Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a deeply funny and equally personal civilization simulator fueled by your creativity, but ridiculous sharing restrictions put a dark cloud over its otherwise delightful paradise.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream gives you tools to let your imagination run wild.

Everyone will approach Tomodachi Life differently, and that is what makes it such a unique experiment. However, if you don’t have the time or creativity to imagine and engineer unique dynamics between tens of Miis, Living the Dream’s removal of the social features cannot serve as a safety net as it did with the 3DS release. And sadly, outside of the daily dose of comedy, there isn’t much more to buoy this release.

Like its predecessors, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is an entertaining collection of ridiculously random set-pieces, tied together in an easy-to-play life sim. It does start getting repetitive after a few weeks, but the exceptionally localised dialogue and the scope for heavy customisation makes it a game the entire family can enjoy regardless.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is the strangest thing you'll play from Nintendo, bringing with it laughs and creativity in abundance. But even with improvements over the 3DS game, it follows a familiar structure that isn't always enthralling or hilarious.Tomodachi fans will certainly be living the dream with this new entry, but I'm not desperate to keep coming back to my island. A little more variety would've been welcome, but the customisation, and the thought of my cat being best friends with DMC's Dante, will have me peep in every so often for a little pick-me-up.

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What you get out of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream largely depends on how much you’re willing to put into it. Nintendo has expanded its quirky concept into something almost resembling a screwball take on The Sims, but it hasn't gone so far as to provide much in terms of set goals or structure. Making you chuckle is still this game's greatest aspiration. Sure, it's all a bit aimless, but it's also oddly addictive, and those willing to dive in and feed the weirdness may need a Tomodachi Lifeline to get back out again.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream brings back Nintendo's unique silly simulator now in a customizable island.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream certainly has its moments, but there's not enough meat on the bone to stay entertained long-term.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream on the Nintendo Switch 2 is an incredibly strange, addictive, and beautifully clean simulation that thrives on pure player interference. Getting past the heavy information dump at the start takes some patience, but once the island gets moving, the chaotic payoff is absolutely worth it.