Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life – We Played Nintendo’s New Meme Simulator

Let’s be honest: how often does a video game make you genuinely laugh out loud? Pursuing humor is a challenging and often thankless task, especially when aiming for wit without vulgarity, relying instead on surprise and the absurd. It doesn’t happen to me often, but I distinctly remember bursting into loud laughter while watching Bruno Barbieri, the newest resident on my Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life island, meticulously draw Antonino Cannavacciuolo’s enormous face in the sand, then proudly admire his creation.

The Masterchef judges—my television guilty pleasure—are just a few of the characters I’ve crafted and invited to live on the island where I’ve become the ‘boss’ (you can choose from various titles or create your own) in Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life, the sequel to the 2013 Nintendo 3DS title. Describing Tomodachi Life is far from simple; even a generic label like ‘life simulator’ feels insufficient. Instead of comparing it to The Sims and its derivatives, one should envision an alternate dimension that eschews realism, instead embracing absurdity and the grotesque as its primary language, sometimes with an unsettling, dreamlike quality.

There’s the masterpiece in the sand.

This installment, set to arrive on Nintendo Switch on April 16th, introduces several new features, particularly regarding the ability to create more complex Mii personalities and customize their island home. From its initial reveal, player imagination has been central, as Tomodachi Life already relied heavily on user creativity. As the opening anecdote suggests, players have the power to create any historical figure, celebrity, family member, or friend, fostering hilarious relationships. With these promising foundations, we had the opportunity to play the first few hours of the game, and here are our impressions.

The First Citizen

Naturally, everything begins with creating the island’s first citizen. You can bring a Mii to life in two ways: a guided method and a free one. The former generates an avatar based on the player’s answers to a series of questions that influence its appearance. The latter is the classic Mii editor Nintendo fans are familiar with. Compared to the prequel, character customization options have expanded. By adjusting component sizes and minute facial details, players can create stylized characters that closely resemble their real-life counterparts. Nose, mouth, hair, ears (a new addition) are freely chosen, as are their birthday, preferred pronouns, sexual orientation, potential kinship with existing island residents, and the game’s crowning jewel: the Mii’s voice.

All phrases spoken by our characters are rendered by a voice synthesizer, which we can imbue with personality by adjusting various modulators for tone, pitch, intensity, speed, and inflection. Much of these characters’ comedic effect comes from hearing them speak in such amusingly precise ways, even allowing for pronunciation adjustments through a secondary menu where accents can be added. The result is hilarious. I spent entire minutes perfecting Cannavacciuolo’s voice, fully embracing the game’s inherent ‘trash’ humor.

Finally, a character sheet must be completed to outline the Mii’s personality: whether they are formal or relaxed in relationships; original or serious; energetic or phlegmatic, introverted or extroverted. All this information is fed into Tomodachi Life, which then generates a character profile and assigns an archetype: the dreamer, the creative, the reserved… there are several, each with a profile detailing their favorite foods, preferred clothing styles, and compatible archetypes. In essence, each Mii is the unique result of a series of parameters—half decided by the player and half deduced by the game.

It’s always like this, with Hideo.

But it doesn’t end there, because one of Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life‘s stated goals is to pursue an increasingly detailed character model. Each Mii has a happiness level that can be increased through gifts, food, and relationships. As they level up, you can further customize their character and behavior. For example, you can give them an object, like a musical instrument, which will allow them to interact with others. Or a unique way of walking, standing, or perhaps a gesture exclusive to them on the island. Even a catchphrase can become part of their vocabulary and then spread among the residents, circulating throughout the town.

A Dream Island

If the Miis represent half the soul of Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life, it’s clear that the other half—and perhaps the most intriguing new feature—is tied to the island itself. The island is a constantly evolving place, and much like the Miis, it develops a more distinct personality as its inhabitants grow in number and quality of life. The game’s tutorial slowly introduces us to all the possibilities offered by the various buildings that will open in the Miis’ living space, creating a network of systems capable of interacting with their desires and needs. One of the central hubs is the Happiness Fountain, where accumulated happiness points (poetically called ‘fluffballs’) can be exchanged for rewards that enhance character customization options. These include new ways of walking, eating, or greeting, as well as items like guitars, aerobic DVDs, soccer balls, and many other bonuses we won’t spoil for you. Consulting the fountain is crucial, as it’s the system that governs game progression and allows for the creation of an increasingly detailed island and characters.

Every relationship is governed by interests and interactions that improve connections.

The island quickly fills with buildings that cater to the Miis’ needs: a supermarket, for instance, where daily food purchases can be made to feed characters and track their culinary preferences; a clothing store to personalize outfits and make them feel comfortable; a renovation center to uniquely furnish house interiors; a design studio where objects, clothes, and general patterns can be created for various contexts; and then an urban planning center, which allows for city restructuring by adding objects like benches, vending machines, fountains, lampposts, and so on. Each object promises a unique interaction with the characters, providing opportunities to glimpse more amusing scenes involving the Miis.

Indeed, hopping from character to character, attempting to spark friendships or romantic relationships, and eavesdropping on fragments of what Miis tell each other is somewhat the essence of Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life. Its emergent narrative, composed of small slices of life—sometimes remarkably believable, sometimes hilariously absurd—works magnificently. Miis crave social interaction: they often call upon you for advice on relationships they could form with others, whether they should pursue a crush, or perhaps suggest a common topic to chat about with a Mii they like. In these instances, you can intervene by suggesting activities, objects, or people to discuss. For example, I suggested Barbieri talk to my Mii about Stephen King, who is my favorite author. The two began discussing it, the word spread, and now everyone on my island does nothing but talk about the Maine writer.

Characters also take on roles as shopkeepers in various stores.

Clearly, Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life follows a very simple rule: its effectiveness depends on the player’s imaginative investment. The more one manages to dance on the thin line between nonsense and plausibility, the more the game will deliver paradoxical situations and potential meme material. The initial hours are exhilarating, partly because it’s amusing to see all the ways—sometimes unexpected—Miis confront daily life: their conversations, the sometimes unsettling dreams they have at night, the myriad roles they play in the daily narrative. However, to understand how long this suspended sense of hilarity can last, it requires several more hours of gameplay.