Tomodachi Life, known in Japan as is a series of social simulation video games developed and published by Nintendo. The games feature customizable casts of Mii avatars who populate an island. They autonomously form relationships and reques help with problems while the player serves as an external observer.
The series began with the Nintendo DS title Tomodachi Collection (2009). Originally conceptualized in 2005 as a derivative version of the Game Boy Color game Tottoko Hamtaro: Tomodachi Daisakusen Dechu (2000), the game's development stalled when its preliminary character-creation system was adopted for the Wii console to create the Miis. Tomodachi Collection released solely in Japan.
The series made its international debut with the release of Tomodachi Life (2013) on the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo spent a year localizing the game for Western markets, adapting regional dialogue, cultural imagery, and currency to suit European and North American audiences. Ahead of the game's worldwide release, an online controversy emerged regarding the inability of Miis to enter same-sex relationships. Nintendo ultimately apologized for this absence, and pledged to add more inclusive customization for Miis if they chose to make a sequel.
Following a decade-long series hiatus, said sequel was released as Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (2026) for the Nintendo Switch. Among other customization additions, players are able to modify their Miis' romantic preferences, permitting same-sex relationships. Living the Dream deviates from prior entries in having Miis roam the island freely and its emphasis on user-generated content.
Between the releases of Life and Living the Dream, other Mii-centric titles released that included simulation elements and which were regularly compared to the Tomodachi Life games by critics. These included the social network Miitomo on smartphones, and the role-playing game Miitopia (both 2016) on the 3DS; the latter title received a remaster on the Switch in 2021.
The main Tomodachi Life series has collectively sold 18.49 million copies worldwide as of August 2026; Living the Dream is its best-selling entry, having sold over 8 million units. The series has received praise from critics for its comedy and presentation, while opinions towards its core gameplay have been more mixed. Tomodachi Life on the 3DS amassed a cult following among players in the years following its release.
Common gameplay elements Tomodachi Life is a social simulation series that sees the player monitor the lives of customizable Mii avatars living on a remote island, solving problems and watching relationships form. The player can create Miis from scratch using a built-in Mii Maker. The series' Mii Maker features exclusive options for manipulating the Miis' personalities and the sounds of their text-to-speech voices. The player can also import existing Miis from elsewhere through a variety of methods that differ between installments. In Collection, players transfer Miis from a Wii to a DS, or between nearby DS consoles via local wireless connectivity. In Life, the player is given the option to import Miis from the 3DS' Mii Maker or scan a specialized QR code attached to a pre-constructed Mii. In Living the Dream, Miis can be imported from the console's Mii Maker and can be shared between users locally; online sharing is not supported.
Once created, the Miis will begin to autonomously interact with their peers, resulting in friendships and sporadic conflict. Miis can also harbor romantic feelings for one another, which can progress into formal dating and eventual marriage. In Life and Living the Dream, married Miis can have children. The games' interactivity occurs as the Miis randomly notify the player of certain problems they have. Issues range from requests for food or clothing to relationship guidance and invitations to compete in short minigames. Fulfilling a request grants experience points toward a Mii's happiness level; leveling up prompts the player to award the Mii a gift. Gifts range from items to specialized quirks that alter their behavior, the latter first introduced in Living the Dream.
With no end condition, the player's primary objective in the Tomodachi Life games is to add Miis and continuously maintain their happiness. As Miis are gradually added to the island, numerous venues throughout the island are unlocked. These include vendors selling goods such as food and clothing, as well as recreational spots that Miis can visit in their own time.
Games
Main installments
Tomodachi Collection (2009)
is a social simulation game released for the Nintendo DS in 2009, solely in Japan. It features a customizable cast of Mii characters, all of whom residing in an apartment complex, which regularly form relationships and ask for player assistance on particular issues.
Tomodachi Life (2013)
Tomodachi Life, known in Japan as is a social simulation game released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013 in Japan and 2014 worldwide.
Like its predecessor, Life situates the Miis in an apartment on an island as they randomly request help with problems. The Japanese version of the game features an exclusive mechanic whereby players can import existing Miis from Collection using a dedicated Nintendo eShop application. One feature introduced in Life is the ability for married Miis to have children. When grown, children can be moved to an apartment unit or sent off to other players' islands by way of the 3DS' StreetPass mechanic, which allows nearby 3DS owners to wirelessly exchange data.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (2026)
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, known in Japan as is a social simulation game released for the Nintendo Switch in 2026, over a decade following the release of Tomodachi Life.
Unlike previous entries, Miis are given autonomy to wander about the island and are not confined to an apartment. The island itself can also be expanded and decorated using furnishings unlocked by spending "wishes". These are accumulated through "warm fuzzies", obtained by solving Miis' problems. Living the Dream is the first entry in the series to permit same-sex relationships, the player able to manually select a Mii's dating preferences. The game adds further customization options for hair, ears, facial features, and "face paint", in addition to an increased focus on user-generated content.
Related games Miitomo (2016)
was a social networking mobile application released for iOS and Android in 2016. The app had players create personalized Miis, customizable with personalities, voices, and clothing in a similar manner to Tomodachi Life, and respond to a variety of pre-made questions. Their answers could then be shared between friends.
Miitopia (2016)
is a role-playing game released for the 3DS in 2016 in Japan and 2017 worldwide. An enhanced remake for the Switch was released in 2021. The game, set in the eponymous land of Miitopia, features a party of user-made Mii characters who must defeat monsters led by the villainous Dark Lord, responsible for stealing the faces of Miitopia's citizens. In the 3DS version, players are allowed to import existing Miis from Tomodachi Life.
Miitopia uses a turn-based combat system where only the player's central Mii is directly controlled; all other party members fight autonomously. Miis form interpersonal relationships that affect gameplay. Between combat encounters, inns are visited where the Miis rest. If the player places two Miis in the same room, or dispatches them on an outing, their numeric relationship level increases, which generates perks usable in fights. Miis can alternatively bicker and fight amongst each other, which conversely worsens the party's combat statistics.
Development and history
2005–2006: Early conception and birth of the Miis
The first entry in the series, Tomodachi Collection, was conceived in October 2005 by a small team of junior Nintendo employees at Nintendo SPD. Producer Yoshio Sakamoto recounted that several female staff requested that a derivative version of the fortune-telling Game Boy Color game Tottoko Hamtaro: Tomodachi Daisakusen Dechu (2000) geared to adult women be made. The team chose to develop a Nintendo DS title tentatively known as , also inspired by fortune-telling. Initially limited to textual information like names and birthdays, the prototype soon integrated a three-dimensional character-creation system. This system had players manipulate the positions and sizes of selected facial elements to create caricatures of real-world people. Proud of the prototype, Sakamoto demonstrated it to President of Nintendo Satoru Iwata early in 2006.
At the same time, Shigeru Miyamoto was working on the then-upcoming Wii system with a separate team. He had previously sought the inclusion of character-creation mechanics in games for a decade but encountered design limitations and repeat colleague pushback. Iwata relayed the prototype to Miyamoto, upon which the latter, seeing promise in the concept, petitioned for it to be reworked as pack-in-software for the Wii. Despite initial reluctance from the Wii team, developers eventually agreed to rework the creator's avatars into the Miis.
Development on Otona no Onna no Uranai Techō stalled following its team's internal reassignment to implement the Miis onto the Wii until the console's release in December 2006.
2007–2013: Change in vision towards social simulation
While the Miis were being added to the Wii, Otona no Onna no Uranai Techō's director Ryutaro Takahashi reinvisioned the game as a social simulation title appealing to all ages and genders, as the DS had already attained popularity with women. Production formally restarted in April 2007 under the name Tomodachi Collection. The team's relative inexperience and Sakamoto's simultaneous development of Metroid: Other M (2010) extended production beyond initial projections. Following the game's release in Japan, localization for Western regions was considered but ultimately rejected because the voice synthesis program used for the Miis was unable to replicate the complexities of English phonemes. Sakamoto remained interested in the concept and stated that localization could be revisited whenever more powerful hardware came along.
Much of Collection's staff would return to develop a direct sequel for the Nintendo 3DS, dubbed Tomodachi Collection: New Life. Director Eisaku Nakae commented that New Life's production was approached in a more grounded and focused manner than its predecessor. Art designer Mai Okamoto sought a "next-generation" visual aesthetic for New Life but insisted on retaining the original's robotic text-to-speech voices, viewing them as integral to the series' identity. Okamoto also worked closely with programmers Masanori Nakagawa and Nakae to pen the game's surreal situational comedy. The development team wanted to inject an atmopshere of "familial love" to the game. They hoped the title would inspire players to view their real-world connections with friends and family in a more positive light through the Miis.
2014–2016: Localization, same-sex relationship controversy, and other Mii-centric titles Unlike with Collection, Nintendo took efforts to localize New Life to global markets, the entire process taking over a year. This localized version of New Life would release under the name Tomodachi Life. Bill Trinen, the company's senior director of product marketing, remarked that a primary focus of localization was to elevate the game's appeal to other regions without sacrificing its core gameplay. Other tweaks included replacing Miis' body gestures with those found in other countries, translating local currencies, and reviewing translated dialogue to ensure it felt natural to foreign speakers. The Japanese word "tomodachi"—literally meaning "friend"—was retained in the game's overseas name to elicit intrigue and make the game distinct.