Hatchihoni Review and Guide
Currently Feeling:
sick Today I'm going to be talking about an odd pet that I found on AliExpress a while back, the Zodiac Friends/Hatchihoni vpet that's currently only available in Chinese. Here's the link I purchased it from if you're interested:
Zodiac Friends Electronic Pet on AliExpress
I picked this one up because the screenshots looked very different from the pets I've seen on there before, although I half expected it to be a Touma/QPet clone when it arrived. Fortunately, I was wrong--this pet is actually quite unique, and although it uses several stolen Tamagotchi assets from different color editions, the individual pets are unique, and the gameplay is very different.
There is no English option on this pet, and it’s completely in Chinese, so I’ve been relying on Google Translate and context clues to figure it out. This hasn’t turned out to be too much of a problem so far, although it did take me like two days to figure out where the stats screen was (press the left button on the Pet Info screen), because I’m…special. I've created a menu tree for you to reference below the cut.
From left to right, top to bottom, the options and their submenus are as follows:
Here I'll go over each of the different functions and how they work:
You can press the left button to cycle through these, and they show you how your pet is doing. The first page will show your pet's name, sign, personality (mood at that time), and sex. Mostly you'll be using the second page, though, which shows your pet's mood on the top with heart icons, and hunger with rice ball icons. Below that are listed your pet's generation, age, and how much money you have.
As you play with your pet, you'll meet the other zodiac characters. You can run into and play with them in the park, and also on the way to the cafe, where you can invite them in to share a meal (don't worry, you won't have to pay for their dish). Each time you meet one, a heart gets added to the list. When you're an adult, the more hearts you have, the more likely you will be able to successfully propose to the friend of your choosing.
The second friends menu are the friends that you've connected with via infrared and played with. Unless you have a second device or a friend who has one, you won't be using this one much. However, I did notice on my first playthrough, one of these weirdly increased on its own over time. I assume it was a glitch and wasn't supposed to happen.
Rice balls will always be available, but you can get more food at the store if you like. There doesn't seem to be much difference between snacks and regular meals like there are in other pets, though these pets can get toothaches from some of them, which are easily cured. Using the travel icon in the menu, you can also visit the park. Sometimes you will meet friends there, but occasionally you'll come across a carrot buried in the ground. When your pet digs this up, it will find a present, which gets put into your inventory. Most often, this is other foods that you can eat, although sometimes you'll also find items.
The first option on this list is for the toilet. When your pet needs to go, they'll get squiggly lines on either side of their body, and move to the center of the screen. When this happens, you won't be able to chose any other options in the menu, so you'll have to take them to the toilet before you can do anything else with them. Baths can be used to raise their happiness a bit, and the last option is for cleaning their room when they poop, or whenever you feel like making it sparkle
I think this is actually one of my favorite animations, because I like when they take out the cute little handheld vacuum cleaner!
Your item box contains items you've bought and/or found, accessories for you to wear, special props, and decorations for your home. These can all be bought from the store, but as you unlock travel locations, you can get more unique items from the different places you can go. Sometimes you can also find them in the park when you dig up presents. According to the instructions, each pet prefers a certain type of toy, but I haven't really been able to figure out which one likes which.
One thing to keep in mind is that playing with toys makes your pet dirty, so you'll want to give them baths and clean the room from time to time. You'll know you haven't been doing this enough when you notice that after playing with toys, your pet will get sick and will need medicine.
Special items are used for different life states. Rings are items you will need in order to propose and get married, and there is also a resurrection cross that can be used to revive your pet if you catch it in time. I've never had an opportunity to use this one, but it's really nice to have a second chance if you mess up!
I should note that money with this pet works differently than it does in most others. The only way to gain money is to go out to the garden (by pressing the middle button on the home screen), and harvesting vegetables. These vegetables will be random, and will re-grow about every thirty minutes or so, except for in winter, which comes around about once a week. Once they’ve been harvested, the money for them is immediately added to your wallet.
I’ve also noticed that you can get some money by playing the mini-games. Check the games section below if you need to know how these games work.
None of these options will be available until you've completed your first generation, or at least gone through several life states. They allow you to look at pictures of your parents, view your family tree, and view achievements you've unlocked. There are a ton of these achievements for lots of different things, and I'm working on compiling a guide to them with translations. I'll add it here once it's been completed.
I love the little travel options here! Each location has a different background that your pet will take a picture in front of, and then you can shop for unique items, foods, and accessories. You'll start with only one location available each generation (it resets one you get a new pet), and they unlock over time depending on different triggers, which I haven't figured out yet. You can check above for a list of what locations you can unlock; I'm only missing two so far.
Unfortunately I only have one of these pets, so I haven't been able to test any of the infrared features so far. The instructions go over the functions in depth, but I have no idea if the experience is as smooth as the rest of the pet's functions. If you've ever tried these, leave a comment letting me know how it went.
This is also where you can find a couple of games, which do earn you a small amount of money. The numbers game is a bit tricky to figure out, but it's not super complicated: you are shown a 9-square grid with one missing number. The two other complete columns or rows (it varies, you’ll have to add them up to see) will add up to the same number. In order to win, choose the number that brings its column/row to the same sum. Sometimes you’ll need to sum the rows on either side, and sometimes it’s the columns; the game would be easier if it picked one and stuck with it, but that’s how it works. Fortunately, you have 30 seconds to solve each square, so with a little practice and mental math you should be able to get most of them. After answering, you’ll be told if you picked right or wrong: and exclamation mark means you chose the wrong option, while a sun icon means it was right.
The other game is a whack-a-mole game and is pretty self-explanatory. I have to admit that while I really love this device, I didn't really pay much attention to the games at all unless I was super bored. There's so much else going on with this pet that the games really seem like an afterthought, and aren't super fun. I guess it's nice that they're there if you want them, but games aren't as central to this vpet as they are in others.
This is where you'll give your pet medicine when it gets sick. Pretty much does what it says.
I've gone over pretty much everything you'll find in the menus up above, but there's a bit more info covered in the official instructions. Using Google translate, I've gone through and made a PDF version of the translated instructions that may be a bit easier to consult than using the app on your phone. Click below to download it:
Hatchihoni Instructions
I had no idea I would like this pet as much as I do--I think it's great! The gameplay is actually really unique compared to the QPet and Tamagotchi style pets I've played with, and I think the zodiac pets are really cute. I've been playing with this one beside my Tamagotchi Pix and QPet, and honestly I found myself looking forward to this one more than the others. I like checking the garden every so often and taking the pets out to the park, and I like visiting the little travel destinations and buying fun toys.
One drawback I will mention is that because of the friendly hearts function, it will take much longer to get to your next generation than with others, and you will spend much more time with your adult pets than with other devices. I tend to think that the life stages in other pets go a little too quickly, so this isn't really a bad thing for me, but if you prefer to zoom through your generations and get to the next quickly, then you may not like the Hatchihoni as much as I do.
To be honest, saying that this pet is a clone is stretching it. Maybe there's an older version of the Tamagotchi that offers a lot of the same functionality that this one does, but I'm not familiar with one that's quite like the Hatchihoni. They're available all over AliExpress, and they're not super expensive, especially compared to the name brand ones, so if you're interested in trying one out, I think you should definitely go for it! I've had a ton of fun with mine and it's probably one that I'll be spending the most time with compared to the other color devices I have.
- Stats and Options
- Pet Info
- NPC Friends
- Player Friends
- Options
- Sound (On/off)
- Time/Date (Chinese/English)
- Food
- Your Food
- Cafe
- Hygiene
- Toilet
- Bath
- Clean Room
- Toys & Games
- Toys
- Accessories
- Special Props
- Decorations
- History: The first two options are greyed out until you have gotten past the first generation
- Family tree
- Portraits
- Achievements
- Travel Options
- Park
- Store
- Travel: This option is unavailable until your pet is an adult. They are all replaced with “???” symbols until you have unlocked them, which you will do over time by interacting with your pet. I’m not sure of the exact triggers, but I haven’t gotten almost all of them eventually.
- Beijing
- Shanghai
- Chongqing
- Hong Kong
- Washington, USA
- ???
- Tokyo, Japan
- ???
- Connect
- Infrared Connection
- Request
- Receive
- Mini games
- Numbers game
- Whack-a-mole
- Infrared Connection
- Emergency
Here I'll go over each of the different functions and how they work:
Stats
You can press the left button to cycle through these, and they show you how your pet is doing. The first page will show your pet's name, sign, personality (mood at that time), and sex. Mostly you'll be using the second page, though, which shows your pet's mood on the top with heart icons, and hunger with rice ball icons. Below that are listed your pet's generation, age, and how much money you have.
Friends
As you play with your pet, you'll meet the other zodiac characters. You can run into and play with them in the park, and also on the way to the cafe, where you can invite them in to share a meal (don't worry, you won't have to pay for their dish). Each time you meet one, a heart gets added to the list. When you're an adult, the more hearts you have, the more likely you will be able to successfully propose to the friend of your choosing.
The second friends menu are the friends that you've connected with via infrared and played with. Unless you have a second device or a friend who has one, you won't be using this one much. However, I did notice on my first playthrough, one of these weirdly increased on its own over time. I assume it was a glitch and wasn't supposed to happen.
Food
Rice balls will always be available, but you can get more food at the store if you like. There doesn't seem to be much difference between snacks and regular meals like there are in other pets, though these pets can get toothaches from some of them, which are easily cured. Using the travel icon in the menu, you can also visit the park. Sometimes you will meet friends there, but occasionally you'll come across a carrot buried in the ground. When your pet digs this up, it will find a present, which gets put into your inventory. Most often, this is other foods that you can eat, although sometimes you'll also find items.
Bathing
The first option on this list is for the toilet. When your pet needs to go, they'll get squiggly lines on either side of their body, and move to the center of the screen. When this happens, you won't be able to chose any other options in the menu, so you'll have to take them to the toilet before you can do anything else with them. Baths can be used to raise their happiness a bit, and the last option is for cleaning their room when they poop, or whenever you feel like making it sparkle
I think this is actually one of my favorite animations, because I like when they take out the cute little handheld vacuum cleaner!Item box
Your item box contains items you've bought and/or found, accessories for you to wear, special props, and decorations for your home. These can all be bought from the store, but as you unlock travel locations, you can get more unique items from the different places you can go. Sometimes you can also find them in the park when you dig up presents. According to the instructions, each pet prefers a certain type of toy, but I haven't really been able to figure out which one likes which.
One thing to keep in mind is that playing with toys makes your pet dirty, so you'll want to give them baths and clean the room from time to time. You'll know you haven't been doing this enough when you notice that after playing with toys, your pet will get sick and will need medicine.
Special items are used for different life states. Rings are items you will need in order to propose and get married, and there is also a resurrection cross that can be used to revive your pet if you catch it in time. I've never had an opportunity to use this one, but it's really nice to have a second chance if you mess up!
I should note that money with this pet works differently than it does in most others. The only way to gain money is to go out to the garden (by pressing the middle button on the home screen), and harvesting vegetables. These vegetables will be random, and will re-grow about every thirty minutes or so, except for in winter, which comes around about once a week. Once they’ve been harvested, the money for them is immediately added to your wallet.
I’ve also noticed that you can get some money by playing the mini-games. Check the games section below if you need to know how these games work.
History
None of these options will be available until you've completed your first generation, or at least gone through several life states. They allow you to look at pictures of your parents, view your family tree, and view achievements you've unlocked. There are a ton of these achievements for lots of different things, and I'm working on compiling a guide to them with translations. I'll add it here once it's been completed.
Travel
I love the little travel options here! Each location has a different background that your pet will take a picture in front of, and then you can shop for unique items, foods, and accessories. You'll start with only one location available each generation (it resets one you get a new pet), and they unlock over time depending on different triggers, which I haven't figured out yet. You can check above for a list of what locations you can unlock; I'm only missing two so far.
Connect
Unfortunately I only have one of these pets, so I haven't been able to test any of the infrared features so far. The instructions go over the functions in depth, but I have no idea if the experience is as smooth as the rest of the pet's functions. If you've ever tried these, leave a comment letting me know how it went.
This is also where you can find a couple of games, which do earn you a small amount of money. The numbers game is a bit tricky to figure out, but it's not super complicated: you are shown a 9-square grid with one missing number. The two other complete columns or rows (it varies, you’ll have to add them up to see) will add up to the same number. In order to win, choose the number that brings its column/row to the same sum. Sometimes you’ll need to sum the rows on either side, and sometimes it’s the columns; the game would be easier if it picked one and stuck with it, but that’s how it works. Fortunately, you have 30 seconds to solve each square, so with a little practice and mental math you should be able to get most of them. After answering, you’ll be told if you picked right or wrong: and exclamation mark means you chose the wrong option, while a sun icon means it was right.
The other game is a whack-a-mole game and is pretty self-explanatory. I have to admit that while I really love this device, I didn't really pay much attention to the games at all unless I was super bored. There's so much else going on with this pet that the games really seem like an afterthought, and aren't super fun. I guess it's nice that they're there if you want them, but games aren't as central to this vpet as they are in others.
Emergency
This is where you'll give your pet medicine when it gets sick. Pretty much does what it says.
Instructions PDF Download
I've gone over pretty much everything you'll find in the menus up above, but there's a bit more info covered in the official instructions. Using Google translate, I've gone through and made a PDF version of the translated instructions that may be a bit easier to consult than using the app on your phone. Click below to download it:
Hatchihoni Instructions
Concluding Thoughts
I had no idea I would like this pet as much as I do--I think it's great! The gameplay is actually really unique compared to the QPet and Tamagotchi style pets I've played with, and I think the zodiac pets are really cute. I've been playing with this one beside my Tamagotchi Pix and QPet, and honestly I found myself looking forward to this one more than the others. I like checking the garden every so often and taking the pets out to the park, and I like visiting the little travel destinations and buying fun toys.
One drawback I will mention is that because of the friendly hearts function, it will take much longer to get to your next generation than with others, and you will spend much more time with your adult pets than with other devices. I tend to think that the life stages in other pets go a little too quickly, so this isn't really a bad thing for me, but if you prefer to zoom through your generations and get to the next quickly, then you may not like the Hatchihoni as much as I do.
To be honest, saying that this pet is a clone is stretching it. Maybe there's an older version of the Tamagotchi that offers a lot of the same functionality that this one does, but I'm not familiar with one that's quite like the Hatchihoni. They're available all over AliExpress, and they're not super expensive, especially compared to the name brand ones, so if you're interested in trying one out, I think you should definitely go for it! I've had a ton of fun with mine and it's probably one that I'll be spending the most time with compared to the other color devices I have.
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