How to Time Travel in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (and Why You Probably Shouldn't)

Colorful scene of animated characters playing outside a vibrant market area with a fountain and shops. Joyful atmosphere and lively interactions.
alexa author
By Alexandria LopezStaff Writer

Colorful scene of animated characters playing outside a vibrant market area with a fountain and shops. Joyful atmosphere and lively interactions.
  • Primary Subject: Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
  • Key Update: While players can technically change their system clock to "time travel," doing so triggers significant gameplay penalties that halt progression.
  • Status: Confirmed
  • Last Verified: April 16, 2026
  • Quick Answer: You can time travel by changing your console clock, but it’s discouraged as it freezes shops and Mii hunger updates for at least 24 hours.

In cozy games, it's not uncommon to time-travel to skip any long waits.

For games that follow your console's time, time-travelling is the process of changing your console's time to speed up the time in your game. This is common for life sims like Animal Crossing and Pokemon Pokopia (both Nintendo titles, coincidentally).

But is it possible for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream? Let's discuss.

Can You Time Travel in Tomodachi: Living the Dream

As another game that follows the console's time, it is technically possible. When you change your system time, you will get a notification that alerts you that the system time has changed since the last time you played.

Popup notification with a beige, wavy background reads: "Your console's time setting has changed since the last time you played." A red 'Okay' button is below.
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Credit: Nintendo

But the question is, should you time-travel? Probably not. Unlike Animal Crossing, you do get penalties for time-travelling in Tomodachi: Living the Dream.

If you're time-travelling at the hopes of having the Shop refresh, don't bother - the shop won't refresh for 24 hours after changing your system time. If you change the clock again, it will reset the timer. Take note that this affects all shops and not just weekly offers.

Alt text: "Cartoon-style menu board displaying daily specials: apple for £1.50, fried egg for £3.80, butter cookie for £1.80, sushi for £15.80. A character, wearing a checked hat, comments on an apple. An empty cash register reads £0.00. Bright and playful design."
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Credit: Nintendo

If you're changing your system time to feed your Mii again, it also won't work. The Miis hunger won't update, which means there will be no extra feeding or farming rewards.

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For a game like Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, there isn't much point in time-travelling. Most of the things in the game happen quickly, so just being patient is enough.

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