It’s so genius it’s a wonder that it’s taken this long to come up with it. Fresh off the back of the release of Pebble’s open-source app store, comes Hatchi – the app which replicates the Tamagotchi on your smartwatch.
Already available on iOS, Hatchi is a faithful, black-and-white homage to the Bandai’s cult ’90’s toy. The concept should be more than familiar to anyone fortunate enough to own a Tamagotchi 17 years ago – hatch a virtual pet, take care of said virtual pet by washing, feeding and exercising it, and try and stop it from dying. It’s a simple premise, and its original incarnation has sold more than 80 million devices worldwide. Pebble would probably be contented with similar sales figures.
Hatchi is just one of Pebble’s announcements from GDC – the Game Developers Conference, which got underway yesterday in San Francisco. The presence of a smartwatch company at a gaming convention may seem odd, but Pebble are clearly keen to demonstrate their device’s versatility. They’ve also unveiled an endless runner called Mr. Runner and a visual prompt-based quiz game named Icon Pop Quiz.