A 22-minute Nintendo Direct held this week has shown off more gameplay for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream.
Nintendo has officially confirmed a release date for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, a brand-new installment in the beloved life-sim franchise: 16 April, 2026. The upcoming game will allow players to oversee a tropical island populated by friendly Miis, and watch by the sidelines as they interact with one another, move in together, and get into soap opera-like dramatic shenanigans.
Watch the Nintendo Direct below:
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream shows off new gameplay
Nintendo held a Nintendo Direct livestream this week to dive into gameplay details for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, a game so highly-anticipated that its mere announcement on Twitter/X has become one of the company’s most-liked posts to date. The gameplay formula of this sequel doesn’t stray from what people love about Tomodachi Life, though it does include new features and a distinct setting.
In Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, players will be able to create their own Mii characters from the ground up, with more customisation settings compared to the Nintendo Switch’s default Mii creator. Gender settings and dating preferences have finally been expanded upon, following up on a pledge Nintendo made all the way back in 2014 to make future Tomodachi Life games more inclusive.
Now, Mii characters can be male, female, or non-binary, and will also be able to romance each other based on their customisable gender preferences. That means you’ll be able to see straight or gay soap opera-like romances pop up in-game, as seen in the trailer, where Nintendo’s custom protagonist Angie bounces off two failed male romances and ends up dating a teddy bear named Mocha.
While building up the island paradise of Tomodachi: Living the Dream–which will be quite barren at first–players can visit a colourful variety of different stores to buy items for their Miis. Things like food, clothing, and furniture, can be purchased to keep the island’s Miis happy, well-fed, and comfortable.
Eight Mii characters will be able to share a multi-storey house, and these characters can form relationships with one another with a little bit of encouragement and advice, from the player. Players can also draw 2D cut-outs of animals in the Palette House shop to give their Miis pets, along with other items.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will launch on Nintendo Switch on 16 April, 2026. The game will also be compatible with Nintendo Switch 2.
