Why is a 1990s virtual pet toy still relevant in 2026?

A fan shows off the new Tamagotchi Paradise virtual pet in August 2025 at the Tokyo Big Sight convention centre. (Kyodo News/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

“Will you marry me?” William Maneja asked, locking eyes with the stranger in a white dress.

It was his fourth proposal in less than 60 minutes.

Instead of rings, the pair pulled out their Tamagotchis and wed their virtual pets – in pixelated matrimony.

Maneja, 29, and his partner were among 200 enthusiasts at the Cecil Community Centre in Toronto in August, vowing to remain united “through dead batteries and scratched screens” in what the group said could be the world’s largest Tamagotchi wedding.

“There was an air of giddiness in the room, with many guests in wedding attire and some flying from as far away as Los Angeles and Texas,” Toronto Tamagotchi Club founder Twoey Gray, 30, said of the event, which resulted in 162 unions in a single hour.

Launched by Japanese toy company Bandai in 1996, Tamagotchis – effectively portable digital pets – quickly became a global craze that took the world by storm.

Within two-and-a-half years, more than 40 million units were shipped worldwide. In late July, the figure surpassed 100 million, putting the tiny handheld device in the orbit of Japan’s star gaming consoles Nintendo Switch and Sony’s PlayStation.

In 2026, Tamagotchi will celebrate its 30th anniversary with various events, including an exhibition that will open at Tokyo’s Roppongi Museum this month and tour other cities in Japan. Uniqlo has also collaborated with Bandai on newly released merchandise.

Designed to be loved

The idea of a virtual companion came to creator Akihiro Yokoi as he watched a TV commercial of a boy longing to take his pet turtle on a trip. But the eventual design would far exceed previous iterations of digital pets including Neko, a virtual cat released in 1989 that was confined to chasing mouse cursors on the screen.

With Bandai onboard, the pocket pet was launched as an egg-shaped, three-button toy on a keychain. Initially pitched as a toy for boys, the design pivoted after market research revealed greater potential for the product among high school girls.

An instant sellout, Tamagotchis became a 1990s pop culture icon alongside Furby, Tommy Hilfiger and the Spice Girls. It’s still remembered by millennials on Facebook as the “digital best friend” before smartphones, kept alive through feeding, cleaning and play. Failure to tend to them led to disastrous outcomes. “Only ’90s kids remember the heartbreak of your Tamagotchi dying,” one fan wrote.

Tamagotchis were “one of the first to show us that design can cultivate emotional bonds with machines,” explains Paola Antonelli, a senior curator and director of research and development at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

According to Antonelli, who featured the device in a 2011 MoMA exhibition, its “DNA” has influenced every interactive device that “tiptoes between utility and companionship” from Siri to smart health trackers that “talk back, remind us, scold us, reward us.”

“The Tamagotchi was capricious and demanding – hungry and hangry, sleepy, poopy. It forced its users to engage in cycles of care and neglect, obligation and reward,” she added.

“Its brilliance was that the emotional weight came not from graphics or narrative, but from behaviour. This is why people still remember it decades later.”

This was the case for Maneja, from the Tamagotchi mass wedding in Toronto, who said rediscovering his childhood collection guided him through his lowest point following the death of his grandmother during the pandemic.

“They became a very important tool that kept me grounded during a very dark period of my life” he said. “Taking care of my Tamagotchi helped me to take care of myself.”

Tamagotchi stood out as a handful of pixels on a tiny screen amid the more sophisticated 3D animations of its era, such as Super Mario 64 and Tomb Raider.

Yet, as Antonelli noted: “Its bright playful shell – keychains, pastel colors, rounded forms – made it approachable and irresistible, and the fact that it came in so many different variations made it highly collectible.”

Bandai said it “enhanced” on this appeal through collaborations and fashionable designs, with 38 models across more than 50 countries including special releases like the 1997 Hong Kong Collector’s Edition, displayed at M+ Museum, and recent models from K-pop bands Blackpink and Stray Kids.

San Francisco collector Erina Hasegawa, 40, embraces this diversity, matching a trove of 1,700 Tamagotchis to her outfits. She has invested US$60,000 in collecting every Japanese and U.S. edition, while seeking rare models from Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Hasegawa still enjoys uncovering hidden game features, adding: “You never know what you’re going to get. Recently, I cleaned up my pet’s poop 100 times on Tamagotchi Paradise and earned 1,000 gotchi points, the in-game currency for buying food, toys, decorations.”

Among her most prized are two mint green Family Tamagotchis, bought at auction in 2010 for $30 each, now commanding $7,000 apiece for their rare design despite featuring a typical gameplay. She also owns the original 1996 Tamagotchi, a P1 model with a hot pink border, that is the company’s best-selling version to date. She remembers lining up with her father to get it.

Demand after its explosive debut in the late ’90s led to global shortages, prompting Bandai to expand its distribution across the US, Canada, the U.K. and Australia.

Although the initial craze died down, a 2004 revival with the Tamagotchi Connection – featuring infrared-enabled pet interactions between players – drew Hasegawa and many others back to the brand.

Modern models followed, like 2021’s Tamagotchi Pix with its built-in camera and virtual babysitter (a built-in feature that could “look after” your Tamagotchi if you needed a break), 2023’s Wi-Fi enabled Tamagotchi Uni and last year’s Tamagotchi Paradise, which Bandai said targets pre-teens with mini-games and character breeding for more unique Tama-babies.

Tamagotchi culture also thrives online, with content creators like Michigan YouTuber Dani Bunda (@lovepandabunny) sharing tutorials and Florida TikToker Jordan Vega (@electronicdays), whose videos on painting, bedazzling and making custom shells have collectively amassed more than a million views.

Beneath the shell

Tamagotchi taps into our innate desire to nurture, connect and care for others, according to mental health therapist Dr. Jessica Lamar, adding that it does so in a safe and controlled environment.

“The act of caring for a digital pet also provides a sense of structure and routine, which can help reduce feelings of anxiety and stress,” Lamar, who is also the co-founder of the Bellevue Trauma Recovery Center, told CNN.

“Unlike real-life caregiving, which can come with significant emotional and logistical challenges, Tamagotchi allows users to experience the joys of nurturing without the associated pressures or unexpected changes. Players can also start and stop at any time.”

This therapeutic effect is felt by fans like Dreadianz, of New York, who wears her Tamagotchis on a lanyard and sets alarms as reminders to check on them – a routine that has kept her virtual pets alive for two years, far surpassing their typical two-week lifespan.

“They help curb my anxiety and make me feel less alone, a lot like a treasured stuffed animal or lucky totem,” said the 27-year-old, who asked to go by her social media handle.

“I even throw birthday parties for them to celebrate the day they hatched and treat them a lot like little imaginary friends.”

Rabindra Ratan, a professor at Michigan State University’s Department of Media and Information, says the toy’s simple, achievable tasks, like feeding and playing, help users “fulfill their fundamental needs of autonomy, relatedness and competence.”

“The physical and emotional labor is obviously lower than caring for a real pet,” he added.

For Sarah Serrano-Esquilin, 29, the Tamagotchi’s simplicity opened up a new connection with her ailing mother. Caring for their digital pet helped to bring them closer as cancer tore them apart.

“Tamagotchi was a low energy activity for us to bond over before she passed away,” she said.

Seeking connection, Serrano-Esquilin founded the New York Tamagotchi Club, which she said has more than 120 local members and another 3,000 online.

This sense of community resonates worldwide, echoed by Gray’s Toronto Tamagotchi Club, which hosts virtual and in-person events – from picnics and Tamagotchi-themed Pride celebrations to the mass Tamagotchi wedding – inspiring other fan clubs in Australia, Chile, France, the Philippines and more.

“It’s the Tamagotchi effect,” Gray added.

“As adults, we don’t often have the opportunity to connect with others through play. Tamagotchi clearly demonstrates how much it is needed.”

By Laura Sharman, CNN