Tamagotchi Inspired Mobile Game Brainstorming

[TamaLove754]

For the better part of a decade now, my main hobby has been game development. I've worked on a handful of different projects with varying levels of completion, but one idea that's been on my mind for a while now has been creating a Tamagotchi inspired mobile game. Sort of similar to the older Tamagotchi apps, but with features more in-line with the modern color releases.

One thing I'm thinking to doing is taking a few cues from the Gameboy Tamagotchi games, such as giving the player a few separate "rooms" to allow for raising several tamas at once. There was also a pretty neat competition mode that you could train your tamas to participate in, which could be adapted into something pretty interesting. Perhaps combined with a skill points system akin to the v4/4.5 systems.

Another such idea is to allow players to choose from a few different eggs at the start of each room's "run", which could change up some of the care aspects of that tama. For example, the default standard egg would follow the standard care gameplay, but choosing a floral egg would introduce certain aspects from the Morino, such as a cocoon stage in which how you maintain the temperature affects the adult you receive.

Either way though, I'm interested in heading what sort of ideas you may have for this sort of project, and what kind of things you'd want to see in a mobile digital pet.

 

[KuchipatchiPod]

I've had similar ideas too, and also have been dabbling in hobbyist game dev An idea I had was the ability to get a garden and allow your pets to tend to it, and it would return items that you could use. I was glad the Pix had a garden but it was a bit simpler than what I imagine. Another idea I had was outings where you go out with your pet and it can do things like push rocks or something to find hidden items, based on its competition stats.

 

[The Collector]

This is a REALLY great idea! Considering the fact that most phones nowadays are loaded with touch-screens and have touch capability, you could easily have a petting/grooming function added in quite easily. If you are still interested in concocting a game, I am more than willing to help in any way I can. Please let me know.

 

[TamaLove754]

I've had similar ideas too, and also have been dabbling in hobbyist game dev An idea I had was the ability to get a garden and allow your pets to tend to it, and it would return items that you could use. I was glad the Pix had a garden but it was a bit simpler than what I imagine. Another idea I had was outings where you go out with your pet and it can do things like push rocks or something to find hidden items, based on its competition stats.

Ah, cool to hear!
Having a few new ways to interact with your pet like gardening and exploring are pretty neat ideas. Even something fairly simple like berry growing from some of the earlier Pokemon games could be a fun extra little activity. Work in a bit of extra depth with mechanics like cross-pollenating and rare yields from specific care to the garden, and it could make for a pretty interesting activity.

This is a REALLY great idea! Considering the fact that most phones nowadays are loaded with touch-screens and have touch capability, you could easily have a petting/grooming function added in quite easily. If you are still interested in concocting a game, I am more than willing to help in any way I can. Please let me know.

Thank you!
Petting/grooming could be a pretty adorable addition, and could work pretty well given the touch-screen focus of the game.
While I don't know how well I made it seem in the original post, this is actually a project that I've started on, although most of the work done is less visual and more behind-the-scenes. Perhaps I could put together a little bit of a showcase of what I've got so far though, and otherwise I'd be happy to answer any questions. If you are interested though, I'd appreciate any help I can get.

 

[The Collector]

Ah, cool to hear!
Having a few new ways to interact with your pet like gardening and exploring are pretty neat ideas. Even something fairly simple like berry growing from some of the earlier Pokemon games could be a fun extra little activity. Work in a bit of extra depth with mechanics like cross-pollenating and rare yields from specific care to the garden, and it could make for a pretty interesting activity.


Thank you!
Petting/grooming could be a pretty adorable addition, and could work pretty well given the touch-screen focus of the game.
While I don't know how well I made it seem in the original post, this is actually a project that I've started on, although most of the work done is less visual and more behind-the-scenes. Perhaps I could put together a little bit of a showcase of what I've got so far though, and otherwise I'd be happy to answer any questions. If you are interested though, I'd appreciate any help I can get.

Ohhh, I am IN! If you can whip up a little showcase, that'd be awesome. I'd love to see what you've come up with thus far. If there's anything at all you can think of that a person such as myself could do to aide you in this project (I have zero programming skills and the most video game creation experience I have is with programs like RPG Makers, very rudimentary stuff and I'd need somebody holding my hand but I am a quick learner!)

Anyway, I am excited to see what we can get going!

 

[KuchipatchiPod]

What are you using to make it?

 

[TamaLove754]

Awesome! Is there any particular aspect you'd be interested in potentially helping out with? Art/Pixel Art and refining character designs are probably my biggest immediate hurdles, but just about anything would be much appreciated.

I'll have to start putting together something to show, but a lot of the statistical side of things such as tracking different tama stats, different "rooms", evolution, skill points, and a few others have been set up, albeit only really with an early test GUI at the moment.

Probably the most advanced feature that's already been implemented is Guest Mode. Inspired by the Tamagotchi Meets app, it's a passcode system that allows players to share their tama with other players. In addition to likely being used to mate like the Meets, it also allows the other tama to become a Guest Character, that the player can meet, interact with, or compete against in different modes.

Funny that you should mention RPG Maker, as that's actually what I'm using, MV to be exact, alongside some custom JavaScript plugins. I've been using different iterations of the engine for over 10 years now. It might not look like it, but the engine actually works really well for these sort of interface-based games.

 

[BumblingBee]

I remember I used to play this really neat virtual pet app before I'd even heard of Tamagotchi. It was called Pakka Pets Village, and alongside the standard pet-raising that comes with the genre, there was an element of exploration, with features such as a town with a bunch of characters to interact with, a customizable garden where pets you've raised in the past (that you didn't kill off) could go to hang out, exclusive eggs and in-game currency you could buy with real money (it was a mobile game, remember?), a cooking game wherein you could combine food to get a new meal, the whole nine yards! It's honestly the gold standard of virtual pet apps, so if you're looking to make a game based on Tamagotchi, I'd definitely look to Pakka Pets Village for inspo. ^^

 

[KuchipatchiPod]

Interesting that you're using RM, It's incredibly flexible for what it is, I've heard.

 

[The Collector]

Awesome! Is there any particular aspect you'd be interested in potentially helping out with? Art/Pixel Art and refining character designs are probably my biggest immediate hurdles, but just about anything would be much appreciated.

I'll have to start putting together something to show, but a lot of the statistical side of things such as tracking different tama stats, different "rooms", evolution, skill points, and a few others have been set up, albeit only really with an early test GUI at the moment.

Probably the most advanced feature that's already been implemented is Guest Mode. Inspired by the Tamagotchi Meets app, it's a passcode system that allows players to share their tama with other players. In addition to likely being used to mate like the Meets, it also allows the other tama to become a Guest Character, that the player can meet, interact with, or compete against in different modes.

Funny that you should mention RPG Maker, as that's actually what I'm using, MV to be exact, alongside some custom JavaScript plugins. I've been using different iterations of the engine for over 10 years now. It might not look like it, but the engine actually works really well for these sort of interface-based games.

I actually have some experience with Pixel art! I used to Roleplay a LOT on old Invisionfree and Zetaboards Pokemon RPG forums, and part of the fun used to be creating your own Fakemon we used to call them (Fake Pokemon lol) and design our own evolution lines, complete with sprites and everything! Needless to say, it was a lot of fun, but I can seriously say that I could most likely design a lot of the characters we will end up using!

I will post some examples of my work in just a bit.

 

[The Collector]

I actually have some experience with Pixel art! I used to Roleplay a LOT on old Invisionfree and Zetaboards Pokemon RPG forums, and part of the fun used to be creating your own Fakemon we used to call them (Fake Pokemon lol) and design our own evolution lines, complete with sprites and everything! Needless to say, it was a lot of fun, but I can seriously say that I could most likely design a lot of the characters we will end up using!

I will post some examples of my work in just a bit.

So QUITE unfortunately, the website that I had been using to store all of my pixel art has very inconveniently been shut down due to reasons outside of my understanding. So, long story short: I no longer have any, and I mean ANY, of my old pixel art. While this really stinks, and I no longer have anything to show off to you guys for examples of my work, I don't think it will take me very long to get back to where I was.

Regardless of all that, I will begin whipping up some ideas for brand new Tamagotchi characters of our own designs! If anybody has any ideas as to new species designs, eggs designs, or even item designs, please post them here! I will take your ideas and do my best to create some pixel art to represent your ideas and I will post them here for either denial or approval. Keep in minds guys, I CAN take cONSTRUCTIVE criticism, meaning that you can call me out on aspects of the designs that you may not like... And if that happens, feel free to post a suggestion as to fixing it to your liking. That way, we can get community feedback as the work is being done, cutting out some time.

I don't know about you guys, but I really believe that we have the potential to create a really interesting, fun and most importantly, a game that stays true to the Tamagotchi experience!

 

[Tama-Hacker]

Nice idea! I would recommend Unity as the software to make it in. If you want it to be 2D I would even recommend programming the game entirely in Python, which would be pretty easy to pull off if you know how to program. Conversely if you prefer C# to Python, then Unity would be the best bet.

 

[TamaLove754]

I actually have some experience with Pixel art! I used to Roleplay a LOT on old Invisionfree and Zetaboards Pokemon RPG forums, and part of the fun used to be creating your own Fakemon we used to call them (Fake Pokemon lol) and design our own evolution lines, complete with sprites and everything! Needless to say, it was a lot of fun, but I can seriously say that I could most likely design a lot of the characters we will end up using!

I will post some examples of my work in just a bit.

That's pretty awesome! A lot of my experience with pixel art and character design comes from creating Fakemon for a different project of mine actually. Sorry to hear the site you had them on went offline, that's always rough. If you do happen to find a bit of your old work, I would be interested in checking it out, but otherwise we could definitely start getting some of the basics planned out.

What I'm thinking of going for is a style similar to that of the color tama's, maintaining a bit of the retro look, but perhaps with a little more shading. Here's a quick look at one of the little fellas in the works:

Nice idea! I would recommend Unity as the software to make it in. If you want it to be 2D I would even recommend programming the game entirely in Python, which would be pretty easy to pull off if you know how to program. Conversely if you prefer C# to Python, then Unity would be the best bet.

Ah, thanks for the advice. Probably is something I ought to look into a bit more, beyond the programs and bit of JavaScript that I've gotten familiar with over the years.

I remember I used to play this really neat virtual pet app before I'd even heard of Tamagotchi. It was called Pakka Pets Village, and alongside the standard pet-raising that comes with the genre, there was an element of exploration, with features such as a town with a bunch of characters to interact with, a customizable garden where pets you've raised in the past (that you didn't kill off) could go to hang out, exclusive eggs and in-game currency you could buy with real money (it was a mobile game, remember?), a cooking game wherein you could combine food to get a new meal, the whole nine yards! It's honestly the gold standard of virtual pet apps, so if you're looking to make a game based on Tamagotchi, I'd definitely look to Pakka Pets Village for inspo. ^^

Thank you for the reference, I can definitely see the similarities, and it sounds like it captures a lot of the color Tamagotchi aspects I'm aiming for (plus the little Froggo fella is very cute!). I'll have to check it out.

 

[KuchipatchiPod]

If you do swap over to Unity, I have a lot of experience there, so I could help you learn your way around it if you needed, and help out with C# too. It doesn't seem like there's much else I could really help with as you have everything else covered and I can't really do art or anything XD All I can do is throw some ideas out there, and I'd be happy to playtest for you if you need it

 

[Tama-Hacker]

If you do swap over to Unity, I have a lot of experience there, so I could help you learn your way around it if you needed, and help out with C# too. It doesn't seem like there's much else I could really help with as you have everything else covered and I can't really do art or anything XD All I can do is throw some ideas out there, and I'd be happy to playtest for you if you need it

I don't have a lot of experience with unity, but I can point you to some great assets on the unity store

Also if artificial intelligence or blockchain technology will be part of the project, I can totally help there. I always thought an AI tamagotchi would be interesting.

Genetic algorithms would be helpful if you plan on adding a breeding function, in which case I could also help out.

I can also make some chiptunes for background music and sound effects!

 

[TamaLove754]

Hey, long time no see!

Its been a while, but over that time, I've still been making progress on the project.

A lot more characters have been designed since the initial post, with plenty more planned.



The current plan is to expand the gameplay to not only include pet raising, but also a whole farming sim styled game build around it. Think something along the line of Stardew Valley mixed with Tamagotchi/Chao Garden. You'll be able to raise several pets at once, with different types of pets being able to help you out in different ways.

One idea I have is that Pets can be taught and trained in several skills, including Farming, Foraging, Mining, Fishing, and a few others. Once they're proficient enough from training, they can begin to accept tasks to collect any material you've found yourself at least once, so long as they have the required proficiency in that skill. The higher their proficiency builds up, the more efficient they will gather these resources. Of note, they will even be able to do this while away form the game. You can't just leave them at it forever though, as they will grow hungry over time, and will drastically slow down if left for too long.

Collecting plenty of resources will also help with filling out the newly added Collections system. For most materials, there will be a "Collection" for them, which will rank up after collecting a certain amount of that material. As you level up your collections, you'll unlock new crafting and synthesis recipes, and maybe even something special! Note that Collections are shared, not per Pets, so you could have multiple Pets helping work towards a goal.

I have a lot more planned and in the works, so feel free to ask if you have any questions, suggestions, or just want to know more about anything regarding the project.

 

[TamagotchiLover16]

Hey, long time no see!

Its been a while, but over that time, I've still been making progress on the project.

A lot more characters have been designed since the initial post, with plenty more planned.

View attachment 9195

The current plan is to expand the gameplay to not only include pet raising, but also a whole farming sim styled game build around it. Think something along the line of Stardew Valley mixed with Tamagotchi/Chao Garden. You'll be able to raise several pets at once, with different types of pets being able to help you out in different ways.

One idea I have is that Pets can be taught and trained in several skills, including Farming, Foraging, Mining, Fishing, and a few others. Once they're proficient enough from training, they can begin to accept tasks to collect any material you've found yourself at least once, so long as they have the required proficiency in that skill. The higher their proficiency builds up, the more efficient they will gather these resources. Of note, they will even be able to do this while away form the game. You can't just leave them at it forever though, as they will grow hungry over time, and will drastically slow down if left for too long.

Collecting plenty of resources will also help with filling out the newly added Collections system. For most materials, there will be a "Collection" for them, which will rank up after collecting a certain amount of that material. As you level up your collections, you'll unlock new crafting and synthesis recipes, and maybe even something special! Note that Collections are shared, not per Pets, so you could have multiple Pets helping work towards a goal.

I have a lot more planned and in the works, so feel free to ask if you have any questions, suggestions, or just want to know more about anything regarding the project.

nice job!

ETA: What game engine are you using?