TheNintendo 3DSis easily one of the best handhelds ever made, not thanks to its power or specs, but rather its impressive lineup of games. From excellent first-party titles likeFire Emblem AwakeningandAnimal Crossing: New Leafto genuinely masterful third-party releases likeYokai Watch,Attack of the Friday Monsters,Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, and evenThe Denpa Men. We truly were spoiled during this era, especially compared to the Wii U that followed it, and it is a shame that a lot of these 3DS games haven’t made their way to Nintendo Switch.
Unfortunately, as a result of the 3DS no longer being in production, coupled with the fact that so few have been ported to the Switch, the verybest 3DS gamesare now unbelievably expensive to buy. That goes for the weirdest games on the platform, too, asfans flock to second-hand retailers to pick up a copy for obscene amounts of money. In fact, one of the 3DS' most bizarre and brilliant games, which is actually getting a sequel on the Switch 2, is going for huge amounts on sites like eBay, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Tomodachi Life On 3DS Is Selling For $100
People Really Want To Play It
Tomodachi Life, the often hilarious, real-time 3DS social sim revolving around Miis, has been selling for exorbitant prices on eBay. In fact,it is going for around $100 on average, although frequently even higher than that. According to the recent sold listings forTomodachi LifeoneBay, someone bought the cartridge for only $90 on July 17, 2025. Another buyer managed to grab the game for the paltry sum of $100, again, just for the cartridge.
A few users have been a little more fortunate, with one getting the game boxed with the manual and cartridge included for just $85, again, on July 03, 2025. While buyingsecondhand 3DS games is risky, at least on an emotional level, it seems like everyone is suddenly desperate to buyTomodachi Life. However,it appears that the game’s extreme resale price isn’t anything new, as aRedditthread from two years ago by user The_Kader on the r/tomodachilife discussed this very issue, with some fans reporting they’d seen it listed for $150.
Why Is Tomodachi Life So Expensive?
All Thanks To The EShop Closing
Of course, the question remains why, of all 3DS games,Tomodachi Lifeis still so expensive.The main and most likely reason is due to the3DS' devastating eShop closure, which meant that people couldn’t buy 3DS games at their original launch price. That means that there are only physical copies of 3DS games left available, and they are in limited supply as Nintendo hasn’t produced new copies for years. Thus, games likeTomodachi Lifego up dramatically in price.
However,that doesn’t account for the fact thatTomodachi Lifewas, as aforementioned in the Reddit post, expensive physically long before the eShop’s closure. One would suspect that perhaps Nintendo didn’t produce that many physical copies of the game in the expectation that it would sell poorly. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make sense, asTomodachi Lifewas the 11th best-selling 3DS game, selling 6.72 million units according toNintendo’sfinancial reports.
Ultimately,it looks like there was simply too much demand for the game, even despite there being an initially large number of secondhand copies. Over time, fewer and fewer copies will have been made available for purchase, thus leading to a supply and demand problem. The game’s popularity perhaps stemmed from hilarious clips of the game as well as a number of high-profile YouTubers playing it for content. Fortunately,Tomodachi Lifeis one of a few3DS games getting a sequelon Switch 2, meaning that newcomers can finally experience the true joy of theTomodachiseries.
Tomodachi Life Is Coming To Switch 2
We’ll Be Living The Dream Soon
After 10 years,Tomodachi Lifeis getting a sequelon the Nintendo Switch 2. NamedTomodachi Life: Living the Dream, this sequel follows largely the same structure, albeit with nicer visuals, some truly bizarre features, and, naturally, a giant lady haunting your dreams.It is everythingTomodachifans could have hoped forand so much more. It looks as though this sequel will be taking Animal Crossing’s place as the console’s first social sim, especially as it is set to release sometime in 2026.
While it isn’t a replacement for the 3DSTomodachi Lifeexperience, the sequel on Switch 2 does allow those who were curious to try it but reticent to pay $100 for a physical copy of the 3DS version to dip their toes into the series and embrace all of its amazingly weird quirks. There really isn’t anything else likeTomodachi Life, so fans and newcomers alike should keep their eyes onTomodachi Life: Living the Dream, if only to ensure that you get a copy early, and not when they’re worth $500 in ten years.
