Looking for a Tamagotchi guide in English, an instruction manual or an explanation of how your model works? This is where you will find our guides to vintage Tamagotchis, to the Japanese and Western Connection models, and to other electronic pets such as the Digital Monster and the Pocket Pikachu. You will also find our practical guides to identifying your model and choosing the right battery.
Each guide covers the main functions of the device, the care it needs, the mini-games, the evolutions and the quirks worth knowing about. They are especially useful for Japanese Tamagotchis sold without an English manual, or for rediscovering a model from the 1990s or 2000s.
Practical guides: identify your model and choose your battery
Identify your Tamagotchi
Not sure which model you own? This visual guide helps you recognise it from the shape of the shell, the antenna, the colour of the pixels, the markings and the battery compartment. Start here before reading any instruction guide.
What battery does my Tamagotchi need?
LR44, CR2032 or AAA: a full table by model, from the vintage Tamagotchis to the Nano and colour-screen generations, with the reissue traps to watch out for and how to change a battery without damaging the shell.
Vintage Tamagotchi guides
Every early Bandai Tamagotchi plays by its own rules: characters, care, mini-games and evolution requirements can change completely from one model to the next.
Tamagotchi Original P1 and P2
The guide to the original 1996-1997 Tamagotchi P1 and P2: setting it up, the buttons, feeding, discipline, mini-games, the pause trick, batteries and the full growth charts. The place to start with the very first generations.
Tamagotchi Angel (Angelgotchi)
How the Tamagotchi Angel works, known as Angelgotchi in Japan: Angel Power, prayers, candy-stealing bats, walks, the growth chart and how to avoid turning your angel into a devil.
Tamagotchi Osutchi and Mesutchi
The Osutchi and Mesutchi are two devices built to be played together. Our guide explains the TMP system, connecting the pair, marriage, generations and the characters unique to these Japanese models.
Tamagotchi Morino (Forestgotchi)
Raise an insect on the Morino Tamagotchi, also known as the Forestgotchi. Egg choice, weight in milligrams, predator attacks, the cocoon and its temperature, plus the full growth chart: this model works very differently from a standard Tamagotchi.
Tamagotchi Ocean (Umino)
The Tamagotchi Ocean, or Umino Tamagotchi, has a reputation as the hardest vintage Tamagotchi to raise. Learn how to manage water quality, discipline, the polar bear, illness and its unusual evolution requirements.
Tamagotchi Mini (Chibi)
The smallest Tamagotchi of them all, with no icons and no mini-game. Learn what its three buttons do, how its simplified care works, which secret characters it hides and how the 2005 versions differ from the 2017 reissue.
Tamagotchi Connection and Tamagotchi Plus guides
From 2004 onwards, Tamagotchis could talk to each other over infrared. The Connection, Connexion and Tamagotchi Plus generations gradually added gifts, marriage, Gotchi Points, school, jobs and a long list of new characters.
Tamagotchi Connection V1 (Tamagotchi Plus)
The Tamagotchi Connection V1, sold as Tamagotchi Connexion in Europe and Tamagotchi Plus in Japan, brought the brand back in 2004. Covers the 10 icons, care, the mini-games, infrared connection, the friend list, marriage and generations.
Tamagotchi Keitai and Akai
The Keitai Kaitsuu Tamagotchi Plus and its red-pixel sibling, the Akai, introduced the antenna and made Gotchi Points central to the game. The guide covers their games, the travelling shop, connections, characters and what sets the Akai apart.
Tamagotchi Entama and Uratama
On the Entama and Uratama, your Tamagotchi goes to preschool and school, builds up skills, sits a job interview and starts a career. Covers GUTS Points, cooking, the mini-games, the job list, marriage and the differences between the two Japanese models.
Tamagotchi School (TamaSuku)
The TamaSuku turns the Tamagotchi idea into a school management game. Instead of raising a single character, you build up your class, welcome new students, raise their subject scores and keep your popularity up.
Other virtual pets and electronic toys
The 1990s and 2000s also produced plenty of electronic toys built along the same lines as the Tamagotchi. We are adding guides for them one by one.
Digital Monster Digimon Ver.1 and Ver.2
The first Digital Monster virtual pets of 1997, the devices that started the whole Digimon franchise: the 8 icons, feeding, training, battling between devices, care mistakes and the complete Ver.1 and Ver.2 evolution charts.
Pocket Pikachu (Pokémon Pikachu)
The Pocket Pikachu, sold in the West as Pokémon Pikachu, is part virtual pet and part pedometer. Learn how to earn and give watts, raise Pikachu’s friendship level, play the slot machine, and how the Pikachu 2 GS differs.
Dragon Quest Arukundesu
The Dragon Quest Slime pedometer: moving across the map, terrain affinity, care, transformations and how the Arukundesu, Arukundesu 2 and Arukundesu Returns compare.
Which Tamagotchi guide should you read?
- You don’t know which model you have: start with Identify your Tamagotchi.
- Your device won’t switch on: read What battery does my Tamagotchi need?
- For a classic 1990s Tamagotchi: start with the P1/P2 guide.
- For a themed vintage model: see the Angel, Morino or Ocean guides.
- To understand marriage and generations on the first connectable models: see the Osutchi and Mesutchi guide.
- For infrared Tamagotchis: start with the Connection V1, then read the Keitai and Akai and Entama and Uratama guides.
- For the Tamagotchi School: go straight to our TamaSuku guide.
- For a tiny device with no icons: see the Tamagotchi Mini guide.
- For a Digimon battling pet: see the Digital Monster Ver.1 and Ver.2 guide.
- For collectible pedometers: see our Pocket Pikachu and Dragon Quest Arukundesu guides.
We add new Tamagotchi guides and instruction manuals in English to this section regularly. You can also browse our original Tamagotchis, our Tamagotchi Connection models and our vintage electronic toys.