus I got the Music Star I want to experience and am currently in negotiations with a seller trying to arrange purchasing an Angelgotchi! )

I feel that the vintage models with their programmed lifecycle are so much lifelike than the other versions due to expected death making their lives seem fragile, precious, a spectacle that is either witnessed or missed. In a way, it captures how animal lives appear so very short to us as we, as human beings, outlive them perhaps 3 times over. I've probably raised over a hundred virtual lifeforms by now and yet it has only been 4 years since I first activated a virtual pet. That's not very long at all, a mere fraction, in regards to our lifespans.

You make a VERY solid point here comparing Tama's lifespan to a real pet's life, and I could understand how it should be that we make every minute count with vintage models due to their limited lifespan, but then, real life is hard enough, and the death of a pet/companion is one of the hardest things someone can experience in life (you should know from your own horrible experience earlier this year, and I had 2 pet cats die in the past too), so why would I want that to carry over to my virtual pets also? It's kind of like 'a game', I'd prefer it staying fun if possible. Even seeing them depart/getting married off gives me a saddened feeling, let alone witnessing their death!   

As you see it, being able to start a new generation is the perfect way for the owner and virtual pet to mutually enjoy their lives while still allowing the lifecycle to occur via a new generation. In a way, this lifecycle reflects the life of a community, since young people tend to marry and move to a new community and being a new life, as occurs routinely in my church. Interestingly, the Osutchi and Mesutchi models are capable of living both lifestyles as they are vintages that can marry, thus allowing the tamagotchi to depart by either marriage or natural death. Most people run both counterparts at once to go through generations and reach higher Tamagotchi Mating Power levels which provide a new range of characters. I've been a bit curious about running one as a regular vintage and one day achieving a familiarity with each level that I can aim for specific characters routinely, in a similar fashion to the logs on Mimitchi.com.

Yep, you got me nailed on that one. I see it as we both enjoyed our time together, I gave it a perfect upbringing and readied it for the outside world, and it could happily go on leading it's life!  This is even more amplified with the V4 when I also know I'm giving it an education and finding it a job so it's secure, before finally fending out of the nest for it's new married life  Ah, if I had an Osutchi and Mesutchi, I'd do my utmost to never experience the natural death, the generations and family tree will just keep on going! xD Oooh that's mega interesting about the Mating Power unlocking the opportunity for new characters! I'll have to give the Osu and Mesu a look and do some more research! (EDIT: I just bought an Osu and Mesu!!! )

It might be worth starting a topic about how long most people keep their colour tamas for. They can practically live forever and I here the system is very forgiving, but I find they are too high-maintenance compared to the older models that I usually marry them off within a week. I think the main problem is how the happiness bar can be a pain to fill since it's so long and if it goes to low, the tamagotchi starts sulking and making me feel bad. There are ways to keep it manageable but the fact that the screen turns off really breaks the connection for me. The Dream Town partially remedies this by having the background turn off while the tamagotchi still remains on the screen.

I guess if you find one that you really click with, you could keep it for a very long time! I saw one of the logs here around a month or 2 ago where someone had a colour Tama (it was a Mametchi) still alive after a year!  High-maintenance? I don't know about the other colour Tamas, but not the ON in my opinion. I feel it's quite a medium-level maintenance Tama (the V4 or 20th Ann. Digivice is high-maintenance in my opinion, V4 with all the constant mail beeping, discipline/training calls, and building up skill points, plus being weary of sickness when your adult has it's baby with it, and the Digivice due to all the poop!!! x_X). I've got a Music Star at a friend's place in the US (seller wouldn't ship outside the States so I had to send it there) which I'm expecting to be more high-maintenance than the V4 due to the added Stress Meter! Oh yeah, agreed, the ON is VERY forgiving, it feels quite easy to raise in my opinion, it doesn't even get random sickness from my experience! Hahaha ooooh yeah, also agreed on the happiness bar being a pain to fill initially when they just evolved from teen into adult! It takes a good 20-30 mins to fill it up! I use that time as an opportunity to try finding what my current Tama's favourite toy is! xD Once full though, if you check on it every hour or 2, the bar would have only dropped by 1 or 2 only, so it's quite quick to fill up again then. Ooooh I'd never let the poor thing sulk in the corner, that's just cruel and would make me feel horrible too! Agreed about the screen turning off being a downside also, I know it's done as a battery saving feature, but if it was incorporated like the Dream Town as you're saying (even if the Tama just goes as a black and white outline) it would be better.

(So much for not overthinking something!  Sorry for the long post!)

Oh yuck I just thought that through a bit better. You're so right, it would be heartbreaking when it feels the has time has come, that it simply refuses to move on without starvation or neglect. Even without a marriage option, I can accept nanos as generally stripped down versions, which serve more as a dear collectible or accessory. However, building up care mistakes and forcing a tama to be unhappy for hours is something I'm physically incapable of doing. 

Yeah, it truly is, and I was just putting it off day after day knowing I have to purposely start making care mistakes  If I didn't do that though, I'd still be with the same Tama (the Pac Man Nano is EXTREMELY easy to raise it's so low-maintenance, even raising it at work without pausing doesn't pose an issue, if you check it once every 2 or even 3 hours nothing bad will happen to it!). Well it won't be unhappy for hours (doing that will get you the sulking ending instead of the 'good' depart ending), it will call for your attention once all 4 hearts empty, and you just play 1 game with it to bring up the heart count to 1. If it makes you feel better, it's still happy technically (albeit low), and it only spent a few minutes completely unhappy till you filled up that 1 heart again, and it'll call again in about an hour when that 1 heart will deplete back to complete empty happiness again. . .

Oooh that makes better sense! I was super confused and worried about my tamas for a minute.   Thanks for the explanation though!

Glad to ease your mind!  

 

[321Boom]

Well, I just finished my 2nd run of my Pac Man Nano, and I've found the answer to the question I originally asked at the beginning of this thread. Just posting again here in case it helps others.

From my findings, the Pac Man Nano DOES have a set lifespan of 15 days. The first time I ran the Pac Man Nano, she left on the 15 day mark exactly, and I had made 5 care misses on happiness (on purpose to try getting the Tama to depart so I can run something else) on that day. A few minutes (maybe 20 minutes) after the 5th care miss, she left and I got the Departure (Good) ending. But the time was also 1pm, which was the exact same time I had started the Tama 15 days prior. I was still wondering if it was the care misses or the 15 day mark that made her leave. I wanted to test this theory further in this run, and 2 days ago (my Tama was 13, easy to keep track of the age cause I started him up on New Year's Day) I gave him 10 care misses on happiness, and he still wouldn't depart! After that I just decided to take care of him properly again and keep his needs fulfilled for these past 2 days to test the 15 day theory. Just 30 mins ago, he started beeping for no reason, all his hearts were definitely full cause I had filled them up like an hour ago, and there he was besides Pac Man waiting for me to see his goodbye, and I got the Good Departure Ending again, and the time matches up with when I started him up again on New Year's.

So, conclusion, a Pac Man Nano lives for 15 days, and we don't have to stay purposely making care mistakes to make them depart!  

One thing I'm not sure about is, if my care mistakes were counting. What I was doing was letting his happiness drop till he beeps for attention, as soon as he does (literally that minute, I didn't want him to end up in the Sulking stage), I play a game with him or feed him the cherries, then just wait for the heart to drop again and he'll call out again, rinse and repeat. Maybe I had to leave the heart emptier for longer for it to count as a care miss and he would have departed earlier? Anyway, no need for that, cause we don't have to force them to depart since they'll leave on their own on the 15 day mark

Hope this helps someone or some others find these findings interesting!   

 

[Penguin-keeper]

So, conclusion, a Pac Man Nano lives for 15 days, and we don't have to stay purposely making care mistakes to make them depart!  

That would explain why I seem to get Mini-like run-times from mine (which also has a similar set lifespan), regardless of the care-mistakes situation. Great research, there - thankyou!

 

[Seven Jack]

Well, I just finished my 2nd run of my Pac Man Nano, and I've found the answer to the question I originally asked at the beginning of this thread. Just posting again here in case it helps others.

From my findings, the Pac Man Nano DOES have a set lifespan of 15 days. The first time I ran the Pac Man Nano, she left on the 15 day mark exactly, and I had made 5 care misses on happiness (on purpose to try getting the Tama to depart so I can run something else) on that day. A few minutes (maybe 20 minutes) after the 5th care miss, she left and I got the Departure (Good) ending. But the time was also 1pm, which was the exact same time I had started the Tama 15 days prior. I was still wondering if it was the care misses or the 15 day mark that made her leave. I wanted to test this theory further in this run, and 2 days ago (my Tama was 13, easy to keep track of the age cause I started him up on New Year's Day) I gave him 10 care misses on happiness, and he still wouldn't depart! After that I just decided to take care of him properly again and keep his needs fulfilled for these past 2 days to test the 15 day theory. Just 30 mins ago, he started beeping for no reason, all his hearts were definitely full cause I had filled them up like an hour ago, and there he was besides Pac Man waiting for me to see his goodbye, and I got the Good Departure Ending again, and the time matches up with when I started him up again on New Year's.

So, conclusion, a Pac Man Nano lives for 15 days, and we don't have to stay purposely making care mistakes to make them depart!

One thing I'm not sure about is, if my care mistakes were counting. What I was doing was letting his happiness drop till he beeps for attention, as soon as he does (literally that minute, I didn't want him to end up in the Sulking stage), I play a game with him or feed him the cherries, then just wait for the heart to drop again and he'll call out again, rinse and repeat. Maybe I had to leave the heart emptier for longer for it to count as a care miss and he would have departed earlier? Anyway, no need for that, cause we don't have to force them to depart since they'll leave on their own on the 15 day mark

Hope this helps someone or some others find these findings interesting!

Wrong....I've had mine for over three weeks.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

Wrong....I've had mine for over three weeks.

Instead of simply proclaiming "Wrong" in your very first post, it might be helpful to other users if you could provide some data on how you reached the point that you say that you've reached, just as the post that you responded to did. We like that sort of thing around here, since it allows other Tamagotchi owners to aim for the same goal!