Price: $49.99 RRP
Buy now: Amazon
Estimated time with gear: 2–3 weeks
What is it? A digital pet with mini-games (15 pets in 1 device)
Manufacturer: Spin Master
If you grew up in the ’90s like me, you’ll remember the glory of caring for a Tamagotchi—feeding it, playing with it and, let’s be real, just making sure it didn’t die. I wasn’t “allowed” to own one (my parents were smart), but I’d sometimes borrow my neighbour’s overnight. Looking after a little digital friend that eats and poops was peak ’90s kid.
Fast-forward to 2023, and there’s a new cutie pet in town: Bitzee—the digital pet you can touch and feel.
Opening the small purple box, my son and I were greeted by a pixel-pup saying “HURRO!” Bitzee immediately shows off its charm and walks you through a helpful tutorial on how to interact with your new friend.
There are up to 15 virtual pets to unlock and collect, some rarer than others. You unlock new pets by caring for your current Bitzee. Feeding, patting and even cleaning up their poop increases the love meter and helps you unlock more friends—or grow your current pet. You interact with Bitzee using the swipe bar on the front and gentle taps on the top of the display. Sleeping and other play functions like tilting the Bitzee box from left to right or front to back will send your little friend sliding and face-planting—just as it might if it lived in a box with four walls. These actions had us laughing, and the happier you make Bitzee, the cuter it gets. You can grow Bitzee from baby to adult, and once it’s done growing it can earn a costume to become a Super Bitzee. Treats make them extra happy and attract new Bitzees to your home. They’ll pop in with a cute greeting, and you can check your info sheet to see which Bitzee you’ve just collected.
Upon unboxing, the information sheet can feel overwhelming, but it’s handy once the tutorial ends so you remember what the symbols and prompts mean. The interaction mechanics and iconography took a little while to lock in, but once you get it, you’ll be chatting with your little friend in no time. My son was so excited that I had to remind him to slow down and follow the instructions—soon after, he was reading Bitzee’s prompts with ease.
Evolution happens faster than I expected. That unlocks extended features and unique mini-games for each Bitzee, but I wouldn’t have minded a slower pace to savour the cute earlier stages. The evolution was so quick I accidentally grew a Bitzee without my son seeing—cue me explaining that maybe it “magically” got a cute costume. To be fair, once you’ve unlocked a few, you’ll constantly get prompts: one needs sleep, another needs poop cleanup—there’s always something to do.
Bitzee is a super-cute addition to the digital pet world. It combines modern, tactile interaction with a toy you’ll actually want to pick up and play. My son and I found ourselves smiling at its little quirks and sounds, and after unboxing he wanted to check in daily to care for his new friends. Even though he kept accidentally calling them “Bootsie” at first, he quickly fell in love with his digital pets.
(A review unit was supplied for the purposes of this article.)
