The Tiny Alien in Your Pocket

Tamagotchi is a handheld digital pet from Japan. Bandai has marketed these small egg-shaped devices since 1996.

Akihiro Yokoi and Aki Maita created it. They won the tongue-in-cheek 1997 Ig Nobel Prize for economics.

Bandai initially marketed them exclusively to teenage girls. Characters were drawn in a teen magazine style.

Bandai staff could not carry logo bags.

You feed it meals or snacks. The pet leaves droppings around the screen from time to time.

The original run moved about 40 million units worldwide. Overproduction later caused a 6 billion yen financial loss.

Bandai revived the brand in 2004 with infrared connectivity. As of 2025, over 98 million units have sold.

At least 50 versions have been released. Some use near-field communication to talk to smartphones.