The ‘Tamagotchi’ Vape Which DIES If You Don’t Use It

Just when you thought vaping couldn’t get any weirder, along comes a device that turns your nicotine habit into a twisted Tamagotchi experience. Say hello to the Vape-o-Gotchi — a vaping gadget with a virtual pet that literally dies if you stop puffing. Yep, you read that right.

Dreamed up by NYU creatives Rebecca Xun and Lucia Camacho for the aptly named Stupid Hackathon, the Vape-o-Gotchi links your Elf Bar e-cig to a tiny screen and processor that monitors your vape activity. Skip a puff and your digital buddy croaks.

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“It’s a vape with a Tamagotchi in it,” the duo explain. “And if you do not hit the vape, the Tamagotchi will die.”

Originally, the pair had a more wholesome idea — a quit-smoking aid where your pet dies if you do vape. Camacho said, “There’s a big trend of parental locking yourself. It would be cool if you could have that for nicotine.” But once the team got into the swing of the hackathon’s chaotic energy, the more evil version won out. “It’d be kind of funnier to be evil,” they admitted.

Tamagotchi has been in the headlines recently after collaborating with Coperni. Image @The Fashionography via Pinterest

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The tech behind it is charmingly low-lift: a store-bought vape modified with a screen, a microcontroller, and a puff sensor. The pet’s “health” directly correlates with your usage — vape regularly and your pixel pal thrives; slack off and it’s game over.

The internet, naturally, had a field day. One fan on X (formerly Twitter) declared: “The Tamagotchi vape is killing meee I want one so bad I’ll make sure to keep it alive.” Another said: “Cancer or dead Tamagotchi.” One user even vowed: “I WILL DIE BEFORE I LET MY TAMAGOTCHI DIE.”

Still, not everyone’s amused. “Can we please ban this sort of thing?” one user begged. “A Tamagotchi vape is only going to get more vaping.” Another added bluntly: “That should def be a crime.”

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Xun and Camacho say they might eventually introduce a “good” version, where not vaping keeps the pet alive — alongside upgrades like a more adorable creature or egg-shaped design. But for now, the Vape-o-Gotchi remains a darkly comic one-off — a commentary on digital addiction layered over nicotine dependency.

No plans to commercialise it (phew), but if you’re tech-savvy enough, they may just share the code so you can build your own.

A vape that emotionally manipulates you? Peak 2025.