Top Secret Toys Giga Pet Virtual Pet for Kids Ages 5 and Up, 90s Throwback, 2-in-1 StarCat & CompuKitty, 25th Anniversary Edition Upgraded Collector’s Edition, Kids Learn to Take Care of a Pet

Just opened this last week, the battery has already died. The customer service however is excellent and they made it right.

The story is quite simple: I am a kid who loves cats. Since… since I was born. Mom and Dad didn’t want animals - so I never had a cat. Comes the era of Tamagotchi in 1998 - and I, as an ever original diva - choose GigaPets over the Bandai egg. No offense, I adore Bandai and collect original Tamagotchis more than ever. But if I have this passion about virtual pets, it’s all because of the tiny GigaDog I had the chance to get back then in time. I got a dog because despite my tireless search in the mall, all cats were sold out and I didn’t want a dino. Then tamagotchis disappeared - and I was left alone knowing that somewhere in the world my beloved toy existed and hosted a little kitten, just as I always dreamt it all.I still am that dreamy kid, well with a bit more budget to finance my wishes than at the time.And the yellow kitten was just the right gift I needed.The toy is simple, logical and cute. I think it is a bliss to have a predictable companion.The sounds are way cuter than in the first gen in 1998.The advantage of the Kitty version is that you get a 2-in-1 pet: the original one, a perfect copy of the code at inception - plus a newly improved character to raise. I let you discover, but I just want to say it is lovely.The battery type has changed, no need to have a stock of LR44 ready in hand. By the way, the toy has memory and your pet will not get erased if you change batteries before complete black-out (the toy warns you if the battery is low).Beware however to have on in stock when you receive the toy - the one coming in the package seems to last just a few hours. Mine das completely dead, I had to harakiri my car’s wireless key to run a check if the pet was working…I would probably improve the shell plastic grade - but that’s just my professional deformation. I work in design and I use plastics. So never mind.The kitty is worth it, for real!

FINAL UPDATE 6/14/23:We finally figured out the trick to this -- turn off the sound. If you turn the sound off, the annoying battery symbol disappears. We've been using the same battery mentioned in the previous update three months ago, and it's only just now started flashing the low battery symbol again. It's sad that you can't use the sound effects, but we've managed to max out the age and weight (100yrs and 40lbs, respectively) on Star Cat, so I'd say there's significant longevity without it.UPDATED REVIEW 3/18/23:I came back to add a star. After posting the initial review, we decided to just let the cat go until the battery died. It's now been WEEKS since the "low battery" symbol started popping up, but the dang thing is still going. I can't give it a full five stars due to the annoyance of having a flashing low battery notification consistently interrupting play, but it seems to have a better battery life than even the toy itself would expect.ORIGINAL REVIEW:Our 6yo loves this thing. The screen is clearly visible (especially when compared to a Tamagotchi screen), the variety of games is appreciated, and Star Cat in particular is not too needy. If it weren't for the battery situation, this would be a 5-star toy.This cat is two weeks old today, and we're already on its FOURTH battery! The first battery started to die the day after we removed the tab and started it up, and each subsequent replacement has only lasted a couple days. Luckily, it doesn't do a hard reset and lose progress at each change, but we'll probably be letting this one go completely once we run through the pack of batteries we bought for it.

I ordered my giga cat and received it on June 13, 2023. After reading the reviews, I bought it with some good quality CR2032 batteries and tossed the battery that came with the toy immediately to avoid frustration. One look at the reviews and I feel like it would almost be better for them to say "batteries not included" than to include one that is not suitable for long term play. Or at least include a warning on the product page that the included battery is for testing purposes only.Anyway, I changed out the battery first thing and started playing with Starcat on June 13. It is now 198 days later and the battery just today indicated that it's getting low. I turned off sounds pretty early on, and I check it about once or twice a day.Starcat is definitely a lot easier to care for than the original giga pet cat. I have forgotten it for a day and was still able to salvage it when I remembered. The fortune telling and yes/no question features are cute. The cat's stats cap out at 100 years and 40 lbs. It would be cool if the age counter kept going, even though a 198 year old cat would be a bit alarming.All in all, it ended up being the toy of nostalgia I was hoping it would be. It reminds me of some of the more fond memories of childhood, but with an easier curve so I can be a bit more relaxed about when I have time to play with it.Just... if you read this and you're thinking if getting one: save yourself a big hassle and get DECENT REPLACEMENT BATTERIES with your purchase. Don't taint your experience with the frustration of the weak battery that's included. Just toss it immediately and use a good battery right out the box. You won't regret it.

Love it! 🥰 please bring back more of our childhood memories

Battery does within 3 days. Have to constantly give it attention otherwise it dies. How can a kid go to school all day and not play it so it dies or it's difficult to get the health back up. I got a dog one for my other daughter and that one is great!

My daughter has been wanting a Giga Pet for a while and we got it for her birthday. She loves playing with it