The game begins with the player naming their island and creating or importing their personal Mii. The Miis are assigned unique personalities based on selections the player makes for the Mii's stats, such as walking speed, speech, and quirkiness.[2] The player will be prompted to give their look-alike with food to eat and a friend to interact with. Afterward, the Town Hall will open, giving access to create more Miis. Miis can perform various actions and many interactions can occur between them, such as friendship, romance, conflicts, and other social events. As the game goes by, the player unlocks more locations, clothes, food, and other things for the Miis to interact with.[3]
By interacting with the islanders, resolving their problems, and giving gifts, the player will be awarded with in-game currency.[4]
Tomodachi Life is set in real time, and encourages players to interact at different times of the day in order to observe different interactions with islanders. Over time, the islanders will interact and develop friendships with each other at random intervals. If 2 Islanders of the opposite gender and similar age interact, one may confess their love to the other, which upon success, sets them as their "Sweetheart", which can allow for marriage with them after more interaction.[5] Eventually, if a married couple is on the island, the player will receive a phone call from either the mother or the father, informing the player that they had a baby, and allowing the player to name it and edit its face. After this, the married couple may ask the player to babysit the child, which would start a minigame, changing depending on the age of the child. Eventually, the child will grow up, and the player is presented with 2 options. The player can either move the child to the apartments, or send the child off via StreetPass, to appear in other islands.[6]
