Setting up your Island: Getting started

So, you've got your copy of the game, and have booted it up. But before puting spock in a hamster costume, you have to set up your Miis' brand new home..

The Name Game and The First Steps
When you first boot up the game (or the demo if you are a cheapskate with a generous friend) you will be asked to set the time, date, import items and Island Name. Here are a few tips about this.

 1.         When setting the date, be honest: Even though you can change all these settings from the town hall, it is a fairly good idea not to lie, as Tomodachi Life runs in real-time, with your Miis going to bed at night and often having habits of visiting places. Furthermore, you are penalised for changing the clock, with daily events (like donation collection) being cancelled because of it.

 2.         Give your Island an interesting name: God knows nobody wants to visit somewhere called Nice Island, it sounds as boring as watching dried paint. Treat it as if it were a holiday destination. I would rather visit Delfino Island than Keith’s Island. Try to be as creative as possible in those few characters.

 3.         Give your Island an appropriate name: As always, you must work within the rather general moral guidelines of Nintendo’s censor. Local slang is allowed, as are words that only sound rude, or words with asterisks in. DO NOT LET THIS TEMPT YOU. Whereas Crack Island sounds fine, remember that small children can potentially own this game.

 4.         Choose a nice import item: Nobody wants some tat that nobody in their right mind would buy. Be serious.

Got all that? Good show. Making and Importing Miis: Putting a Face to the Name

Remember, this game revolves around your Miis, not you. But you first get asked to make your own Mii, or import the lucky guy or gal in from the Mii Maker. Once that’s done, and your pal gets settled in, they are your personal Mii. You are then referred to as the lookalike of the Mii. It isn’t as wearing as it sounds, honest to God.

Then the tutorial kicks in. It honestly does it so simply I don’t even need to explain it. So I won’t. But when you put in another Mii, there are some things to think about.

 ·           Anyone can befriend anyone else, but love is more finicky. Adults can only fall for adults of the opposite gender, and children can only fall for children of the opposite gender.

 ·           Miis who were born after 1996 are marked as children, and anyone born before then is an adult. If no birth year is put in, then you are free to select whether someone is an adult or a child.

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 41.25pt; text-indent: -18pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-add-space: auto;"> ·<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">           Miis of Hitler are frowned upon, but only if you label them as Hitler. Call him something else (try Dave, that’s inoffensive) and you’ll be fine. Hitler isn’t the only one. Various other nasty fellows are prohibited from being saved as QR codes or shared with others.

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 41.25pt; text-indent: -18pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-add-space: auto;"> ·<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">           Putting Miis next to each other in the apartment block increases the likelihood of friendship, and once they are good friends and of opposite genders, love.

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 41.25pt; text-indent: -18pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-add-space: auto;"> ·<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">           Seriously, I won’t remind you about the Hitler thing again. Don’t come crying to me if your best friend marries ‘Dave’.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Tip: By changing a homosexual Mii’s gender, you bypass the game trying to goad your charges into traditional (heterosexual) relationships. Clothing isn’t restricted to certain genders, so a male Mii can wear traditionally female clothing, and vice versa. In fact, there are few to no situations in which the gender of a Mii matters, as appearance, voice and personality are decided by their maker.