‘Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream': Mii Thought Bubbles and Colors Guide

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dreamoffers gameplay involving round-the-clock maintenance and care for your island and its inhabitants, but the new Nintendo Switch game isn't always transparent about what is required.

As your game progresses, you will notice an uptick in your Miis having speech bubbles, lines, and other symbols above their head. These are meant to be constant to keep up a player's interest in the gameplay, so you'll never resolve all of them for long, but knowing what each symbol means can help speed the process along and ensure you have the tools to improve the relationships and happiness of your Miis.

‘Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream': Mii Thought Bubbles and Colors, Explained

• Yellow thought bubble - needs-based request. The Mii will ask you to provide food, new clothes, new decor, or something specific to them.
• Orange thought bubble - socialisation-based request. Your Mii will ask if they should befriend another Mii, move in with someone, or help two Miis become friends.
• Pink thought bubble - romance-related request. Your Mii may be informing you about a potential crush or asking them out. If they're already in a relationship, they will ask you if they should propose marriage or have a baby with their partner, or perhaps more negatively - request permission to get divorced.
• Purple thought bubble with Z's - your Mii is asleep. Selecting them will show your their dream and you will receive a gift related to their dream.

• Green lines - request to play a game. Your Mii wants you to play a mini-game with them, such as shadow quiz, no repeats, or red light, green light.
• Purple lines - your Mii needs help! Either they are frozen in place, have the hiccups, or have fallen over. You can help them as the player, or get another Mii to help them by dragging them over to the Mii in need. This is an ideal opportunity to boost a relationship between two Miis.
• Yellow lines - a request for a change on the island, such as new roads or an object, such as a vending machine. Many players find these requests annoying, but not to worry, your Mii will not react if you turn them down.
• Blue vertical lines - your Mii just had a bad social interaction with another Mii that made them sad. You can fix these relatively quickly with food, gifts, or head rubs.
• Lightning bolts - similarly to the blue lines emote, but your Mii will report feeling frazzled from an awkward social exchange. Similarly, these can be resolved with something to eat, being petted on the head, or a present (including clothes).

• Gold/yellow cloud around head - your Mii is interested in another Mii and is watching them. Allowing them to interact will boost their relationship.
• Red explosion/fiery cloud - your Mii is furious! This stems from an argument they had with another Mii, and they need your help to calm down and to eventually resolve the fight.
• Blue cloudy aura - your Mii is depressed, usually after being rejected. They will isolate themselves from the player or other Miis. You can provide them with gifts or purchase travel tickets to help change the sadness bar back to a happiness bar.
• Tears flying from head - the Mii is laughing at something, such as a good joke cracked by another Mii.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

2026 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 5:23 PM.