14 DAY TRIAL // If you were a kid in the ‘90s, you might as well remember the Tamagotchi. This was a handheld small gizmo, usually in the shape of an egg, which carried your virtual pet inside.
The first Tamagotchi was made available back in 1996 in Japan, and since then it has spread to all corners of the world, becoming increasingly popular not only with children but also with adults. While there are plenty of apps bringing back the pleasures of caring for a virtual pet for smartphones, we have yet to see a Tamagotchi made available on a smaller screen.
And now with so many smartwatches available, it only makes sense that the virtual pet craze will make a comeback. The good news is that starting this week the iOS Hatchi app will officially be making its way to the Pebble smartwatch.
Don’t expect any advanced graphics, here, as the Hatchi app is a pretty good replica of what Tamagotchi used to look like back in the day. So if you remember and lust after the black and white, pixelated interface in which you got to feed, play or walk your digital “beast,” you won’t be disappointed using this app, as the experience is pretty similar.
Now Pebble users can bring the ‘90s back by looking after their pet and ensuring it grows to be a happy, well-fed little virtual companion, just like in the popular days of the Tamagotchi.
In other news, Pebble has taken the wraps off a whole host of games for the smartwatch. Back when they released the SDK 1.0 a year ago, the Pebble team expected developers to start making games for the wearable, which is exactly what happened.
Now with the advent of SDK 2.0, the Pebble appstore for iOS and Android, the time is ripe for the creation of games. So in addition to the already available Tetris, Pong, Asteroid and others, there’s three new games to be taken advantage of.
So this week, at the Game Developer Conference, Pebble announced Mr. Runner, Icon Pop Quiz and the Hatchi game we’ve been detailing above. Mr. Runner is a runner game that offers the same black and white interface as Hatchi does. Users are encouraged to help Mr. Ranner escape from different environments filled with dangers.
As for Icon Pop Quiz, this is a game inviting users to guess the name of personalities, by providing imaginative, handcrafted visual cues brought about by each answer in particular. Ready to start playing on your wrist?