Virtual pets are a natural fit for the wrist-borne Pebble smartwatch, and it was only a matter of time before a Tamagotchi-inspired app made its way to the platform. One of the new games debuting for Pebble at GDC this year is Hatchi, which is exactly that. The app originally appeared on iPhone, and on both platforms it features a pixelated pet for you to play with, though on the watch the pixelation is part of the screen resolution limitations, in addition to being a design attribute.
The app is not very advanced, but it’s not very advanced on the iPhone either, and that’s part of its charm. You basically get to feed, bathe, play with, read to and generally care for a digital being, which hatches from an egg (hence the name) and eventually grows into one of a variety of beasts. All the while, you can track the growth progress of your virtual pets and watch its needs with an included stat screen. All of the above is managed with the top and bottom Pebble buttons for navigation, and the middle button to perform actions.
So far, so good with the Hatchi app on my Pebble, though I’m curious to see if the more frequent need for interaction affects battery life at all. Pebble has a few other new games it’s debuting at the developer event in San Francisco, too, so take a gander at the list if you’re looking for something to play on your fancy wrist computer.