Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream – my absurd and amusing island
15/4/2026
Translation: Natalie McKay
Pictures: Michelle Brändle
In Nintendo’s Tomodachi Life, I create my own island and its residents. They all have their own distinct personalities, and I get to decide what kind of relationships develop between them.
My cheery, vibrant island populated with characters I created. It’s a dream come true. The fact that it occasionally drifts into an absurd fever dream makes this life sim all the more endearing. The robotic voice acting drives me up the wall at times, but it does have its advantages.
It all starts off quite innocent…
I end up on a desolate little island with just a few palm trees and a sandy beach. I’ve no idea why I’m here. There’s no backstory. I don’t need one anyway, because I’m already busy creating my first character, known as a Mii.
The game suggests I base these on celebrities or people I know, or come up with fictional characters for the island. Good idea: since I’m currently hooked on One Piece, and an island’s the perfect setting for it, I’m going to create Lorenor Zorro as my first inhabitant. In addition to male and female, I can also select «non-binary» as the gender. This option promotes inclusivity and doesn’t do any harm, so I think it’s great.
Despite the simple graphics, the character can be tweaked in many ways. Alongside their physical appearance, I also give them a date of birth and personality traits. But I can’t choose my character’s clothes yet at this point.
The island’s getting a supermarket
To celebrate this occasion – or rather, the creation of my first character – the game’s giving me 200 virtual euros right off the bat. I was able to choose the currency myself in advance, but Swiss francs weren’t an option.
The game places a supermarket on the island, so I can invest this bounty right away. That’s where I buy food and drinks for my Miis. However, the selection’s still limited to toast, eggs, biscuits and dumplings. Food supplies are continuously replenished throughout the game.
In addition to the new supermarket, the game’s building another essential structure on my island: a Wishing Fountain. It’s central to my progress in the game and collects what are known as «Warm Fuzzies».
These are flower-shaped, yellow droplets which appear when one of my Mii characters is happy and build up in the Wishing Fountain. Once I’ve collected enough of them, something great happens as a reward: the island’s infrastructure expands, I get more items in the supermarket and so on. I’m always discovering new things that the Wishing Fountain’s capable of. More on that later.
The fever dream begins
At first, everything’s calm and slow-paced so I can get to grips with how it all works. My main priority’s looking after the residents, which is why I get to create a second Mii, and later on, a third one. The characters tell me what’s bothering them, whether they’re hungry, and what they need at that precise moment in time. If a Mii has something on their mind, a small thought bubble appears above them. When I click on it, the character tells me what they want.
For example, my new resident, Nami, would like to be friends with Zorro. So I take Moss Head to the world’s best mapmaker (Nami), and let the two of them chat.
This is where things start to get interesting. I can choose what they talk about: I type in «One Piece» and set it as an item in the settings (activities, foods and similar options are also possible). The game collects all the words I teach my characters in a catalogue. In context, the individual words usually fit surprisingly well, but sometimes they’re hilariously wrong. Either way, it always brings a smile to my face.
The funny thing is that the Miis say everything out loud, too. I can correct their pronunciation if it’s wrong. But the voice acting takes some getting used to because it sounds very robotic. I get annoyed by it pretty quickly. Still, this gimmick’s an essential part of Tomodachi Life, so I’m trying to come to terms with it. Especially since I get to choose what my islanders call me: my Mii have chosen the nickname «Good Girl» – and I love everything about it.
It’s not just the voices that take some getting used to; the visuals are also a wild mishmash. While the Miis are rendered in simple 3D, the game occasionally throws photorealistic objects in my face. Suddenly, a Mii’s holding a real photo of a roll of toilet paper, or the background looks like a postcard. On the other hand, this stylistic inconsistency feels so absurd and out of place that it actually fits right in with the game’s quirky charm.
With this sense of humour and style, the game presents stories and absurd scenarios involving the islanders – like the daily Mii News. This is where a Mii dresses up as a news reporter and shares the latest events on the island. Some of them explain a new game feature, while others are confusing stories told by the villagers. A piggy bank scandal here, a sticker prank there. These stories make me ask, «What the hell?» in irritation. I guess that’s not my kind of humour.
Strange things keep happening all the time, and I still have to get used to the humour to understand them – like when Robin and Lysop play a meaningless duet together, or when Princess Vivi falls head over heels in love and goes completely over the top with it.
My confusion stems from the absurd way these quite ordinary scenes are portrayed. Unique gameplay you’ll either love or find confusing.
Happy Miis and creative Michelle
The main goal quickly becomes clear: I want my Miis to live their best lives on this dream island. If they’re happy, I collect «Warm Fuzzies» for the Wishing Fountain. When I fill it up, I get new options, items and level upgrades.
Alongside food, I also unlock gifts for the Miis: a guitar that Lysop uses to serenade Nami, or a jogging DVD that Zorro uses to work out. I’m the only one who decides who gets the gifts – whether my residents enjoy them depends on their personalities.
I can also give my Miis unique traits as a gift. For instance, I customise Lysop so he always bows when he greets me. Ruffy happily skips around the island instead of walking around stiffly and bored. Sometimes I can also teach the islanders new phrases as a reward.
I’m not going to let anything take that fun away from me. So that’s why, when Ruffy’s happy, he shouts, «I’m going to be the Pirate King!» I also decide when they use these catchphrases: before meals, when saying goodbye or when they’re sad.
I also get buildings as I level up. They’re exciting upgrades for life on the island because each one’s like a playground for creative ideas. At the newly opened boutique, I’m FINALLY able to buy some awesome outfits for my Miis so they look just like the characters in One Piece. Admittedly, the selection’s very limited – especially in earlier levels – but at least I get daily deals that change all the time: I can’t afford all of these quirky outfit combinations just yet, though.
I’m heading to the new Renovation Centre to make my Miis feel at home. I can’t help but laugh that the first set of furniture I’ve finished for the Miis’ homes is a pirate set. I’ll bid on it right away for brave Captain Lysop. At 210 euros, it comes with a steep price tag – money isn’t exactly rolling in right now.
Ah, money: I get it as a reward for making the Miis happy. That’s why I recoup some of what I spent when Lysop’s delighted with the new interior design of his home.
I can really let my creativity run wild when I unlock Designer Mode in each building.
That’s how I can design my own wallpaper at the renovation centre. I have a brilliant idea for my pirate-themed island. The features in Designer Mode are limited but do the job. I wish the game supported the Switch 2’s mouse functionality for my artwork, but using the zoom feature I can draw a lot of successful designs with my finger. I love it and go wild with it!
With Designer Mode at the supermarket, I draw a delicious slice of cake and a refreshing soda. But I can also create items for the island, or even clothing (in the appropriate buildings). Finally, I’m putting the finishing touches to my One Piece characters with their iconic accessories.
The negative side of the island
On the one hand, I have plenty of creative opportunities when it comes to vocabulary, items and the lives of the islanders. On the other hand, there are things that soon get on my nerves.
Besides the jumbled sound effects, the sloppy animations bother me: no matter what a Mii’s eating, they always finish the whole plate – in three bites that aren’t even visible. Over time, I just skip over the longer Mii greetings and the boring parts of Mii News because they’re too repetitive for me.
The mini games the inhabitants use to keep me on my toes also get boring: in a coin-toss game with Nami, I have to predict whether it will land on heads or tails. If I win, I’ll get a prize. Or I have to take turns naming a food item with Sanji until I get one wrong. If I stick with it long enough – yep, you guessed it – there’s a prize. Sure, these games are entertaining, but they’re also silly and not very challenging. It’s only funny the first time.
What really bothers me is that I’m constantly being criticised. The inhabitants aren’t happy with the way I’m decorating the island, their outfits or their home furnishings. Stop whining – I put a lot of effort into this! If they’re unhappy, I can’t progress in the level. So I’m left with no choice but to comply with their requests and make the changes they want.
While I have so much freedom when it comes to the characters and vocabulary, I find the island’s design extremely lame. I can only unlock pre-built structures, but I would’ve liked to be able to shape or decorate the island myself (like I’m used to in Animal Crossing). On top of that, the Miis put forward their own ideas to help design the island. I can’t ignore them; otherwise, they’ll just complain about it again later.
So, in the end, I have to design the island differently than I’d planned. That’s why I feel like an observer who’s only allowed to watch and act as a sidekick, instead of actually doing the work myself.
Okay, enough whining. I’m starting to sound just like my Mii characters on the island – they’re always finding something to moan about.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is only available as a regular Nintendo Switch version, which is also compatible with the Switch 2. Nintendo provided it to me for review purposes, and it will be released on 16 April. A demo version is already available online.
In a nutshell
Whether you’re a fan of this game will depend on your sense of humour
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream’s a creative game with a concept that’s like nothing else out there. Instead of pursuing my own personal goals in this life sim, like I do in The Sims or Animal Crossing, my characters have a mind of their own. Every now and then, amusing situations and conversations unfold because I can teach the islanders my own lingo. I’m constantly given new ways to customise the island so the Miis and I don’t get bored. Despite its relatively simple graphics, the game impresses with a vivid mix of 3D models and absurd photo elements.
The humour’s pretty random, and occasionally it’s lost on me. The robotic voices of the characters also take some getting used to. But what bothers me most is the lack of agency I have when designing the island itself. Most of the time, I have to base it on the inhabitants’ wishes, which kind of undermines all that freedom. Some elements and features of the game also start to get on my nerves after a few hours.
If you’re into making quick progress, don’t let the limitations get you down and have a similarly wacky sense of humour, this game might be right up your alley. Still, here’s a tip for you: it’s a game that’s best enjoyed in small doses. This way, the repetitive parts won’t bother you as much.
Pro
- Creative possibilities for characters and items
- The characters have their own unique preferences and storylines
- Simple gameplay that never feels overwhelming
- Unusual sense of humour (you have to like it)
Contra
- Characters and mechanics can be annoying
- Robotic voices take some getting used to
- Repetitive scenes and mini games
- Limitations when designing the island due to residents’ requests
Header image: Michelle Brändle
Ever since I learned how to hold a pen, I've been doodling away in bright colours. Thanks to my iPad, digital art has also become part of my life. That's why I love testing tablets – from the graphic design range to the regular kind. When I feel the urge to express my creativity without lugging lots of equipment, I go for the latest smartphones and start snapping away.
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