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On April 18, 2013, the game Tomadachi life was released in Japan and then in June 2014 it was released for the United States. Despite the fact that it was released almost ten years ago, I only recently was able to get a chance to play it. At first, I thought it would just be mediocre but it turned out to be the most dramatic and hilarious game that I’ve ever played. I’m here to tell you about my exciting experience with running my island… Samsclub Island. 

About the Game

Before diving into the drama that is taking place on my personal island, I think it’s important to go over some of the basics of the game. For starters you might be wondering why my island is called Samsclub Island. Is every island named after a retail warehouse that is Costo’s number one competitor? No, they are not. The player is actually able to name their own island whatever they want (as long as it’s appropriate in Nintendo’s book). 

With having an island you also need people to live on it. In the game, you have a chance to make at most 100 miis (A mii is a customizable avatar) to live on your island. These miis can be anyone from family members, to friends, to characters from video games, movies, or books. The Miis that you create then live in this huge apartment complex. The miis are arguably the most important part of the game since all the activities and other things you can do revolve around them. 

Some of the things that you can do for the miis involve buying them food, new clothing, or new styles for their apartments. The miis will either then get points or lose points depending on how much they like the food/clothing/apartment. You also get more money depending on how much they like their stuff. Whenever your mii levels up (they do that when they reach a certain amount of points) you’re able to do one of five things for them. You can give them a room style that can only be gotten when they level up, give them a style of song they can sing (more on that soon), get them a new hobbie/gift (again more on that soon), teach them a catch phrase which they will then occasionally say, or after they reach level 20 you can get them any item of clothing for free. 

In the game, normally to get your miis clothing/food/apartments you have to buy them with money that you earn in game. There are several different ways to earn money though so there’s no need to worry. The easiest way to earn money is by helping the miis with the problems they occasionally have. Their problems can range from a large amount of things. Sometimes their problems are about their relationships with other miis, other times they have a cold, sometimes they’re hungry, and so on. Once you solve the problem you get a little bit of money. Another way is to play games with the miis. Occasionally the miis will want to play a simple game such as “catch” (you click on the screen to catch something they drop) or matching card. Once you play the game you are shown three boxes each with something inside. After you get the object you can then sell it for money. Some objects sell for much more than others so be wise with which box you pick. There are a few more ways to get money but those are the two most popular. 

Now, I previously mentioned two things: the miis singing songs and also the miis getting hobbies/gifts. Like I said, both can be gifted to the miis when they level up. To start with the songs there are 8 different types of songs they can get. There’s Metal, Pop, Rock & Roll, Rap, Ballad, Opera, Techno and Musical. Once you get a song it comes with already written lyrics and music. However, you can go in and change the lyrics however you wish to make the songs about whatever you want (as long as it’s within Nintendo’s guidelines). After you finish writing the song you can then have the mii perform it which is very entertaining to say the least. 

Moving on to hobbies/gifts that you can give the miis. You are able to choose 8 different hobbies/gifts out of a large variety for your mii. Once you give them the gift you can then occasionally find them at one of the other locations on the island (beach, observation tower, cafe, park, and amusement park) using their new gift. They also will go to the other locations on the island just to do some random things as well. 

There are a couple more things that I’ve left out but they’re not as essential to the game as the things previously mentioned. Hopefully you’re encouraged by this to go out and buy your own copy of Tomodachi Life to experience everything for yourself. 

Life On Samsclub Island

Anyway, now moving onto the part that everyone was waiting for. What is life like on my personal island, Samsclub Island? As I mentioned at the beginning, this game has a lot more drama than I originally thought it would. (I will tell you a few of the wildest things that I have witnessed). For starters I should mention some of the miis that I created. I of course created my personal mii who was named Ereeeka since the game constantly saying my name creeped me out a bit. 

Anyway to start I also created Captain Rex from Star Wars as well as his good friend Commander Cody. The reason I created Captain Rex and made my mii an adult was so that Ereeeka could get married to Captain Rex (I’m weird, get over it). So everything was going fine and dandy. Rex even wanted to ask Ereeeka on a date. I was of course like “everything is going according to plan of course you can do that”. So, Rex went along and did that. I was hopeful and everything was going wonderfully until Ereeeka said “I’m sorry…” and walked away. I was sad, Rex was sad, everyone was sad. It was a tragedy. 

The next day things got even more intense. Commander Cody, Rex’s good friend, decides that he wanted to ask Ereeeka on a date. Of course this time she said yes. Ereeeka decided to date, then later marry, Rex’s best friend and nobody even batted an eye. Well, besides me. I found that a little weird but it is what it is. 

Moving along to the next thing. Along with creating myself, some friends, some family, and some of my favorite fictional characters, I also created Journalism’s most fearsome rival. William J. Johnson the time traveling 1920’s salesman. Since I created him I figured it would be funny to also add Ayla since William Johnson killed her father in a tragic washing machine accident. 

Things were going fine and dandy with William and Ayla until Ayla’s mii told me that they got a strange letter to meet someone up on the roof. Obviously, I thought it would be hilarious if it was William but the chances were slim. However, the universe was smiling on me today and because to my shock it was, in fact, William waiting on the roof. Since I had given William glasses and a mustache I was surprised when he was wearing a fake mustache over his mustache and fake glasses over his real sunglasses. Anyway, Ayla approached him and he proceeded to walk over to her to tell her “they’re watching”, and then walk away. I found that strange but not surprising and it was by far the funniest thing I have witnessed. 

Since things are running a little long I will tell the final story that I find to have played out like a soap opera. This was back before Ereeeka and Cody had gotten married. Captain Rex apparently wasn’t defeated when Ereeeka turned him down and he decided he wanted to try again. Of course, wanting to see how things turned out, I told him that he was allowed to. Rex went and asked Ereeeka out on a date but before she could answer another showed up. Another clone that I had made, Long-Shot, made an appearance. He then came and professed his love to Ereeeka as well. I was on the edge of my seat to see if Ereeeka would betray Cody but instead she rejected both of them and I was left to cheer up two grown men. 

Although the game came out almost ten years ago it hasn’t lost a single amount of amusement. I definitely encourage, if you have the money and a 3DS, you go and buy the game for yourself. I could argue that it’s worth it and hopefully you’re able to experience your own drama with characters and people you’re more familiar with.