The Tamagotchi Nano is easy to overlook. It is tiny, about four centimeters tall, with a droplet-shaped screen frame and just three buttons. Set next to the color Tamagotchi Uni or the wearable Smart, it looks like a toy from a younger time. Yet this humble egg has quietly become the most prolific line Bandai has ever made. As of early 2024 it counted 38 versions, more than any other device in the franchise.
A spare that became its own brand
The Nano did not start out as a star. Bandai released it in Japan in October 2010 as a scaled-down companion to the Tamagotchi iD, the color device of the moment. It offered the same basic care loop in a smaller shell: feed it, play with it, clean up after it, and watch it grow. Reviewers treated it as a sidekick, a cheaper second egg to carry around.
Seven years later, Bandai quietly found its true purpose. In April 2017 the Nano returned not as a follow-up but as a new kind of hybrid: a box for borrowed worlds. The Pocket Usatama, a Tokyo Disney-exclusive featuring the Easter mascot Usatama, was the first licensed model. It became the template for everything that followed.
A line-up that reads like a pop-culture guest list
From there the roster grew fast. The Sanrio favorite Gudetama got a Nano in December 2017; raising the lazy egg meant caring for it until it turned into an egg dish. Eevee joined in January 2019, Pac-Man in March 2020, and Hello Kitty before the end of that year. Anime followed, from Neon Genesis Evangelion to Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen to One Piece. Star Wars arrived with R2-D2 in late 2021 and Grogu in January 2023. K-pop earned its own wing with BT21, TinyTAN, and SKZOO. Even Hatsune Miku and Harry Potter have their own shells.
What makes these more than branded keychains is that each one plays by different rules. The Pac-Man Nano has the ghost-chaser playing games with your pet. The Evangelion model asks you to raise an Angel to maturity. Grogu responds to the care you give a Mandalorian foundling. The hardware stays small; the software keeps surprising.
A new color, and a homecoming
In 2024 Bandai upgraded the line with the Tamagotchi Nano Colorful, a larger shell with a color screen and a rechargeable battery. Detective Conan launched the format in Japan that September.
The Nano also circled back to where it began. For the franchise's 30th anniversary Bandai planned the Mametchi Memories Nano, a model honoring Mametchi's appearances across the main devices over the years. It is the first Nano since the 2010 original to feature no outside franchise at all, and the self-referential choice reads like a thank-you note to longtime players. It landed in Japan in August 2026, with an American release to follow in November.
Why it works
The Nano cracked a problem the 1990s never had to face: how does a virtual pet stay relevant when the phone in your pocket can simulate eight of them? Bandai's answer was to make the egg a canvas. Fans who would never buy another Tamagotchi will happily pick up one stamped with their favorite show, and collectors keep coming back for the variety and the hunt.
Thirty years after the first Tamagotchi hatched, its smallest descendant is the one keeping the biggest company. That is not a bad life for a spare part.