The Tamagotchi USA Road Trip will stop at Tempe Marketplace this Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27 and 28, to show off the new generation of toys, now fully in color with 50,000 variations of cute electronic creatures.
The pop-up will be held 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, in The District between Victoria's Secret and Journeys.
At each stop of the interactive experience, attendees can explore custom-built zones, playful activities and plenty of photo-worthy moments.
Features include:
- Tamagotchi Shop: Step inside the Tamagotchi store and get your hands on tour-specific releases and the latest drops, including the brand-new Tamagotchi Paradise and the Road Trip-exclusive Tamagotchi Destinations.
- Photo Opportunities: Step inside the world of Tamagotchi and strike a pose alongside dimensional characters.
- Lab Tama Station: Be among the first to try out the latest Tamagotchi device in a colorful play zone.
- History Station: Take a trip through time with an oversized Tamagotchi timeline, charting the journey from the ’90s to today.
- “Poop Clean-Up” Sweep Game: Grab your game face and slide Tamagotchi “poop” into the toilet for points (and maybe prizes).
- Customization Station: Deck out your Tama case or charm with rhinestones, stickers and designs.
- Tama TV & Animation Zone: Kick back with animated shorts from the Tamagotchi YouTube channel.
For the uninitiated, Tamagotchis are small handheld toys that are like virtual pets. They were released in 1996 and became an instant hit. The egg-shaped toys depicted cute creatures that grew from an egg to adulthood. There were six original pixelized characters.
Tamagotchis needed constant attention. Players would have to feed, play games with and train their pets. A pet could die due to poor care, old age or sickness. In the early 2000s, the keychains took over schools nationwide. But many schools banned them making them even more coveted.
As the story goes, Tamagotchi are aliens that grew from an egg in your keychain to adulthood. There were six original pixelized characters. The Tamagotchi needed constant attention. Players would have to feed, play games with and train their pets. A pet could die due to poor care, old age and sickness.
The fad faded after a few years, but in more recent times, the toy has appeared on TV shows and movies: Sheldon kept his Tamagotchi alive for at least 12 years in "The Big Bang Theory," and Mei Mei has one in the 2022 Disney film "Turning Red."
Though the heyday may have passed, the brand has continued to release new Tamagotchi products. The company says it has sold over 91 million units around the world since 1996.
