This New Black Mirror Game From Netflix Is Like A Cursed Tamagotchi
Contents
Summary
- Black Mirror: Thronglets merges virtual pets with village management in latest Netflix Games release.
- Developed by Night School, it’s more than a TV show tie-in game, thanks to its polish and enjoyable gameplay.
- As you expand your community, Thronglets communicate with you, offering choices to shape your village that may shock you.
At the beginning of the year, Netflix reflected on its quarter 4 earnings, revealing that its most successful games tend to be based on its own IPs, from its mobile offerings to the titles available on your TV to the service’s interactive shows. So it comes as no surprise to see a fresh game from the company land on Android on the same day the latest season of Black Mirror is launching. It’s called Black Mirror: Thronglets, and it plays like a dark and twisted version of Tamagotchi, even serving as a major plot point in episode four of the show’s new seventh season, making for a very meta game any Netflix subscriber can enjoy for free as they binge-watch all six episodes launching today.
Black Mirror: Thronglets is more than a virtual pet game
It’s also a village management strategy game
Yes, Black Mirror: Thronglets is very much themed around the show, but unlike the old days where no-name devs worked on movie and TV games (what we considered shovelware in my day), Thronglets was developed by Night School, the developer behind the successful indie game Oxenfree, which Netflix acquired back in 2021. This means a talented dev created Black Mirror: Thronglets, so even though it’s a branded title created to promote a TV show, it was actually designed with fun in mind, and it does deliver.
The game may start out as a simple Tamagotchi clone where you’ll clothe and feed your Thronglet, but no good deed goes unpunished, so as you please your Thronglet with timely care, it will duplicate, doubling your workload. This is where things ramp up; the more Thronglets you make a happy life for, the more the community will expand. At this point, you’ll need an ever-increasing amount of resources to keep all of your plates spinning. But the fun doesn’t stop here; soon enough, your Thronglets will start communicating directly with you, the player, and not all of their recommendations will be on the up and up. At this point, you’re a god, and it will be your choice whether you are just, evil, or anything in between.
Of course, this all ties into Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and its fictitious developer Tuckersoft, who just so happens to be the in-show developer of Thronglets in the latest season of Black Mirror. This kind of vertical integration is not easy, so Netflix certainly deserves some props for handling the property with enough care that a longer story can be told through games, TV shows, and films. This means you can certainly expect to find a few Easter eggs hidden within Black Mirror: Thronglets that will further this strange evolving tale.
All in all, if you’re a person who enjoys Black Mirror, good mobile games developed by talented indies, or simply want to see what all the fuss is about, Black Mirror: Thronglets is now available for free for all Netflix subscribers on Android and iOS. So, if you’d like to give the game a whirl on your favorite Android device, click on the download button in the widget below to jump to the Play Store for a swift installation.
