Except I've almost written an entire guide so this ballooned out of my original intentions.

Before I begin, I want to make a few things clear about what this exactly is:

• It is NOT (yet) a complete guide to the Tamagotchi iDL and it's variants. There’s no point in writing Yet Another Tamagotchi iDL Guide™ Except, lol, I actually have started writing said Yet Another Tamagotchi iDL Guide™
• I am assuming that you’ve run a Tamagotchi before and understand the basic Tamagotchi concepts (basic care, growth stages, care misses, etc.) Psych, I am going to be explaining all of this at some point too. But this is generally true in the form it's in
• You are ok with growth chart, Happy items, and location spoilers

Over the past few years, I have seen several people say they cannot get into the Tamagotchi iDL, they don’t really understand how to play it, and it's overwhelming. I have 100%’d the iDL, I love it, and I think many people would love it too with some direction.

At the time of writing this guide, there are a few resources that are absolutely top notch and you should utilize when running any of the iDL Series. A lot of information was pulled from these for this guide to try and consolidate the most commonly overlooked aspects.

ANY AND ALL OF THE TAMAGOTCHI WIKI PAGES

For the love of Christ I think Tamagotchi fans are afraid of doing a lick of research themselves. The Tamagotchi Wiki is ran by some very passionate people doing their absolute best to catalog as much information about these toys as possible. Do not let their work go to waste. When you ask someone a fairly basic question on Reddit, Facebook, or Discord, chances are they are looking at one of these pages when responding to you. Although, if I do say so myself, I think I did a pretty bang up job covering most of the information in these, especially covering some requirements that are not currently listed. Most of what I've missed i release date information that I didn't feel like had much pertinance to this guide.

Tamagotchi iDL Wiki Page - This is an overview of all three iDL Devices and lists their differences.

Tamagotchi iDL Character List Wiki Page - All three versions character list, requirements, and the pets (with their schedules)

Tamagotchi TamaTomo Wiki Page - Crucial game mechanic for the Japanese Tamas from iD through 4U+

DISPOSABLEPIE'S NOTION TRACKERS

She's the absolute realest and helped me a lot by proofreading and checking this for errors.

disposablepie's iDL Tracker

disposablepie's Princess Spacy iDL Tracker

disposablepie's 15th Anniversary iDL Tracker

These are excellent. Each adult states which teen they come from and their requirements, you can tick off care misses and Tamas as you complete them, and if you open the character entries you can see the Happy Symbol items needed to complete TamaTomo. As long as you keep them updated, they are excellent ways to keep track of who you need to complete next. Create a Notion account and duplicate them into your account.

IMAGE GROWTH CHARTS

I reuploaded all of these to Imgur for the sake of preservation and to not hit other community members' hosts

While disposablepie's trackers have most of the same information, I find it easier to follow the image-based growth charts.

Tama-Star_Girl's iDL Growth Chart

Binary's Princess Spacy iDL GIRL Growth Chart

Binary's Princess Spacy iDL BOY Growth Chart

Tama-Star_Girl's 15th Anniversary iDL Growth Chart

DOWNLOADABLE ITEMS

Fuzzy-N-Chic's iDL Google Drive

DOWNLOADABLE GAMES GUIDE

Jasper (jaspattack on Discord)'s Tamagotchi iD/iDL/Ps Game Guide

TAMAPHONE / IrDA DEVICE

Something that makes this device a fan favorite is the amount of downloadable content it has. You do not necessarily need a TamaPhone, but I would highly recommend it. I wrote an IrDA/TamaPhone guide on Reddit years ago that I am not that happy with now, but it’s an ok summary of the tech and has a few devices listed that you can use I verified with other community members.

You will use one of these IrDA devices to transfer games, items, and accessories to your Tamagotchi iDL. Some of the built-in games are atrocious and many of these are at least tolerable. There's also community items like EZGotchi, a game that gives you 9999 Gotchi Points, and Deluxe Food dishes that will refill your Friend Level bar completely or fill all 6 hunger slots.

Some Henshin Jo transformations are locked behind these download items.

YOU WILL NEED A SECOND TAMAGOTCHI (eventually)

All three iDL versions have 4 Secret Characters (refer to growth charts) that require you to use another Tamagotchi. It can be an iD, iD Station, iDL, or P’s. You can refer to the growth charts or trackers to see which ones for each device

For One Boy and One Girl

• You will need to connect with 6 different* devices in that generation.
• Most fans use the Reset Trick

For The Other Boy and Other Girl

• You connect to the same device 30 times when it is a teenager.

WHAT'S THE "RESET TRICK?"

This is how most fans get around the requirement of 6 different devices for the Secret Characters or for the 10 different devices for Himspetchi's transformation.

1. Take a Tamagotchi iD, iDL, iD Station, or P's you do not mind factory resetting
2. Connect the Tamagotchi in the Connection Icon then factory reset 5 times to make it appear to the Tama as 6 different devices.
3. Then factory reset the Tamagotchi that is not the one you are playing on. The one you are OK with factory resetting

Do this by:

• Pressing the reset button

OR

• Pulling the batteries and putting them back in

After the "Digital Friends of the World" logo, there will be two options:

• FIRST ROW: CONTINUE
• SECOND ROW: RESET

4. Then select the RESET option

   The Tamagotchi will ask:

   Are you really sure?

   • FIRST ROW: YES
   • SECOND ROW: NO

   Select YES and your Tamagotchi will be reset

5. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 until you have connnected the number of times needed.

WHERE'S THE SITTER?

Oh you sweet modern Tama player, you don't know how good you've had it.

The sitter was not introduced until the Tamagotchi 4U. Thus, absent from all Tamagotchi iDL versions.

If you have played more recent releases, the child and teen phases will feel like a bit of a chore. They get hungry pretty quickly in these phases and there's nowhere to send them. This can result in racking up care misses really quickly.

You can always adjust the time so they are sleeping. This won't affect their age or evolution timer no matter how many times you change the time.

THE LIVING ROOM SAYS HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUT THE DATE ISN'T MY BIRTHDAY?

All 32 of the Tamagotchis on the device have a birthday.

When it is one of their birthdays, the Living Room wallpaper will be set to a Birthday Banner.

When the clock rolls over to 12:30PM an animation sequence will play wishing whichever Tamagotchi's birthday it is a happy birthday.

This screen will show one of their TamaTomo items.

HOW DO I TURN ON/OFF THE SOUND?

With no icons selected, press A + C at the same time and the sound menu will appear.

• A: Switch selection pointer finger
• FIRST ROW: Volume ON
• SECOND ROW: Volume OFF
• B: Select mode
• C: Exit the menu without making changes

HOW DO I CHANGE MY BRIGHTNESS?

With no icons selected, press B to get to the clock screen.

Press B + C at the same time and the brightness menu will appear.

• A: Lower brightness
• B: Raise brightness
• C: Exit the menu

MY SCREEN IS FLICKERING?

Oh honey, that is out of the scope of this guide but you need to replace your capacitors.

STARTING FRESH

ONLY USE THE RESET OPTION IF YOU WANT TO START FROM A NEW SAVE FILE. THERE IS NO WAY TO RECOVER YOUR SAVE FILE IF YOU RESET IT. USE THE FIRST OPTION (CONTINUE) IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE YOUR CURRENT SAVE FILE.

I presume you bought a used iDL with them now being [Current Year - 2011] years old.

If my assumption is correct, use a blunt, small object to poke at the button of the battery door and slide down after it's been pushed in.

Bandai recommended a pen... But that's cringe ick eww disgusting womp womp

Nintendo DS or PDA syli work great, I've seen people cut the tip off a Q-Tip and use the shaft. Any of these will:

• Prevent ink from getting on the button
• Not damage the button (many secondhand ones already are)
• NOT DAMAGE THE BUTTON (seriously, why Bandai)

Anyway, put two AAA batteries in.

The Tamagotchi will display and play the "Digital Friends of the World" image and jingle.

You will then be presented with a menu with two options in Japanese.

I'mma take a guess that you can't read Japanese.

That's cool, me neither.

But these are standard across most versions starting with the Connections. Your options are:

• FIRST ROW: CONTINUE
• SECOND ROW: RESET

Assuming you want to reset, select the RESET option

To do this, use:

• A:To switch between the two options
• B:To confirm your selection

The Tamagotchi will ask:

Are you really sure?

• FIRST ROW: YES
• SECOND ROW: NO

Select YES and your Tamagotchi will reset

USE THE FIRST OPTION (CONTINUE) EVERY OTHER TIME YOU PUT NEW BATTERIES IN OR PRESS THE RESET BUTTON ON THE BACK. ONLY USE THE RESET OPTION IF YOU WANT TO START FROM A NEW SAVE FILE. THERE IS NO WAY TO RECOVER YOUR SAVE FILE IF YOU RESET IT

SETUP

Now that your Tamagotchi has been reset, you need to set the date and clock

Date and time can be changed at any time

To do this, use:

• A:To advance the current flashing selection
• B:To confirm your selection and move to the next field
• C:To go back a field

After setting the date and time, the Tamagotchi will ask you for your birthday

Be careful. You cannot change your birthday after setting it

To do this, use:

• A:To advance the current flashing selection
• B:To confirm your selection and move to the next field
• C:To go back a field

After setting your birthday, it will ask you for your name

Be careful. You cannot change your name after setting it

There are no Roman characters, so your options are limited as an English speaker

To do this, use:

• A:

• Advance to the next character slot
• Advance through character sets (there are multiple)
• Advance through characters in a set

• B:

• Select a character slot
• Select a character set
• Select a character

• C:To go back a character

When you have entered your name, if there are any extra character slots, use A to advance through them.

You will be sent to your Living Room where an Egg awaits you.

After 60 seconds, the egg will hatch into a baby and you will want to proceed to the Basic Care section of the guide

Menu Guide follows this section in case you need help with the Japanese menus after hatching

Left to right, top to bottom

Scale Icon	Food Icon	Bathroom Icon	Door Icon	Connection Icon
Closet Icon	Treasure Chest Icon	Book Icon	Clover Icon	Attention Icon

(1st) SCALE ICON

• FIRST SCREEN
• First Row: HUNGER (4 rice bowls displayed, 2 hidden)
• Second Row: FRIEND LEVEL HAPPINESS (increases with each Happy Symbol
• Third Row: Happy Symbols - See TamaTomo
• Fourth Row: Gotchi points (money)
• SECOND SCREEN
• First Row (JP): Tamagotchi name
• Second Row: Age in years
• Middle Between 2nd & 3rd Row: Gender (with mars or venus symbol)
• Third Row: Has scale, weight in grams
• Fourth Row: Generation Counter
• THIRD SCREEN

This is where you select your icon background.

This will change depending on the icons you have unlocked.

Will be different depending on version

• First Row: Default or first unlocked
• Second Row: first or second unlocked
• Third Row: second or third unlocked
• Fourth Row: third or fourth unlocked

(2nd) FOOD ICON

• FIRST ROW: FRIDGE

• This is where your food is stored. Icons in the top right corner will tell you if it's a meal (rice bowl) or snack (candy wrapper). Food downloaded via IrDA or grown in the garden appears here.

• SECOND ROW: MEAL

• FIRST ROW: RESTAURANT - Pay to eat a meal at the restaurant
• SECOND ROW: TAMA MEAL - Visit a male character you have completed TamaTomo with to eat a free meal (grayed out if you haven't collected a male TamaTomo stamp)

• THIRD ROW: SNACK

• FIRST ROW: BAKERY - Pay to eat a meal at the restaurant
• SECOND ROW: TAMA CAFE - Pay to eat a snack at the cafe
• THIRD ROW: TAMA SNACK - Visit a female character you have completed TamaTomo with to eat a free snack (grayed out if you haven't collected a female TamaTomo stamp)

(3rd) BATHROOM ICON

• FIRST ROW: TOILET
• Use if your character needs to go to the bathroom (doing the potty dance)
• Use if there is already poop on the floor
• SECOND ROW: BATH
• Use if your Tamagotchi has turned brown and soiled

(4th) DOOR ICON

• FIRST SCREEN

• FIRST ROW: ARCADE

The first two built-in games will be different based on iDL version

You can download TWO additional games using IrDA

TAMAGOTCHI iDL

• Run & Jump
• Kuchipatchi Hamburger

TAMAGOTCHI PRINCESS SPACY iDL

• Darts
• Concert

TAMAGOTCHI 15th ANNIVERSARY iDL

• Sliding Puzzle
• Maze

• SECOND ROW: DONUTS PARK

• Various things happen at the park. There is so much it got it's own section - Donuts Park.

• THIRD ROW: INTERIOR SHOP
You can buy different interiors for your house. More backgrounds for the living room can be sent over via IrDA

Refer here to the specifics of your Interior (& Kinda Your Exterior)

• FIRST SCREEN

• FIRST ROW: LIVING ROOM
• SECOND ROW: KITCHEN
• THIRD ROW: TOILET ROOM
• FOURTH ROW: BATHROOM

• SECOND SCREEN
• FIRST ROW: BEDROOM

• SECOND SCREEN
• FIRST ROW: TAMADEPA
In each section, items downloaded using IrDA downloads will have a pink heart in the top right corner

• FIRST ROW: DAILY ITEMS: Seeds & Cleaning Items
• SECOND ROW: PLAY THINGS: Items to play with your Tamagotchi. You need these for TamaTomos

When you select cleaning items, seeds, or items, a menu will pop up.

The top of the screen asks "Would you like to buy this?"

Your options:

• FIRST ROW: YES

This will buy the item

• SECOND ROW: NO

This will not buy the item (crazy how that works)

FOR ITEMS DOWNLOADED VIA IrDA:
• THIRD ROW: DELETE ITEM

If this option is selected the screen will ask:

Are you sure?

• FIRST ROW: YES
• SECOND ROW: NO

• SECOND ROW: DRESSMAKER
In each section, items downloaded using IrDA downloads will have a pink heart in the top right corner

• FIRST ROW: CLOTHES: Items that appear on the torso of your Tamagotchi
• SECOND ROW: ACCESSORIES: Accessories (usually hats) that appear on your Tamagotchi

When you select either clothes or accessories, a menu will pop up.

The top of the screen asks "Would you like to buy this?"

Your options:

• FIRST ROW: YES

This will buy the item

• SECOND ROW: NO

This will not buy the item (crazy how that works)

FOR ITEMS DOWNLOADED VIA IrDA:
• THIRD ROW: DELETE ITEM

If this option is selected the screen will ask:

Are you sure?

• FIRST ROW: YES
• SECOND ROW: NO

• THIRD ROW: MATCHMAKER

When your Tamagotchi is an adult, you can marry them off to characters of the opposite gender

The characters do not influence anything about your next generation, so pick your favorite!

• A: Use to move the pointer to select a Tama partner
• B: Choose and confirm a Tama partner
• C: Exit without choosing a partner

• THIRD & FOURTH SCREEN

These will be unlocked as you complete TamaTomos. Click on each version to see which locations unlock.

(1 through 4 will be on SCREEN THREE)

(5 through 8 will be on SCREEN FOUR)

• Tamagotchi iDL Locations
• Tamagotchi Princess Spacy Locations
• Tamagotchi 15th Anniversary Locations

• FIFTH SCREEN
You can store up to two IrDA downloaded locations. They will appear in the order installed.

(5th) CONNECTION ICON

• FIRST ROW: TAMAGOTCHI iDL

Performing any action in this menu will increase the Friend Level in the Friends portion of the Book Icon

When the connection hearts appear, whichever Tama presses B first will be the RECIEVING Tamagotchi where animations are displayed

• FIRST ROW: PLAY - Play a game, recieve money, recieve an item, recieve poop, or recieve death (just makes your Tama sad) from the other Tamagotchi.
• SECOND ROW: SWAP ITEMS - Swap items between Tamagotchi iDLs

• FIRST ROW: GIVE

• PERSONAL ITEM

• Fridge
• Clothes
• Accessory
• Daily Items
• Play Things
• Letters

• SHOP ITEMS (IrDA Downloads)

• Living Room Wallpaper
• Arcade Game
• Download Location
• Meal
• Snack

• SECOND ROW: RECIEVE

• THIRD ROW: TAKE PHOTO - A photo of the two Tamas will be taken on one of the Tamagotchis and saved in the Album of the Book Icon of both

• If the album has space, the screen will say NOW PRINTING
• If the album is full, the Tamagotchi will ask which photo you'd like to replace

• A: to cycle through the photos stored
• B: to select the photo. It'll ask if you want to replace this photo (top row YES) and are you really sure (top row YES)
• C: exit without saving or deleting photos

• FOURTH ROW: PROPOSE - If both Tamas are adults and opposite genders, you can marry between devices

• SECOND ROW: TAMAGOTCHI iD

Use this option when connecting to a Tamagotchi iD

When the connection hearts appear, whichever Tama presses B first will be the RECIEVING Tamagotchi where animations are displayed

Play a game, recieve money, recieve an item, recieve poop, or recieve death (just makes your Tama sad) from the other Tamagotchi.

• THIRD ROW: TAMAGOTCHI PLUS COLOR

Use this option when connecting to a Tamagotchi Plus Color

When the connection hearts appear, whichever Tama presses B first will be the RECIEVING Tamagotchi where animations are displayed

Play a game, recieve money, recieve an item, recieve poop, or recieve death (just makes your Tama sad) from the other Tamagotchi.

• FOURTH ROW: DOWNLOADS

You will use this selection to download items over IrDA from your TamaPhone, PDA, or Laptop

This will deserve it's own section

(6th) CLOSET (Hat) ICON

• FIRST ROW: CLOTHES - This is where purchased or gifted clothing is stored
• SECOND ROW: ACCESSORIES - This is where purchased or gifted accessories are stored

If you are wearing clothing or accessories, you can make your Tama naked by selecting the first option (has no icon) when you open either menu.

When you select either clothes or accessories, a menu will pop up.

The top of the screen asks "Would you like to wear this?"

Your options:

• FIRST ROW: YES
• SECOND ROW: NO
• THIRD ROW: DELETE ITEM

If this option is selected the screen will ask:

Are you sure?

• FIRST ROW: YES
• SECOND ROW: NO

(7th) TREASURE CHEST ICON

• FIRST ROW: DAILY ITEMS - This is where your house cleaning items and Seeds are stored

You can have multiples of the same item, the quantity appears in the top left corner.

When you select either cleaning items or seeds, a menu will pop up.

The top of the screen asks "Would you like to use this?

Your options:

• FIRST ROW: YES
• SECOND ROW: NO
• THIRD ROW: DELETE ITEM

If this option is selected the screen will ask:

Are you sure?

• FIRST ROW: YES
• SECOND ROW: NO

• SECOND ROW: PLAY THINGS - This is where your purchased and gifted items are stored.

You can have multiples of the same item, the quantity appears in the top left corner.

When you select an item a menu will pop up.

The top of the screen asks "Would you like to use this?

Your options:

• FIRST ROW: YES
• SECOND ROW: NO
• THIRD ROW: DELETE ITEM

If this option is selected the screen will ask:

Are you sure?

• FIRST ROW: YES
• SECOND ROW: NO

• THIRD ROW: MAILBOX

I'm very unfamilar with this since it's all in Japanese

• FIRST ROW: LETTERS
• SECOND ROW: HAPPY MAIL

• FOURTH ROW: RARE ITEMS

This is where your Eco Items will appear. See [Donut Park] when it's finished

(8th) BOOK ICON

• FIRST ROW: NOTEBOOK - This is where your TamaTomo stamps are stored

• Click for an in-depth look into Notebook sprites

• SECOND ROW: PET LIST - This is where your "Pet Stamps" will be stored

• Click for an in-depth look into Pets at Donut Park

• THIRD ROW: FRIENDS - Stores the last 15 Tamagotchis you've collected with and your friendship level with them
• FOURTH ROW: ALBUM - View 5 photos you've taken and stored in your album

• You can take photos with another Tamagotchi under the Connection Icon
• After 32 stamps, you can take a group photo at Gotchi King's Castle or Ha Island

(9th) CLOVER ICON

This is the medicine icon. If your Tama:

• is sick from missed cared
• has a toothache from eating too much candy
• has it's bag and is about to run away

you use this icon to correct their aliment or try to keep them from running away.

(10th) ATTENTION ICON

When your Tamagotchi is calling for attention because its hunger or Friendship Level happiness is at 0, this icon will light up.

This icon will first light up with the Tamagotchi makes a "do-doo-do-do-do" noise. You have 15 minutes to attend to their aliment.

After 15 minutes have elapsed, the attention icon will turn off and your Tamagotchi will either be sick or dancing with hearts.

Either way, you have just gained yourself a Care Miss, a crucial component to getting TamaTomo stamps.

-----------

Ocassionaly when your Tama is an adult, even if it's not hungry or the Friend Level is not low it'll trigger this icon.

This usually means your Tamagotchi is bored and wants you to play with it or put clothes on.

Entering any icon and closing out will clear this Attention call and does not negatively impact your Tama.

CARE MISSES ARE NOT CUMULATIVE

THEY RESET AT EACH GROWTH STAGE

Care Miss Basics

Most Tamagotchis have some kind of care mistake counters so I'd be shocked if you didn't know this (maybe you're cringe and like the licensed Nanos a lot idk) but it goes like this:

When your hunger or Friend Level happiness depleats, your Tamagotchi will cry for your attention. On the iDLs, the Attention (10th) icon will light up and your Tamagotchi will call your name.

After 15 minutes of ignoring their crying, the Attention icon will disappear and Tamagotchi will look sad with two lines above it's head or a skull. You will have earned a care mistake.

Cure it using the clover (9th) icon.

If you are trying to get multiple care mistakes, you do not need to refill whichever bar is low. Simply waiting a few minutes will have your Tama call for attention again.

Unlike the Pix or Uni, care misses are not cumulative and will reset at each growth stage.

EASY CARE MISSES

It is highly recommended among veterans to pick either hunger or Friend Level to get care misses. It is very easy to accidentally accumulate extra care misses using both

I recommend using Friend Level happiness for care mistakes and keeping hunger full all the time.

One snack gives back very little happiness. When the desired care misses are reached, keep both happiness and hunger full or change the time to keep your character asleep.

When filling up Friend Level happiness with snacks when you've gotten enough care misses, check the Special Growth Conditions section before using so you don't end up with the 0-1 care miss Tamagotchi for that teenager.

SCOTT'S SUGGESTED CARE MISS ORDER

So you got to the teenage phase and you want to start amassing care misses. You already read my advice on how to obtain them (or knew because you're a a seasoned vet)… but is there an efficient way to get the adults?

This is purely my opinion but I think you will agree with me after this explanation. You absolutely do not need to run it this way. I just really overthought this and tried to think of how you could minimize duplicates and have a little security in case you were to miscount care misses.

My ideal order for teenagers with 4 adults:

• 2-3
• 4-5
• 6+
• 0-1

2-3 and 4-5 care mistake adults are the most challenging since you have to count the care misses. If you over shoot for 2-3, you’ll end up with 4-5. If you overshoot 4-5, you’ll get the 6+.

6+ care miss adults are very easy. Your Tama won't die as a teenager if you abuse them for 24 hours. So keep their hunger and Friend Level happiness empty. Each time they get sick, give them medicine but don't raise either stat. You can accumulate a lot of care misses very quickly.

0-1 care mistake adults are the easiest to get as there's two ways to get them.

• If you don't mind adjusting the clock, as soon as your child becomes a teenager, max out hunger and Friend Level happiness then change the clock so the Tama is asleep. Keep changing the clock throughout your real life day so it’s permanently asleep for the 24 evolution timer.
• The other way is by using the Special Growth Conditions. All teens have a special growth condition to give you the 0-1 care mistake adult regardless of care.

My ideal order for teenagers with 5 adults:

• 4
• 5
• 2-3
• 6+
• 0-1

4 and 5 care mistake adults are the most challenging since you have to count the care misses. If you accumulate too many care misses for the 4, you’ll end up with 5. If you overshoot 5, you’ll get the 6+.

2-3 care miss adults have some wiggle room. I'd aim for the 2 care misses each time in case you accidentally gain another miss.

6+ care miss adults are very easy. Your Tama won't die as a teenager if you abuse them for 24 hours. So keep their hunger and Friend Level happiness empty. Each time they get sick, give them medicine but don't raise either stat. You can accumulate a lot of care misses very quickly.

0-1 care mistake adults are the easiest to get as there's two ways to get them.

• If you don't mind adjusting the clock, as soon as your child becomes a teenager, max out hunger and Friend Level happiness then change the clock so the Tama is asleep. Keep changing the clock throughout your real life day so it’s permanently asleep for the 24 evolution timer.
• The other way is by using the Special Growth Conditions. All teens have a special growth condition to give you the 0-1 care mistake adult regardless of care.

The Tamagotchi Wiki TamaTomo Page goes more in depth than this will, but it is a vital aspect to the Japanese Tamagotchis from the iD through 4U+. I was going to skip this, but someone who has played more recent English releases would understand the basic Tamagotchi concepts but not TamaTomo.

TAMATOMO WITHOUT THE BULLCRAP

You see how when you open the Scale Icon (first icon) there’s 4 empty circles below the Friend Level bar and above your number of Gotchi Points?

Those are your Happy Symbols.

When your Tama is an ADULT you get one Happy Symbol for:

• Eating their favorite food item
• Wearing their favorite accessory
• Using their favorite item (toy)
• Keeping them alive for 48 hours
• Special Note Below

You only get one for each action. You cannot eat 4 of the same food to unlock them all.

There is one built-in food item, accessory, and toy for each Happy Symbol.

Each Tamagotchi has several IrDA download items for the Happy Symbols.

(The Special Note): You can sometimes get two using the same item type if, for example, you use two different accessories and one of them is downloaded over IrDA.

Generally, though, you will only get one from each of the actions listed above.

Each time you unlock another Happy Symbol, your Friend Level bar will become larger.

Upon gaining all four Happy Symbols, you will have gained a TamaTomo. Their stamp will appear in your Notebook (Book Icon, First Option). This is really your main objective of the device. As you unlock more TamaTomo stamps, more locations and icons will unlock. Each version has different requirements for these locations and icons.

Note: If you want the Special Transformation stamp of the Tamagotchi to appear in your book, you must have the Henshin Jo/Special Transformation before you get the 4th Happy Symbol.

I cannot stress this enough. The main objective of all the Tamagotchi iDL versions is to raise the characters, get their Happy Symbols, unlock their TamaTomo, and move on to another character. There is a lot to do on these devices (especially with a TamaPhone), but it encourages you get every character.

CARE MISSES ARE NOT CUMULATIVE

THEY RESET AT EACH GROWTH STAGE

EASY CARE MISSES

It is highly recommended among veterans to pick either hunger or Friend Level to get care misses. It is very easy to accidentally accumulate extra care misses using both

I recommend using Friend Level happiness for care mistakes and keeping hunger full all the time.

One snack gives back very little happiness. When the desired care misses are reached, keep both happiness and hunger full or change the time to keep your character asleep.

When filling up Friend Level happiness with snacks when you've gotten enough care misses, check the Special Growth Conditions section before using so you don't end up with the wrong character.

For each version, one boy and one girl teenager are locked to and can only evolve from a single child. The other children allow you to get either of the other two teenagers. When you get the children below, aim for these teenagers until you complete TamaTomo for all the adults. Even more tedious, for the boys, there are 5 characters locked to these teens, whereas the other teens have 4.

TAMAGOTCHI iDL & PRINCESS SPACY

GIRLS

When you get Rolltchi (Rorutchi) get care misses to get Hineonetchi

BOYS

When you get Furutsupantchi get care misses to get Happabouyatchi

TAMAGOTCHI 15th ANNIVERSARY iDL

GIRLS

When you get Tororotchi get care misses to get Puddingtchi (Purintchi)

BOYS

When you get Tamatchi get care misses to get Young Oyajitchi (Yangu Oyajitch)

OTHER SUGGESTIONS TO RUN THEM MORE EFFICIENTLY

Many fans are eager to get the Secret Characters early, but I would highly recommend waiting until you have filled out most of the Notebook and you get teens that you have already completed all the adults for. As you get closer towards completing the Notebook, they will save a generation from being a “wasted” generation.

If you are really trying to get all the TamaTomos quickly… there is no real punishment for letting your Tama run away. If you get a child or teenager you do not need, it can be faster to neglect your Tama than to wait until you can marry it off. Now, it may not be morally correct, but there is no CPS in the Tamagotchi Universe. The only thing it affects is the number of generations under the Scale Icon.

All special growth conditions give you the 0-1 care miss adult regardless of the number of care misses you have actually obtained

iDL SPECIAL GROWTH CONDITIONS

You may obtain the six adults in italiacs by other methods instead of care misses. Be careful to not fulfill these requirements with each teen in bold if you are aiming for another character.

• Having Hanikamitchi use the toilet instead of the floor 3 times gives you Mametchi
• Having Painaputchi use the toilet instead of the floor 3 times gives you Lovelitchi
• Feeding Bokuhoshitchi 20 or more snacks gives you Kuishinbotchi
• Feeding Sabosabotchi 20 or more snacks gives you Perotchi
• Getting a perfect score at least 20 times with Happabouyatchi gives you Sunopotchi
• Getting a perfect score at least 20 times with Hineonetchi gives you Pompomtchi

PRINCESS SPACY iDL SPECIAL GROWTH CONDITIONS

You may obtain the three adults in italiacs by other methods instead of care misses. Be careful to not fulfill these requirements with each teen in bold if you are aiming for another character.

• Having Hanikamitchi use the toilet instead of the floor 3 times gives you Mametchi
• Having Painaputchi use the toilet instead of the floor 3 times gives you Lovelitchi
• Feeding Bokuhoshitchi 20 or more snacks gives you Kuchipatchi
• Feeding Sabosabotchi 20 or more snacks gives you Himespetchi
• Getting a perfect score at least 20 times with Happabouyatchi gives you Akaspetchi
• Getting a perfect score at least 20 times with Hineonetchi gives you Melodytchi

15th ANNIVERSARY iDL SPECIAL GROWTH CONDITIONS

You may obtain the six adults in italiacs by other methods instead of care misses. Be careful to not fulfill these requirements with each teen in bold if you are aiming for another character.

• Having Kujakutchi use the toilet instead of the floor 3 times gives you Mametchi
• Having Morutchi use the toilet instead of the floor 3 times gives you Lovelitchi
• Feeding Sunnytchi 20 or more snacks gives you Meistertchi
• Feeding Mikazukitchi 20 or more snacks gives you Melodytchi
• Getting a perfect score at least 20 times with Young Oyajitchi gives you Kuromametchi
• Getting a perfect score at least 20 times with Puddingtchi gives you Moriritchi

YOUR GARDEN

OVERVIEW

With the introduction of the Plus Color, there is a park that your Tamagotchi can visit and have various interactions.

On the iDL there are a few key tools that can help you save money, moderate your inventory, raise your happiness, or adopt a pet.

PETS

Your Tama can have a pet that lives in the garden.

You can only take the pet home if your Tama is an adult.

After meeting the same pet three times at Donuts Park you can adopt it.

It cannot be changed until you either marry off or kill your Tama.

The pet will follow you when you visit different locations.

10 different pets appear at Donut Park according to this schedule:

Tamagotchi Wiki lists these by appearance time but this list is how they appear in your Notebook

NUMBER	PET	SPRITE	SCHEDULE
(1.) iDL	Rubytchi		7PM-10PM
(1.) Spacy	Kizunatchi		7PM-10PM
(2.)	Harapparatchi		5PM-7PM
(3.)	Shurikentchi		7PM-10PM
(4.)	Puchiberitchi		10AM-12PM
(5.)	Bagubagutchi		10AM-12PM
(6.)	Onsenmoguratchi		7PM-10PM
(7.)	Chitchi		5PM-7PM
(8.)	Hapihapitchi		12PM-3PM
(9.)	Doremitchi		10AM-12PM
(10.)	Sopratchi		12PM-3PM

Pet names do not appear in the Notebook on the iDLE

TAMA MARCHE & FLEA MARKET

TAMA MARCHE

SCHEDULE: 7:00AM TO 9:59AM If you have food items in your refrigerator, various Tama NPCs will meet you at Donuts Park and offer to buy your food items.

When you meet the NPC the content of your fridge will open:

• A: CYCLE THROUGH ITEMS
• B: SELECT ITEM

After selecting the item it will ask if you want to sell it:

• TOP ROW: YES
• BOTTOM ROW: NO
• C: SELL NOTHING, LEAVE PARK

FLEA MARKET

SCHEDULE: 3:00PM TO 4:59PM Various Tama NPCs will meet you at Donuts Park and sell you TamaDepa items for 30% off.

When you meet the NPC they will ask:

"Do you want to sell items?"

• FIRST ROW: NO

You will be presented with a random TamaDepa item for 30% off.

• A: DOES NOTHING
• B: SELECT ITEM

After selecting the item it will ask if you want to buy it:

• TOP ROW: YES
• BOTTOM ROW: NO

• C: BUY NOTHING, LEAVE PARK

• SECOND ROW: YES

You will be able to sell your items for 50% of the TamaDepa price

• FIRST ROW: CLOTHES
• SECOND ROW: ACCESSORIES
• THIRD ROW: DAILY ITEMS
• FOURTH ROW: PLAY THINGS

After selecting a category the controls are:

• A: CYCLE THROUGH ITEMS
• B: SELECT ITEM

After selecting the item it will ask if you want to sell it:

• TOP ROW: YES
• BOTTOM ROW: NO
• C: RETURN TO CATEGORIES

ECO-TRIPLETS

ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH - BETWEEN 10AM AND 2:59PM - YOU CAN MEET THE ECO-TRIPLETS

When you meet the Eco-Triplets, you will help them clean up garbage around the park.

After you clean up the park, they will give you one of three items that will be stored in the RARE ITEMS of your Treasure Chest

The three items you can obtain are:

• Eco-Bag - This gives you a 50% discount for items at the TamaDepa
• Eco-Fork - This gives you a 50% discount for snacks at the Tama Cafe
• Eco-Chopsticks - This gives you a 50% discount for meals at the Restaurant

CAN I CHEAT THE ECO-TRIPLETS?

You and your darn cheats!

Yes, if you want to get all the items quickly travel to Donut Park, get your first item

Set your time to 6:59AM

Wait for the time to roll over to 7AM and then change your time to between 10AM and 2:59PM

Meet the Eco-Triplets again

Repeat until you have all three items

Rolling over to 7AM will reset the flag and you can obtain multiple Eco items in a day, cheater

YOUR GARDEN

OVERVIEW

A staple of most color Tamagotchis is the outdoor garden. You access it by pressing B when your Tama is idling in the living room and no icons are selected.

The weather can change each day and the sky will match the time of day

If you have connected to other devices, you will sometimes recieve a letter from the Tamagotchi you met with.

When you are an adult and have adopted a pet from Donuts Park, the pet will live in your garden and your Tamagotchi can interact with it.

This is where you can recieve letters from Tamagotchis from other devices you've connected with.

The garden is where you can grow seeds into plants that give you food or items. (This takes up the bulk of this section)

PETS

Your Tama can have a pet that lives in the garden.

More about Pets can be found in the Donuts Parks section about Pets

GARDENING

The most important part of the garden is the gardening feature.

5 built-in seed bags can be purchased from the TamaDepa (and there are more bags you can transfer over to your Tamagotchi via IrDA downloads).

The seed bags can grow either food to eat or items that can be played with.

The striped bags will have vegetables, the dots bag will have fruits, and the stars bags will have items.

To plant purchased seeds, under the Chest Icon select the first Option (Daily Items), select the seed and confirm to plant..

Visit your garden the next day and the grown item will be given to your character.

If you do not visit the garden the next day, the day after the plant will die and you will not recieve an item.

CAN I CHEAT THE GARDENING?

Oh, you!

Yes, you can absolutely cheat the gardening.

Plant the seed. Once it's planted, change the time to 6:59AM.

When your Tamagotchi wakes up at 7AM, your seed will grow and you can harvest it, cheater.

Several of the Tamagotchis Happy Symbol items are only available through the item seeds built into the device. You should aim to get each item from these seed bags.

TAMAGOTCHI iDL
Popular Vegetables	Pickling Vegetables	Popular Fruit	Shiny Tools	Retro Toys
Seed	Seed	Seed	Seed	Seed
Carrot	Cucumber	Grapes	Ice Shaver	Kendama
Kabocha	Daikon	Peach	Magic Cane	Jump Rope
Tomato	Eggplant	Strawberry	Tamamori Tree	Ocarina
TAMAGOTCHI 15th ANNIVERSARY iDL
Popular Vegetables	Pickling Vegetables	Popular Fruit	Exciting Handmade Tools	Celebrity Items
Seed	Seed	Seed	Seed	Seed
Carrot	Cucumber	Grapes	Canvas Set	Makeup Bag
Kabocha	Daikon	Peach	Science Kit	Metal Guitar
Tomato	Eggplant	Strawberry	Tamamori Tree	Sports Car
TAMAGOTCHI PRINCESS SPACY iDL
Popular Vegetables	Pickling Vegetables	Popular Fruit	Mystery Tools	Creative Toys
Seed	Seed	Seed	Seed	Seed
Carrot	Cucumber	Grapes	Candy Cloud	Canvas Set
Kabocha	Daikon	Peach	Science Kit	Metal Guitar
Tomato	Eggplant	Strawberry	Scroll	Ocarina

This part has almost no mentions online besides a few ancient TamaZone posts

THE NORMAL SPRITE

If you marry off your Tamagotchi in the Matchmaker when its hunger is at least one, they have a little happiness in their Friend Level bar, and they are not wearing clothes, you will get a big sprite of them T-posing.

THE NORMAL SPRITE BUT WITH CLOTHING

Fulfill the requirements above but your Tama is wearing accessories or clothing. This is easy to do if you fulfill all Happy Symbols and then immediately marry them off. They appear as the T-pose sprite with the clothing or accessories on.

THE HENSHIN JO/SPECIAL TRANSFORMATION SPRITE

When your character is in their Henshin Jo transformation (iDL & Spacy) or their Special Transformation (15th) BEFORE GETTING THEIR 4TH TAMATOMO HAPPY SYMBOL, and you marry the Tama off at the Matchmaker, the sprite will be of their transformation. While the character is happy, they will have this sprite. If your Tama is in their transformation and runs away, they will have a normal Sad Sprite.

THE SAD SPRITE (I.E. YOU ARE A BAD PARENT)

If you achieve TamaTomo but your Tama runs away, or you healed your Tama but did not feed it or raise the Friend Level bar a little before marrying it at the Matchmaker, you will get the sad, small sprite. Really, it’s a form of shame because you should’ve treated him better. But you chose to treat him the same way you treat everyone around you because you’re incredibly self-centered. For shame.

Henshin Jo (Tamagotchi Wiki)

ADVICE

If your goal is to fill your Notebook with Henshin Jo sprites, get 4 characters that are NOT listed below. You should note that the Henshin Jo will not be unlocked on the iDL or Spacy until you have achieved TamaTomo with 4 characters and gotten their stamp in the Notebook.

ALSO, as far as I can test, your sprite will be wearing WHAT THEY WERE WHEN YOU GOT THE 4TH TAMATOMO HAPPY SYMBOL. Do your transformation BEFORE getting your 4th TamaTomo Happy Symbol

Clicking on the YES links will take you to a copy of each item hosted on my website. You can save these and transfer them to your Tamagotchi with an IrDA device

TAMAGOTCHI iDL

TAMAGOTCHI	ITEM	DOWNLOAD?
Chamametchi	Wing Hat
Violetchi	Broom	YES
Gozarutchi	Warrior Helment	YES
Kikitchi	3000G in Wallet
Kuchipatchi	Dinosaur Hat	YES
Kuromametchi	Metal Guitar
Lovelitchi	Princess Dress
Makiko	Dark Dress	YES
Mametchi	Crown
Melodytchi	Kimono
Memetchi	Devil Helmet	YES
Moriritchi	Kiramori Scrunchy
Uwasatchi	Microphone

TAMAGOTCHI PRINCESS SPACY iDL

All the same transformations as the Tamagotchi iDL with the addition of:

Himespetchi

Connect to 10 or more Tamagotchis (you can use the reset trick)

TAMAGOTCHI 15th ANNIVERSARY iDL

For the 15th Anniversary iDL, transformations will happen when you visit the special locations. The locations are either TAMAX-TV (2 stamps), Magical Flying Library Ship (4 stamps), or Uratama Town (6 stamps).

ADVICE

If your goal is to fill your Notebook with Transformations sprites, get two characters not on the list below first, after that you can get the TAMAX-TV adults, after 4 you can get the Magical Flying Library Ship adults, and after 6 you can obtain any character.

TAMAGOTCHI	LOCATION
Chamametchi	Magical Flying Library Ship
Violetchi	Uratama Town
Gozarutchi	TAMAX-TV
Kikitchi	Magical Flying Library Ship
Kuchipatchi	TAMAX-TV
Kuromametchi	Magical Flying Library Ship
Lovelitchi	TAMAX-TV
Mametchi	Uratama Town
Mystartchi	TAMAX-TV
Melodytchi	Magical Flying Library Ship
Memetchi	Uratama Town
Moriritchi	TAMAX-TV
Watawatachi	Magical Flying Library Ship

You're probably wondering what all this hubbub is about TamaTomo and stamp collecting. As you collect more stamps, you will unlock 8 locations and 4 icon backgrounds per device. (Listing the default icons as well for funsies as I don't know where else to put them)

TAMAGOTCHI iDL

ICONS

• (Default) - House & Trees
• (8 Stamps) - Apples
• (12 Stamps) - Music Notes
• (20 Stamps) - Waru Cafe
• (32 Stamps) - Royal (Crowns)

LOCATIONS

Visiting most locations will raise Friend Level happiness

• (4 Stamps) - Henshin Jo - Don Paratchi will transfer some characters. See Transformations
• (8 Stamps) - Patchi Forest - Pay 100 Gotchis to sit in the bath
• (12 Stamps) - Melody Land - Meet Melodytchi's parents. Rarely Joou Sama will give your Tamagotchi a Melody Charm
• (16 Stamps) - Concert Hall - Lovelin & Melodytchi perform on stage for you
• (20 Stamps) - Waru Cafe - Meet Akaspatchi or Pipospatchi and make plans on what they try to do every night, Pinky: try and take over the world
• (24 Stamps) - Fortune Teller - Uranaitchi will read you your fortune
• (28 Stamps) - Tamagotchi School - Go to Tamagotchi School and learn about Tamagotchi and TamaTomo.
• (32 Stamps) - Gotchi King's Castle - Your Tamagotchi meets the Gotchi King and take group photos featuring the adults.

TAMAGOTCHI PRINCESS SPACY iDL

ICONS

• (Default) - Himespetchi & Stars
• (3 Stamps) - Hearts & Flowers
• (10 Stamps) - Musical Notes
• (15 Stamps) - Red Hearts
• (32 Stamps) - Gem Stones

LOCATIONS

Visiting most locations will raise Friend Level happiness

• (1 Stamp) - Oshiro (Big Castle) Concert - Lovelin & Melodytchi perform at the Gotchi King's Castle. During one of the songs, Mimitchi can appear and you can collect hearts to raise Friend Level happiness
• (3 Stamps) - Melody Land - Meet Melodytchi's parents. Rarely Joou Sama will give your Tamagotchi a Melody Charm
• (6 Stamps) - Henshin Jo - Don Paratchi will transfer some characters. See Transformations
• (10 Stamps) - Patchi Forest - Pay 100 Gotchis to sit in the bath
• (15 Stamps) - Waru Cafe - Meet Akaspatchi or Pipospatchi and make plans on what they try to do every night, Pinky: try and take over the world
• (20 Stamps) - Mamemame Lab - Meet with Professor Mametchi and talk to Tomomi on screen
• (25 Stamps) - Tamagotchi School - Go to Tamagotchi School and learn about Tamagotchi and TamaTomo
• (32 Stamps) - Ha Island - Your Tamagotchi meets Hatokamitchi and take group photos featuring the adults

TAMAGOTCHI 15th ANNIVERSARY iDL

ICONS

• (Default) - Anniversary Eggs
• (10 Stamps) - Rainbow Cloud
• (15 Stamps) - Red Hearts
• (25 Stamps) - Space
• (32 Stamps) - Royal

LOCATIONS

Visiting most locations will raise Friend Level happiness

Transformations with some characters happen at the first three locations.

• (2 Stamps) - TAMAX-TV - Anniversary party at Gotchi King's Castle. Watch the live broadcast
• (4 Stamps) - Magical Flying Library Ship - Sister Otogitchi takes you on an adventure through a picture book
• (6 Stamps) - Uratama Town - A town that looks exactly like TamaTown... even the Tamagotchis
• (10 Stamps) - Mamemame Lab - Mamemame Lab can take you to Mushitchi Forest, Sakanatchi Sea, or Tenshitchi Capital... or even Devil World
• (15 Stamps) - Makkakka Town - Visit Makkakka Town, apparently get drunk, and turn your character red
• (20 Stamps) - Oyaji Town - Stealing the translation: "An adult town full of cool old men." You can get gifts or your Friend Level happiness increases
• (25 Stamps) - Space Travel - You fly through space and find Tamagotchi for the first time on Earth?
• (32 Stamps) - Gotchi King's Castle - Your Tamagotchi meets the Gotchi King and take group photos featuring the adults and celebrates the 15th anniversary.

INTERIOR OVERVIEW

A fun little feature of the Tamagotchi iD through P's is your ability to change the:

LIVING ROOM KITCHEN TOILET ROOM BATHROOM BEDROOM

Different interiors can be purchased through the Interior Shop in the Door Icon

Interiors can be added through IrDA downloads, but they will only be added to the Living Room section.

CLEANING YOUR HOUSE

When a room is dirty it will turn brown (just like your Tamagotchi)

Each room will be cleaned by different tools

Unfortunately, the Tamagotchi iDL is not a refrain from life. You actually have to buy the cleaning tools.

I recommend buying these as soon as possible as your house gets dirty as quickly as your Tamagotchi does (daily or every other day).

If you do not clean your house, it will turn black after 2 days of being brown.

Thus, you can purchase:

• Mop - (1000G) - Cleans Kitchen and the Toilet Room... gross
• Vacuum Cleaner - (1500G) - Cleans Living Room and Bedroom
• Scouring Brush - (500G) - Cleans Bathroom

There is an optional IrDA downloadable Daily Item (you use it for Furawatchi's transformation) to clean as well

• Broom - (300G) - Cleans Living Room and Kitchen

WHY DID YOU SAY "& KINDA YOUR EXTERIOR"?

For each Tamagotchi iDL version there is a special exterior if all of your interior rooms are matching to the same set.

When looking at the interiors built into your device, they will all be the most expensive at 5000G each.

TAMAGOTCHI iDL

NORMAL iDL EXTERIOR

All rooms will begin with "がっこう" which means school.

The exterior of your house when you're in your garden will look like a school.

When it's raining, your pet will stay in the attached yellow pet house!

TAMAGOTCHI PRINCESS SPACY iDL

I do not have photos of this transformation yet

All rooms will begin with "ひめ" which means Hime (never would've guessed).

The exterior of your house when you're in your garden will be shaped like Himespetchi's head.

TAMAGOTCHI 15th ANNIVERSARY iDL

NORMAL 15th ANNIVERSARY iDL EXTERIOR

All rooms will begin with "きねん" which means anniversary (I'm sure you're surprised by that).

The exterior of your house when you're in your garden will be red and gold with a 15 emblem on the roof.