Games Like Tamagotchi: Virtual Pet Games to Play Online
Updated
Games like Tamagotchi are virtual pet games: a small pet lives on your screen, shows what it needs, and you feed it, clean up after it and play with it. Tamagotchi is a small egg-shaped handheld, first released in Japan by Bandai in 1996. Below are original browser games by independent studios that each keep a different part of that routine.
What a Tamagotchi asks of you
According to Wikipedia's article on Tamagotchi, it was created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai, and Bandai released the first one on 23 November 1996. Most are small egg-shaped handhelds with three buttons.
The egg hatches into a small pet. Feeding it a meal fills the Hunger meter, and playing mini-games with it fills the Happy meter. Its droppings have to be cleaned up or it can become sick, and medicine cures it. The pet passes through life stages, from Baby to Adult, and poor care can cause it to die.
So the parts to look for are an egg, meters that show what the pet needs, feeding and cleaning, mini-games, and a pet that changes as it grows. Many browser pets add a bath and bedtime. Here is where the games below fit.
| Tamagotchi idea | What it means | Where you find it below |
|---|---|---|
| An egg that hatches | The pet starts as an egg | My Unicorn Cat Princess Caring, Pets Roll: Clicker |
| Hunger and Happy meters | The pet shows what it needs | My Little Cat 2, Daisy Bunny Caring Game |
| Feeding and cleaning | A daily routine | My Virtual Dog Care, Funny Virtual Pet |
| Growing up | The pet passes through life stages | My Unicorn Cat Princess Caring |
Hatch a pet from an egg
- My Unicorn Cat Princess Caring is the closest to growing a pet up. Help baby cat Twinkle hatch from her magical egg, then watch her grow from a tiny kitty into a sweet cat girl. Feed her in the royal kitchen, sing her to sleep when she is tired and bathe her when she is messy.
- Pets Roll: Clicker is the collector's version. You roll eggs and hatch cube-style pets, with 187 pets in 11 rarity grades, 17 egg tiers with incubation nests, daily quests and a Rebirth system. How that loop works is in idle and clicker games.
Pets that tell you what they need
- My Little Cat 2 is the nearest to the Tamagotchi routine. Feed the kitten, play with it, bathe it and put it to sleep. Just like a real kitten, it signals when it has needs, and a status button turns red when one needs your attention.
- Daisy Bunny Caring Game asks you to respond to Daisy's wishes. You keep track of her needs and make sure they are met: feed her meals and fresh fruit, put her to bed, give her a bath and dress her up.
- My Virtual Dog Care has 4 parts: putting the puppy to sleep, feeding it, helping it bathe and playing with it. Its description says you only need to tap to keep the dog happy and healthy.
More pets in the same mood are in cat games online and dog games online.
Pets that are not cats or dogs
- Funny Virtual Pet gives you a marmot, Mister Grumpy. Feed him, bathe him and put him to sleep, then wake him in the most annoying way you can. You can also remodel the house and put hats, ties and other accessories on him.
- Cosmo Pet Starry Care is set in space. Choose one of the cute alien creatures, then feed it, walk it and play with it to give it happiness and care. It plays with a mouse click or a touch.
- My Super Slime Pet is a virtual pet that is an animated slime blob. Watch him bounce, squirm and react to your touch. You play by dragging and clicking, with a mouse or a finger.
Mini-games, coins and a home
Tamagotchi lets you play with the pet to make it happy. These games add coins and a place to live.
- Virtual Neko Kitty Collector has you buy items, feed the cats and earn red hearts to upgrade the cats' yard. Its endless mini-games include dice merge, a cat clicker game and a match game.
- Animal Daycare Game gives you a daycare center of your own. Feed the pets, clean them, play with them and keep them happy. You click every button with the mouse.
More animals to look after are in the animal games collection.
Tips for virtual pet games
- Check the signals first. In My Little Cat 2 a status button turns red when the kitten needs attention, and Daisy Bunny Caring Game says to keep track of Daisy's needs.
- Do a full round. My Virtual Dog Care has 4 parts, so feed, bathe, play and put the puppy to bed rather than repeating one.
- In Pets Roll: Clicker, use the shop to buy pets and eggs, and manage your nests.
Games like Tamagotchi FAQ
Are there free virtual pet games online?
Yes. Every game here plays free in the browser, with no install and no registration, on a phone, a tablet or a computer. My Little Cat 2, My Virtual Dog Care and Daisy Bunny Caring Game say you can click or tap.
Can I adopt a virtual pet?
Several of these games hand you a pet to look after. Cosmo Pet Starry Care lets you choose one of its alien creatures, and My Little Cat 2 gives you a kitten.
Can the pet die in these games?
In Tamagotchi, poor care can cause a pet to die, according to Wikipedia. None of the game descriptions above says a pet can die, so check each game's own page.
Is Tamagotchi on Jumpcade?
No. Tamagotchi is a commercial handheld from Bandai. The games here are original titles by independent studios.
More games about looking after things are in the simulation games collection.
