Hitogotchi

Monsters are usually called that for a reason, which means that there’s little chance for them to change their ways and become trustworthy. However, it would be interesting to examine their behavior without having to fear their reaction. While there are probably many solutions to this conundrum, none of them involve a reverse Tamagotchi game.

Hitogotchi is an interactive story game in which you play the role of a monster “adopted” by a cute young girl. She may not know everything there is to know about taking care of a monster, but she is willing to learn, at least as long as you are willing to put up with her mistakes. Granted, you always have the option to just devour her and end the game, but it’s more fun if you postpone it.

To begin with, each day you have four activities at your disposal, depending on what you feel like doing. Whether you want to eat, sleep, talk or play, the girl is up for anything if you are. On the other hand, she may not always be able to provide you with food or entertainment, which requires some restraint on your behalf, especially when food is involved.

Food is important in other ways as well, because you don’t want to reach starvation. At night, the monster inside you whispers dark thoughts, such as to kill and eat your caretaker in order to satisfy your blood craving. Whether you listen to it or not is your decision, but it may be too late to refuse it at some point. Thankfully, the game is easy to re-play, so you don’t have to worry about lost time.

In fact, it only takes a few minutes to finish the game, but there are a couple of different endings you can reach. Hence, you can play nice or be as unpleasant as possible, depending on how you want the story to end. The graphics are not flashy in any way, but the artwork is quite cute and detailed, and the animations make everything appear a bit more lively.

Even if Hitogotchi is rather short and lackluster in the story department, it can be the perfect distraction for a few minutes, especially since you can replay it multiple times and experience different endings.