If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the upcoming Nintendo Switch game, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. The new game is the long-awaited sequel to the beloved Nintendo 3DS game, Tomodachi Life, and there’s a lot to unpack.
Whether it’s your first time playing or it’s been a minute since you’ve picked up that 3DS, here’s everything you need to know to prepare!
Quick history
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is actually the third installment of the Tomodachi series. In June 2009, Nintendo released Tomodachi Collection, a DS game released exclusively in Japan.
It was a life-simulation game that focused on Miis, player-created characters that were introduced with the Wii in 2006. The rest of the world got a taste of the game when Tomodachi Life (which translates to “Friend Life”) released internationally in June 2014, for the 3DS.
Finally, on one fateful day, March 27, 2025, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream was surprise-announced at the end of a Nintendo Direct event. Call me Paul Revere, the way I immediately notified everyone I know. If you were also waiting almost 11 years for a sequel, then you understand.
There was very little information to live off following the initial announcement. Thankfully, on Jan. 29, we got about 20 minutes of gameplay and confirmation of the official release date. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will release on April 16, and it’ll be available on all Switch consoles.
Basic gameplay
All three games share roughly the same premise: you have an island, you create Miis, you take care of them, and they interact with each other. After you create them, your Miis’ interactions are completely random.
This can be frustrating, especially when you want to set certain people up, but it also makes for very interesting romances. I mean, in what world are Trisha Paytas and Barack Obama married? On my Tomodachi Life Island, of course!
The games use real-time progression, so it’s a slow burn when it comes to friendships and relationships forming. Luckily, you’ll never know a moment’s peace, as your Miis always have a request. They may be hungry, want new clothes or apartment interiors, want to play games, or want to get to know another Mii.
While this has varied between games, the islands include at least some of these locations, outside of Mii housing: Fountain, Pawn Shop, Clothing Shop, News Station, Interiors Shop, Town Hall, Food Mart, Hat Shop, Rankings Board, Compatibility Tester, Beach, Observation Tower, Concert Hall, Park, Amusement Park, Café, and Photo Studio.
These locations offer a space for your Miis to hang out, go on dates, and even have rap battles. You’ll also catch them occasionally clocking in for a shift at their part-time job at one of the stores.
I don’t want to give away too much because nothing beats getting caught completely off-guard by crazy reactions to food, uncanny dreams, or cinematic love confessions.
So, what’s new?
Based on what we’ve seen from the Tomodachi Life Direct event to the recently released demo, which you can still download on your Switch, there are a ton of new features.
The biggest standout is easily the expanded customization options. In the Mii Maker, there are new hairstyles, new facial features, and new tools, including face paint. I’ve already seen so many Louvre-worthy creations, I’m not sure how I’ll keep up.
We’re also able to terraform our islands and buy outdoor decorations. The Direct event showed us various potential layouts, including having multiple small islands, metropolitan cities, and even an island that looks like your Mii.
Remember how I said every interaction is completely random? Well, that’s not the case anymore. Instead of waiting around and hoping your Miis were destined to find each other, you can pick up and place your Miis with another of your choosing to get them to meet. The catch? Whether they get along is still up to chance.
If we thought the romantic interactions were cinematic in the other games, then we aren’t ready for the new meet-cute events. The sparkles, the haze, the slow-mo — Nintendo lives for the romance.
The “A Sly Wink” scene was teased during the demo, with a classic Tomodachi-style interruption, but it’s still unclear how these scenes are triggered.
What’s surprisingly new? Nothing is off-limits, at least in the demo version. The previous games were censored but could easily be worked around, so maybe Nintendo just realized the same audience that’s returning is now grown up. All I know is that we’re free to name our Miis whatever we want and have them say whatever we want, which may be controversial.
What’s missing?
One thing I’ll miss? The apartment building. Words can’t describe the rush I got seeing the pink heart in the window, meaning a Mii is in love, or the frustration I felt when I saw the orange scramble for the hundredth time that day, which means a Mii is beefing with another. I’m anxiously waiting to see if Nintendo can evoke the same feelings.
Thankfully, we’re getting something somewhat reminiscent of the apartments: a house that can hold up to eight Miis! So, maybe it’ll be okay after all, although I’ll still be thinking about the windows…
Another thing I’ll miss? The Concert Hall. I hope it’s just hiding somewhere, hopefully with the also-missing Observation Tower. Everyone needs to experience the robotic sounds of Mii voices trying to stay on key.
Plus, you could change the lyrics and create your own odd-sounding songs. Nintendo, if you can hear us, please bring back the Concert Hall.
The last thing I’ll miss? The old music and sound effects. I know it’s a new game and it’s evolved, but the music was just so good. Luckily, I did hear a few recycled sounds in the demo, so I’m hoping that wasn’t the end of them.
While I covered a ton of information, there’s still so much to explore. I think the best thing you can do with the new game is to go in with the element of surprise.
Sorry to the end of the Spring semester, you’ll have to wait. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is almost here!
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