A Tamagotchi-style pet for your phone

The Tamagotchi feeling, on your phone

The magic of a Tamagotchi was simple: a tiny creature that needed you. You checked on it between classes, fed it, played with it and watched it grow into something you didn't quite expect. Pimori keeps that loop and puts it on the phone you already carry.

• Hatch it. Every Pimori starts as an egg, and its color is rolled the moment it hatches.
• Look after it. Feed it, play with it, tuck it in. Care earns sparks, and sparks help it grow.
• Watch it grow. Five stages, then it blooms into Starbloom, Moonpetal or Sunburst depending on how you raised it.

A short history of virtual pets

Bandai released the first Tamagotchi in Japan in November 1996, and it reached the US and Europe in 1997. It was an egg-shaped keychain with three buttons and a pixel creature that got hungry, needed cleaning up after, fell ill and grew up differently depending on how well you looked after it. It was such a hit that plenty of schools banned them, because they beeped in class.

Lots of pets followed. Bandai's Digimon devices added battles. Neopets moved pet care to the web in 1999. Nintendogs put a puppy on the Nintendo DS in 2005. Phones brought a quieter kind of cozy: Neko Atsume, in 2014, let you leave out food and simply see which cats turned up.

The Tamagotchi never really left. Bandai keeps making new devices, such as Tamagotchi Uni in 2023 and Tamagotchi Paradise in 2025, and there's an Apple Arcade game, Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. The core idea has lasted almost thirty years for a reason: it feels good to be needed by something small.

Care, moods and growth stages

Your Pimori has three needs: snacks, rest and play. They drift down over the day, and its mood shows you which one it wants. Hungry is very obvious (there's a rumble). Sleepy means it's time to tuck it in. Bored means it wants a game. When everything's topped up, it's simply content.

Every bit of care earns sparks. Sparks are two things at once: money for decorating its room, and growth. As sparks add up, the sprout on its head grows through five stages: Seedling, Sprout, Bud, Bloom and Radiant. The body never changes shape; only the head grows. Sparks per day are capped, so nobody can grind to Radiant in an afternoon. A few visits on most days count for more than one marathon session.

The three bloom forms

At Radiant, your Pimori blooms into one of three forms. Which one depends on how you raised it, a bit like the old toys where care decided what your pet grew into.

• Starbloom, the explorer: raised on wandering and pocketfuls of finds. Send it out exploring a lot and this is where it leans.
• Moonpetal, the tender one: raised on quiet care, gardening and late talks.
• Sunburst, the playmate: raised on games and very loud giggles.

There's no wrong form and no best one. It's a bit of a personality quiz: the form says something about how the two of you spent your time.

Every egg is a gamble (a free one)

Your Pimori's color is rolled once, at hatch, and it keeps it forever. The odds are the same for everyone, and rare colors can't be bought.

• Lime, Rose, Sky, Honeycommon · 22.5% each
• Aurorarare · 8%
• Prismlegendary · 2%

Want to try your luck? Hatch a sneak-peek egg on the home page. It lasts for your visit, and you can save its card.

What "never dies" means in practice

In the classic toys a neglected pet could die, and plenty of us still remember the guilt. A Pimori can't. Here's what actually happens when life gets busy:

• Needs stop dropping. They drift for about a day and a half, then hold. Low needs change its mood and greetings, never its health or its growth.
• Dust bunnies move in. One for each day away, up to three. Tap them to tidy up.
• It sulks. After more than a day away it gets lonely, crosses its arms and gives you a very pointed look. Feed it, play or just say hi, and you're forgiven.
• Your days together wait. The count pauses instead of resetting.

Going away for a while? Turn on "Pause daily rhythms" and your Pimori waits for you: no drifting needs, no dust bunnies, no sulking. Turn it off when you're back.

What's different from a classic virtual pet

Playing with friends

Old-school virtual pets let you connect two toys. Pimori does the phone version, with the people you actually text. Friends connect only by invitation: you send a link and they accept.

• Sleepovers. Your pet stays over at a friend's pet's place and comes home with a find, a sticker and a diary card about what the two of them got up to.
• Pet messages and gifts. Send a short note or a snack, delivered by your pet in person.
• Games together. Take turns on a shared Pocket Treasures board. No timers and no pressure; play your turn whenever it suits you.
• Stickers. A sticker pack in your own pet's color, for the group chat.

Friends and sleepovers arrive with the public launch. The free version includes a close friend and a weekly sleepover, and Pimori Plus adds more friends and a sleepover every day. Nothing you tell your pet is passed to a friend's.

What a day with Pimori looks like

A morning hello with what's on today. A snack and a quick game when you have a minute. Finds and postcards when it's been out exploring. An evening check-in. None of it is mandatory, and a few short visits are plenty.

Tamagotchi is a trademark of Bandai. Digimon, Neopets, Nintendogs, Neko Atsume and Apple Arcade are trademarks of their respective owners. Pimori is an independent app and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Bandai or any of them.