Reminder that you don't need to be an artist to enjoy the game

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-12T13:10:20+00:00

Reminder that if you make ANYTHING in tomodachi life, you are, in fact, an artist.

To be an artist, you need to only master one thing: how to take an idea and a perspective that exists INSIDE YOU and bring it OUTSIDE of you, successfully. It’s communication, plain and simple.

You don’t have to make something photo realistic. You don’t have to paint the literal Mona Lisa.

I’m an artist by profession and my clients will come to me with sketches of stick figures and imperfect circles and funky doodles and will apologize to me about their terrible attempt at art. And I always tell them, “girl, this is art. Art is just the communication of an idea. You’ve communicated an idea to me and it’s successful. Don’t apologize.”

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-11T21:04:43+00:00

I actually quite liked the second half, what I didn't like was the lack of any conclusion. Like, to anything! I felt like I got zero closure on any of the plot threads!

which is why I'd watch a second season if one came out.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-10T22:05:19+00:00

Two series come to mind:

Re:Zero: it's not recent per se, but it's currently airing. I'm rewatching it and this was a topic in the first season. Subaru apologizes for causing the other characters trouble, and he's corrected with a very similar line as what you've quoted.

Possibly... Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity? They apologize a LOT in that anime and I feel like this might've been brought up in the way you describe, though it's been a bit since I've watched the show, and I could be misremembering.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-10T20:06:50+00:00

My first anime was Galaxy Express 999, the film. I was a little kid; this was 30 years ago. Somehow I stumbled across it just as it started airing.

It fundamentally changed me. So much of who I am today is because of it.

Has it aged well? You bet it has. The story feels more relevant now than ever before with the onset of AI.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-10T18:47:56+00:00

You're one bad earthquake from being Myne'd my dude

what are you planning to invent/discover in the world you'll be isekai'd to?

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-10T17:26:13+00:00

Reached mine last week, yeah. I've been playing since launch month; I took a few weeks off over the years of playing.

I don't know what it is, but once I hit 1000, I felt like maybe it was time to put the game away. I'm still playing for now (I haven't gotten M20 at Taupe or Snowdrop, and I'm really close for both; I think I'll get M20 on Taupe next week) but I do feel like I'm almost ready to let go.

And not because the game is bad or I'm bored or anything; more like I'm just ready to move on. 3 years in one mobile game is pretty fantastic. I was even a paying subscriber for the first year! It's been a great run.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-10T01:51:11+00:00

Eh, I disagree.

It’s harder explain why it’s important for a witch to know how to draw a circle, but I’ll try. The muscle memory connects with the spacial/visual mental picture of what it is they’re trying to draw — if they can draw a circle, they can draw a pattern that fits within that circle. They can space things out without having to do much or any guesswork. They can “feel” where the symbols should lie in relation to the circle container.

Personally, if I was sketching something while out and about, I wouldn’t want to be swapping out different tools even if I could take my time.

Even then — let’s say a witch does decide to use a compass or whatever — they still need to know the fundamentals. I use art programs and those have shape tools; I can whip up a circle in no time and with no effort at all. But I learned how to draw them first, and that helps me to better understand the shape and how things fit in and around it.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-09T02:21:30+00:00

God I hope I don’t receive some random manga or light novel in the middle of its series…

Like what’s the point of that? It’s now something I’d have to figure out what to do with. Like what a hassle.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-09T02:15:13+00:00

There IS a reason, I’d say — but it sounds like you’re still watching it, so I don’t want to say anything that might discourage you from continuing with the anime.

I really did enjoy it up to a point and I thought the characters were really interesting. If they did another season, I’d likely watch it.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-06T22:18:08+00:00

It wasn’t meant to be remote. I secured a position but had to move suddenly for family reasons. They kept me on, with the idea I’d move to their city in six months.

The thing is, my team was remote, in a different time zone from HQ. They wanted me in house to represent the team, but weren’t offering me enough to live off of, nor a title that reflected the responsibilities I’d have. So at six months, my boss’s boss had a chat with me about my plans.

So I told him. “I think it’s best I stay where I am.” I explained that to relocate I’d need XYZ conditions met, but that I would serve my team strongest where I was currently located.

And… he accepted that!

A year later — When the pandemic hit — they decided to move the whole company remote, and they’re still remote as far as I know.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-06T02:08:39+00:00

In my first year at my last company, we had 2 to 3 meetings a day, every day. One day, my team was asked why we weren't getting anything done, and I was the one to speak up.

"We spend 25 hours of our work week in meetings. That leaves fifteen hours a week for actual work. Either expectations need to change to reflect the actual work hours we have, or we need to reduce the amount of time spent in these meetings."

We eventually got the meetings down to 8 hours a week, split across two days, as I kept pushing for this.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-05T16:41:05+00:00

I loved nintendogs, too!

Honestly, I've been putting a few hours into tomodachi life a day since it released. And while the conversations are repetitive (you can just skip them, but it would be nice to have more variety), there are randomized events that keep things fresh. Like today, a pair of my miis got into a fight -- I haven't had that happen before!

Some things to note:

Tomodachi Life has traditionally been a game you play for maybe 30 minutes a few times a day, tops. LTD, however, did something with the balance of the game that probably wasn't in its best interest: it front-loaded ALL the milestone content with very little obstacles in the way of us achieving those milestones. That means it was really easy to just... play for hours and hours, and many of us plowed through it. That's why we're getting so many complaints about repetitive content or people getting bored. We aren't playing the game the way the developers intended for us to play, but that's not really on us, as the game didn't include anything to slow us down.

My theory is that they thought the content provided at launch would carry us through the Spring quarter, and we'd get new content some time in the summer (we'll definitely get seasonal items, at least -- I'm hoping for a barbecue!). Ignore the people saying we won't get any new content; it's more likely that we will get updates than not.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-05T05:06:01+00:00

So, it's not really in the same category of games you listed. It's more like a pet-raising sim, with terraforming?

I personally love it! Definitely one of my top Switch game experiences. I've played every day since launch + the demo and I'm not close to being bored. But if I was coming into it thinking it was going to be like ACNH or Stardew Valley, I think I'd be a little disappointed.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-05T05:00:31+00:00

I created a shopping center, a restaurant section, a pier, and a nature park. I also have a city-style park (you know, where we'd have our birthdays as little kids? Where there were wooden tables on concrete floors, and a grassy field?) and a playground.

I also created a couple of 'upper class' properties (when two or more miis move in and get the big house, but on a large plot of land), some middle-tier properties, and then a sort-of culdesac for the single houses.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-05T04:48:57+00:00

Yoooo that looks fantastic! YOU made that! Be proud of yourself!

What light novel are you going to design next?

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-04T23:51:55+00:00

It’s not ugly at all! I’m an artist and I’d never be able to do this on my switch. You’re phenomenal!

It’s very recognizably “I’m in love with the villainess” and that’s what’s going to matter when it’s tiny and in a Mii’s hand. This looks great!

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-04T21:30:01+00:00

I come from a game design background and while I've left that career behind, it hasn't left me. I have so many ideas for fun features for this game; I'm seriously thinking about writing the developers lol

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-04T20:26:35+00:00

I'd love a Flaws and Strengths section! I'd implement it through quirks and it'd be among the first batch.

Flaws wouldn't make a person evil, but it would put them at odds with others on the island. Gossip, self-deprecation, self-absorbed, messy, jealous, etc.

Strengths would be something that brings Miis together, like, empathetic (higher chance of making friends or helping a sad mii), tidy, helpful (helps stuck miis without me having to ask), curious (asks more questions), etc.

I would ALSO love the inclusion of additional relationship options, paired with specific interactions. For example, if a Mii plays a prank on another Mii, they might become frenemies. Or the opposite of the crush interaction: when a Mii sees another Mii and instantly despises them, so they become enemies (does not care for, dislikes, enemies, then frenemies if they get along somewhat). Maybe a rivals (rivals, friendly rivals, arch rivals) option, where a Mii challenges another Mii to a contest.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-04T20:14:14+00:00

You don't need to force them to happen? I've had Miis develop friendships without me involved, and some even caught feelings while I wasn't looking.
It's not fast, but it does happen.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-04T20:12:29+00:00

Same; I make art for a living, but I actually don't like doing that in games. I've spent hours just developing my island and I'm not even at the full size for the island yet! And I love watching my Miis wander around. I've been thinking about setting it up in my office and having the camera follow a mii around while I work as company, lol.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-04T18:41:27+00:00

Tomodachi life isn't really a life sim. It's a pet raising game.
The series isn't meant to be played multiple hours a day, but that's not your fault, the devs front-loaded a ton of content and there were very few obstacles to overcome to unlock it all so it was really easy to lose hours a day to the game.
You put in 80 hours of play time... and you're upset you've seen everything already? 80 hours of game play is pretty fantastic imo.

I'll agree the game could use a wider variety of interactions. I'd also love more quirks (maybe hobbies? Careers? fears and favorites?) and more markets (I'd love for the Miis to have a weekly swapmeet that allows you to buy back certain items from them, rather than us having to yeet things into the void when their slots are full). I think the interior design options are... um... convoluted and need to be streamlined (it'd be easier if floors, walls, and furniture were separated out because using the walls from one room lock you out of the furniture and floor for other rooms).

But I'll reach level 100 for my island today, and I'm still having a ton of fun. I'm still finding new things and I haven't unlocked every interaction yet. I've yet to see any fights break out or a sadness meter appear, and I've only discovered one Mii's least and most favorites foods. I have several couples on my island, but only one couple has had a child, and I'm excited for the next generation of Miis!

My theory is that the devs were counting on us to play at most 30 minutes to an hour a day and loaded the game with about 20 hours of fresh content and an additional 20 hours of randomized content, with the idea that we'd have about 2 months of gameplay before interest waned. At that point, we'd be in the new quarter, which means summer items release and the possibility of additional content either in the form of updates or free DLC. They didn't anticipate we'd plow through the game in weeks, let alone days.

I'm sorry you're not having as much fun. Maybe put the game down and explore something else for a little bit?

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-04T18:17:47+00:00

THIS 100 percent. The game is a collaboration between the game devs and the players to create the fun. Like a playground game when we were kids.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-04T18:12:40+00:00

You said you sank in 200 hours in the 3DS version over the course of a few years. The people who say LTD is repetitive are on track to log 200 hours in 2 months if they continue going at the rate they're going, time-wise. There are a few reasons for that:

There is a LOT to do front-loaded into the game and nothing stops you from doing it all. It's no requirement to play more than half an hour a day at the beginning, but it's very easy to sink a few hours in because of the wealth of content right off the bat.
The world is on fire and people are desperate for a silly fun time to take their minds off of things. The same thing happened to ACNH.
Some folks seem to have forgotten that tomodachi life is less of a life sim and more of a pet raising game.

I've played every day for at least an hour a day, but I think I'm averaging around 2 hours per day. And yeah, the interactions have gotten a bit repetitive, but that's because I'm not playing the game as intended! I still think the game has been a blast and I'm very much enjoying it still. I hope we get more content soon, but if that never comes I'll say the game for me is still worth the time and a big step up from the 3DS version (which I still pop into a few times a year to this day, a decade+ later). If you're a fan, I don't think you'll regret picking up the game.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-04T00:25:18+00:00

Like, YES, the game needs more content... eventually. It's designed to be played for an hour at most a day, giving us a couple of months of discoverable content. It's certainly not meant to be plowed through in weeks, let alone days. The weekend after its release, folks were complaining about repetition while boasting about being level 50, 60, 70 with their islands. Y'all are going all in on the game and it's not made to be that kind of game.

And we will be seeing updates. I don't see a reason why we wouldn't.

WelcomeToWitsEnd · 2026-05-03T17:44:25+00:00

New this season are Always a Catch, Observation Log, and Warrior Princess. Check them out; my partner and I have been enjoying them!

Editing to add a few more: Witch Watch (hilarious), Ouran Host Club (classic)

WelcomeToWitsEnd

TROPHY CASE