What if Tamagotchi-Like Toys Were Really Alive? These Researchers Just Made It Happen

Tamagotchi—the egg-shaped handheld video game from Japan—taught us Gen Z kids the precariousness of life and the responsibilities that come with raising small creatures. A team of student researchers has given the premise of the video game an unexpected twist by using actual bacteria to literally bring the toy to life.

To be clear, SquidKid, the prototype toy, has no official ties with Bandai Namco, who owns the Tamagotchi franchise. But SquidKid takes inspiration from the Japanese game, in which children raise a tiny character that could “die†if it doesn’t receive necessary care.

The stakes are arguably higher for SquidKid, a bioreactor housing real, bioluminescent bacteria that young users can feed, nurture, and observe. SquidKid, a finalist of the International Biodesign Challenge hosted by Northeastern University, “encourages curiosity and care for the microbial world,†according to its official introduction.

“Our real goal was to create a bioreactor that would be ongoing, so you would keep a bacterial culture alive for an extended period of time like you would keep a fish tank or something,†Deirdre Ni Chonaill, a graduate student in experience design at Northeastern and a member of the SquidKid project, said in a release.

“Kids don’t always treat their toys very well,†Ni Chonaill added. “With [Tamagotchi], there are times where if you ignored it, it died. In this case, you’re actually killing something.â€

The Tamagotchi is alive

As per its name, SquidKid is a small device shaped like a squid, with tentacle-like injectors that children can squeeze to give the bacteria oxygen. The bacteria Allivibrio fischeri—a microorganism common to marine environments—lives inside the toy squid’s head. Other parts of the device let children feed the bacteria and give it necessary “agitation†to keep it alive and glowing, according to the team.

The prototype was inspired by the Hawaiian bobtail squid’s symbiotic relationship with bioluminescent bacteria and began as a class project at Northeastern University. A team of student designers, biologists, and an ecotoxicologist designed and engineered the device under the supervision of Katia Zolotovsky, an expert in beneficial microbes at Northeastern University.

Living with nature

The idea of a toy “filled with bacteria†might sound dangerous, but the team insists the bioreactor confining the microorganisms is safe. In fact, one motivation for the project was to invite children to see “bacteria as collaborators, not as threats, to recognize care as a form of intelligence and a skill, one that responds, adapts to, and sustains life,†Ni Chonaill said. “We believe toys can spark that shift.â€

“SquidKid, it’s not only microbiology,†added Zolotovsky. “It’s also teaching kids how to take care of the environment and then learn biology, mutualism, and environmental interdependence.â€

As of now, it is unclear when or if SquidKid will make it to commercial markets. As someone with a bad track record of keeping her Tamagotchi alive, I am rather uncertain about my chances with SquidKid. But if it ever becomes available, I’d certainly get one—and keep it alive this time—in appreciation of, as the team says, the underappreciated role of bacteria in our lives.