Interactive Digital Toy with 55 Squishy Characters Inside, Reacts to Touch, Color Display, Kids Toys for Ages 5 and up

I purchased 4 of these as stocking stuffers for my kids ages 4-8 for Christmas (2024) and they absolutley loved it. I will say the 4 year old had a little difficulty navigating the gameplay but our 5 year old picked it up really easy. It reminds me of a nano pet from the 90’s except with a color screen and a LOT more internal games you can play with your “pet”. The kids loved the interactive feature and enjoyed being able to “squish” “pet” and “pat” their little friend. It’s a perfect alternative to tablets or games that require Wi-Fi. If I remember correctly, its requires 2 AAA batteries for usage. The batteries last weeks depending on frequent usage. When the batteries die, you do not lose progress on your games or pets growth. We really enjoyed this item and even a year later, my kids still play with it!

The first thing I will clarify is that I am a 23 year old collector, I do not have children and it was not bought for a child. After spending over a day with my Punirune, I have a lot of positive things to say. It looks exactly as advertised, the screen is bright and colorful and the ‘joystick’ within it is rubbery and soft. Its texture is vaguely similar to a ‘mochi squishy’, a squishy and stretchy silicone toy. The buttons at the front of the unit are comfortable, even for an adult’s hands. The hole for the joystick also accommodates an adult hand. It should be plenty comfortable for a child, if not slightly large for younger children. There are a lot of adjustments that can be made in the settings, like lowering screen brightness and volume level (including muting volume entirely). The sounds of the game are cute but high pitched, and I could see them becoming annoying even at the lowest volume. If this is intended for a child, I suggest muting it. There is a surprising amount of depth to the game. You can cook for your Punirune, buy new rooms and accessories, play games with your Puni, and ‘evolve’ your Puni with time and care. Similar to a Tamagotchi, you also clean your Puni’s room, as well as bathe and feed your Puni. The feature of petting the Puni with the soft joystick adds emersion, as well as a more personal connection to the toy. It can teach the importance of petting pets/animals gently, not overfeeding them, cleaning up after them, and enriching them. My only complaints thus far is that the joystick does not function as a button. Pushing down on it in the center does nothing. Instead, it can be moved smoothly and input at least 4 directions. As mentioned earlier, it can be loud even at the lowest volume, I would suggest you mute the toy if you plan to give it to a child. I could also see the joystick potentially becoming sticky with time. Make an effort to make sure your hands are clean before petting your Punirune. All in all I’d recommend it! It’s surprisingly affordable for how much depth it has. Although it’s less portable than a Tamagotchi, it has many more features. Punirunes is a pleasant respite from phones, tablets, and the endless advertisements that adults and children alike are force fed while attempting to find fun on those platforms. I would also say that Punirunes is much safer than handing your child a phone or iPad. It has no internet connection, teaches nurturing pets, and has safe and pleasant content.

Came in pristine condition. I was only wanting to get one when they were on sale. Cute characters however, my batteries kept dying even though I had the sound off and the brightness at the lowest. I probably had a faulty unit. It was fun when I played it. The little nub to touch was soft. The size is quite large. But the quality of the build is premium. Bizarre idea for a virtual pet. I had to have it in my collection though.

I purchased 2 of these for my children (and myself! Because, cute!!) The first thing I noticed was the squishy area in which you can “pet” your little critter, it’s soft and feels like a mochi style fidget toy. The games are fun, and not too difficult for little people. My daughter still loves hers now in May. My only complaint is the battery life; there is NONE. These last maybe 1 day, and they require several batteries making it a nightmare. Definitely get rechargeable batteries with this, especially gifting to someone :)

I never knew about this virtual pet toy at all until i saw it on target for 40$ and i was shocked to see how the design was very different from what i am used to see from off brand virtual pet toys when i do stumble upon them. More like indie made virtual pet toys, but um yeah when i saw the main feature it had i got very curious to know more about it that i got soo into it and i wanted to get it, however, i had to choose between this toy or the pixel starz one.. and i chose the other one, and held on to waiting for this one;.. let me just state that pixel starz is not worth it.. at al sadly even though i got it for a really great price 13-12$ from an ebay seller who was very kind of them to sell it for that and communication with him or her was great - very difficult to get that virtual pet esque toy... when i got it was underwhelming compared to this one - i should have saved the money and bought this one instead of pixel starz. see the problem with pixel starz is not only is it underwhelming but it is not entertaining or fun to play with dont even believe the target audience well find enjoyment with it as well rather use it as a keychain because i know for a fact that as a little girl i want my games to not slap my wrist and just be overly super positive on the mistakes i made within the mini games i played on that virtual pet esque girl toy; that defeats the purpose of trying to achieve the goal of the game itself and getting better at it ya know? well this game pixel starz you would think they would not do this but they sadly did and missed the mark majorly... sigh i really wanted to like it, and i love the idea of it dont get me wrong but yeah no.. it geting boring real quickly. Compared to Punirunes it was a major change and it felt much more better to play with i love the squishy gimmick its really nice to use. The sound quality is good and not bad i can listen to the cutie without a problem i also love that i can adjust the volume nice thing to add compared. I love the fact that instead of squishy gimmick being just there - no they actually want you to use it while with the buttons as well for this virtual pet toy and thats good quality, because usually when a toy company sometimes would create a gimmick on a toy and its mostly barely even used even though they slap you in the ads for it as if you need to really use it, its not like that with Punirunes you really need to use it and i loved using it. Ever since i bought it i kept playing it to a point that i burnt myself out with it lol. I got to a point to where i found out that to unlock the other punirunes i need to let go of the adult one in the woods.. which my first one i got to adulthood.. i didnt wanna do it because it feels sad, however the punrinues tell you that they want to leave, and i did not think they would add a detail like that rather i thought that the player needed to do it theirself no the punrinues is that interactive that they communicate with you on this as well. I got bummed out but was happy to know that i need to unlock them all and there is a album that keeps up with how many you unlock and how they look like. the only criticism i got is that there is not that many accessories or colors.. i would have liked a ton if there was more accessories to places to go to even though the minigames are fun to play but still other places would be nice for the Punirune to visit and for the more accessories be good to use that way the money you get does not stack up like that, yes i know you have to buy food as well, but i would like it if there was more to buy other than a limited accessories and room designs.. other than i like the punirune, its worth purchasing while its affordable on sale, sorry for no pictures would like to show my little girl lol ingame but as i am writing this review i am currently unwell to move, laying in bed 😅. Oh right i highly would recommend this for your little girls that are interested in these types of toys, plus its a affordable alternative compared to tomagotchi.

Cool toy. Very squishy. Quite cute. It has a quality field to it. As opposed to a flimsy field. Gift worthy

The Punirunes is like having a virtual pet squishy toy or gummy. The most unique aspect of this game device is the squishy sticky mochi on the inside of the shell which is the top of the joystick used to interact with your pet and play the mini games. Gameplay Overview The gameplay itself is like a combination of the PuniTapiChan and a Tamagotchi. The interface, sound effects and animations are most like the PuniTapiChan or the Sumikko Catch. This game has its own music and the characters all have voices. There is no actual speaking, which makes knowing any languages unecessary. Language This is the English release, so the yes and no options are in English. The rest of the game has no words, so figuring out what to do takes patient playing, experimenting and observation if you don't feel like unraveling the giant instructions sheet. Actual Gameplay First, select your skintone for a truly immersive experience when you stick your finger into the shell. Your finger is picked up by a sensor even before you touch the joystick, so it appears on the screen and your virtual finger moves along with yours. The inside is kind of warm! You start with a tiny mochi and the starter food, green gummy bears that never run out but only fill up the hunger a small amount. Feed it, pet it, bathe it and clean up poop using the menu options and the squishy joystick. There are 4 evolutions and 55 different gummy creatures to collect. Select the door to explore the Punirunes world with its market, arcade and forest pond, where secret combinations of gummy gems unlock some stuff but I don't know what it is yet. Games & Touch Subtle touches yield the best results. The joystick is directional. You'll be tempted to press hard to register touches but don't-- the reason why it's not picking up your touches is because you're pressing down hard rather than forward, back or side to side. Quick gentle taps are key when petting, cleaning and bouncing to catch gummy runes or bouncing into portals. You'll learn quickly while playing mini games that it's all about a combination of gentle, directional pressing. To avoid stick drift over time and to ensure the longevity of the device, I highly recommend not allowing really small children with underdeveloped motor controls (or self control!) To play with the Punirunes. Also, it is best to play it with clean, dry hands. As you can see in some of my pictures, the gummy is already picking up a bit of fuzz. Clean with a small cloth with some rubbing alcohol on it, then pat dry. My Opinions I love it. For the novelty, the games, the pet play, the characters and the customization options in pet accessories, rooms and furniture. Customize items by combining color gummies and make your Punirunes shine with their own style. I do wish that there was a little bit more text and dialogue but that's just me. I guess that was foregone given how it can slow down gameplay. Too much something that annoys me on the Tamagotchi Pix is the long dialogues and cut scenes between each activity.... I'm glad the Punirunes is my go-to stress relief pet and won't die on me while I'm running 3 other v-pets at the same time. These pets don't die by the way, but it takes effort to get their happiness and hunger back up! In this way it's a happy medium between the Sumikko Catch and a Tamagotchi Uni, with different foods having higher or lower hunger sating power. And just like the Bitzee, you don't have to worry about feelings of heartbreak or loss if you fail to care for it. I just got this thing yesterday 7/17/2024 so my review will be updated in the future as I figure it out more! Overall I'm VERY satisfied with my purchase and with Spin Master distributing one of Takara Tomy's most genius electronic toys for the western market!

This is not a rechargeable device unfortunately. The batteries die really quickly depending on use, and you lose all progress when you have to change them out. It’s adorable and my 5 year loved it but the battery issue is a huge downfall and frustrating.