This review was made possible by Popped receiving a review code for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream on Nintendo Switch.
Ever since the release of 2013’s Tomodachi Life, Nintendo fans have been clamoring for a new entry in the series. It remains a beloved gem on the Nintendo 3DS, but ultimately it’s a quaint, charming little social sim that makes you wonder where it could really go from there. The laidback, silly experience is perfectly at home on the pocketable handheld. So what’s interesting about the prospect of a sequel? There’s actually a painfully obvious answer to that now, and it’s a key tenet of Nintendo’s design philosophy as of late… freedom. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream on the Nintendo Switch offers a boundless freedom that could hardly even be dreamed of when its predecessor came out over a decade ago.
’Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream’ is the New King of Casual Games
When Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 2017, they broke all the rules. They let you bend the game to your will, giving you unparalleled freedom in how you conquered it. In 2025, Donkey Kong Bananza strayed from the typical formula of 3D platformers, allowing you to literally break the world in your conquest for banana gems. While seemingly not as high-profile, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream continues that streak of radical freedom, not by breaking the world, but by breaking the… ice. The core premise of the game is that you can make Miis of whoever you want, and you can make them talk about whatever you’d like them to. And I really do mean whoever and whatever. The Mii creator is the same you know and love, with some much welcomed upgrades — namely a face paint feature that lets you customize characters to an astounding degree. But the real game changer is the talking subjects. These naturally come into play by leveling up characters and granting them expressions, or through events such as one character attempting to become friends with another.
It quickly becomes the world’s silliest and most unhinged version of Mad Libs, as you might have Ted from Ted talking with Stanley Tucci about how much he loves The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. You could take things even further if you wanted to, as there’s little in the way of censorship in the game (although the trade-off is a lack of online features for sharing content). As for what you actually do in the game, it’s mostly low-stakes management of your islanders, including fulfilling their requests for things such as food and clothes, or playing minigames with them. But the meat of the game truly is in just creating new Miis, and watching their relationships unfold over time. It’s partly dragging them around to one another as if you’re playing with high-tech dolls, and partly watching a soap opera where love triangles are constantly forming. You’ll grow your island, you’ll unlock new buildings and cosmetic items, but what’s going to keep you coming back is things like the random newscasts starring your personal cast of characters in absurd situations.
Anyone Can Cook in ‘Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream’
The freedom of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream isn’t just in how you play, but who can play. As strange as it may sound, that has nothing to do with any in-game features or modes, but rather, its fit in the Nintendo Switch ecosystem. The Nintendo 3DS was the last of a line of increasingly personal systems. You had your color handheld, and carried your Pokémon, and kept it in your pocket. Was it great for taking on the go and hopping in and out of games? Absolutely. But no one else would be touching it. You may show your Miis in Tomodachi Life, but you weren’t sharing your game in a meaningful way besides that. The Switch, on the other hand, is built to be a social console. Even if you’re not playing a multiplayer game, people are drawn to it — whether it’s on a TV, or on the sizable handheld that can easily be passed off. Your friends and family see the game in action, and there’s no real barrier to entry for them. I believe there’s a strong desire among players to have a communal experience with a game like this. People like watching others play games now more than ever, and when its something as loose and casual as just creating Miis and letting them interact, it’s an experience you want to share with others, and one that others are likely to attempt, even if they don’t consider themselves a gamer. Even for myself, as I would go to pick the game back up, I’d find my wife had snatched up the Switch 2 before me so she could make Ryan Gosling from Project Hail Mary and the entire cast of Bob’s Burgers. Soon she became enamored in a plot of both Gosling and myself romantically pursing her Mii in-game (afraid I’d lose that battle in real life). There’s no real skill needed here, and there’s no trickiness to anything — its as simple you can dream it, you can live it.
Now, the one skill that may be useful is a basic grasp of digital art. Again, the basic Mii creation options are there. They’re easy to use and still give ample design potential. But the face paint feature is pure magic. You can keep it simple and pick a few colors and draw here and there. Or there’s a whole suite of options including brush sizes, fill, mirroring, duplicating, layers, etc. You could legitimately make any character you conceive, either accentuating a typical Mii’s details or going for a completely different art style entirely. For instance, I drew on Ted’s ears, when I wouldn’t have been able to add them using any traditional Mii parts. The great part is you can use the touchscreen to draw, but there’s another option missing, at least for the Switch 2… mouse mode support. Of course, while the game is playable on a Switch 2, there’s no proper Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, or any free patches with console-specific upgrades. It’s unfortunate because this could’ve been one of the premier games to showcase the Joy-con 2’s mouse mode capabilities in a perfect way, so the lack of such a consideration is a baffling omission that leaves me wanting. It’s made even worse once you realize the drawing isn’t just limited to face paint. It’s everything. You can create designs for apparel, buildings, food, pets, and more. And that expanded freedom just adds to the hilarity! But more precise control options for those with the latest console would make the feature much more enjoyable across the board.
‘Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream’ – Final Thoughts
If you somehow don’t own a Nintendo Switch already, a new reason is here in the form of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. It’s the one Nintendo game that doesn’t require you to smash, kart, train, battle, run, jump, or even think, really. But that doesn’t make it a less engaging experience. Its greatest strength is its appeal to even those who wouldn’t call themselves a gamer, with its low-stakes gameplay and wide-ranging freedom. It’s just a bummer the game is lacking proper Nintendo Switch 2 support to unlock the full potential of its expansive creative controls. Regardless, I can’t recommend this silly experience enough to those who just want some light, humorous fun to pass the time.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is now available for the Nintendo Switch. Check out the trailer below:
The Review
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
If you somehow don’t own a Nintendo Switch already, a new reason is here in the form of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. It’s the one Nintendo game that doesn’t require you to smash, kart, train, battle, run, jump, or even think, really. But that doesn’t make it a less engaging experience. Its greatest strength is its appeal to even those who wouldn’t call themselves a gamer, with its low-stakes gameplay and wide-ranging freedom. It’s just a bummer the game is lacking proper Nintendo Switch 2 support to unlock the full potential of its expansive creative controls. Regardless, I can’t recommend this silly experience enough to those who just want some light, humorous fun to pass the time.
