Is the Entama Matching Game Based on Luck, and How Do You Play It?

These instructions cover カードあわせ, translated as “Match cards,” on the standard Entama. Bandai identifies Entama as the shortened name for Chou Jinsei Enjoi! Tamagotchi Plus. Its official product documentation also describes collecting GUTS points as part of the toy’s progression. 超じんせーエンジョイ！たまごっちプラス はくぎん — Bandai

Check the game screen before following any button instructions: the game covered here presents four cards. The Entama CYOI Change version has a different selection of games. Bandai’s CYOI product page explicitly lists new glasses, dictionary and flower games, so a guide for standard Entama cards will not fit every Entama edition. 超じんせーエンジョイ！たまごっちプラスチョイがえ チョイチェンジぴんく — Bandai

First, become familiar with the three front buttons. A is the left button, used to move through selections; B is the middle button, used to confirm; and C is the right button, used to cancel or go back. From the normal character screen, use A to select a menu icon and B to open it. The basics

Open the games menu and select カードあわせ. Once the four cards appear, follow this sequence:

1. Press A to select your first card.
2. Press B to confirm it.
3. Use A to select a second card.
4. Press B again to confirm.
5. Watch the revealed characters. Matching characters clear the round.
6. Repeat the selection process as the game advances toward six completed rounds.

The gameplay guide documents four cards, two selections, the A/B controls and the six-round objective. Games (Entama)

For your first attempt, concentrate on making deliberate selections. Pause between presses long enough to see which card you have selected before confirming. This gives you a useful distinction when reviewing an attempt: did the device accept the card you intended, or did you confirm a different selection? Correcting a button mistake makes the controls easier to use; it does not establish a method for predicting a hidden card.

The English Entama guide explicitly describes the card game as “pure luck,” while the illustrated gameplay guide says completing all six rounds depends on being lucky. Together, they support treating the hidden-card result as chance-based during ordinary play. Tamagotchi Entama and Uratama: Instruction Guide in English, Games (Entama)

That conclusion has a practical limit: these gameplay descriptions do not establish the device’s exact internal card-generation algorithm. They support the advice to select two cards and accept the revealed result. They do not establish a particular percentage chance of matching, an advantage for one position, or a repeatable button-timing method.

Avoid assigning an exact success rate merely because four cards appear. A calculation would require verified information about the possible card arrangements and how the device chooses them. Without that information, a precise figure would make the explanation look more certain than the evidence allows.

The retrieved guides provide no verified sequence of positions, flashing counts or waiting intervals that improves card matching. A sensible playing routine is therefore to choose cards using a comfortable, consistent sequence while keeping the outcome separate from the routine. The documented task remains finding a pair among four cards across six rounds. Tamagotchi Entama and Uratama: Instruction Guide in English

Suppose you choose the same two positions and complete several rounds. That is an illustrative example of a successful run, not evidence that those positions reveal better cards. Likewise, one unsuccessful attempt after changing your selection does not demonstrate that changing positions caused the result.

If you encounter a proposed trick, ask what its evidence actually shows. A clear explanation should identify the Entama version, describe the button sequence precisely, and account for unsuccessful attempts as well as successful ones. Until a method has supporting evidence, it is more useful to treat it as an unverified suggestion than to build your playing strategy around it.

The standard Entama’s card game raises Intelligence. The gameplay guide lists the following results according to the number of rounds completed; Gotchi Points are an in-game reward. Games (Entama)

Rounds completed	Intelligence gained	Gotchi Points gained
0	0	0
1	0	10
2	1	30
3	1	100
4	3	200
5	5	300
6	10	500

Source: Games (Entama).

Read the table by completed rounds, rather than by the number of cards you selected. The two-round threshold is particularly useful: the listed Intelligence increase begins there. A full six-round result gives the largest listed reward, but shorter results can still add points.

Before starting, decide what you want from the attempt. If you are learning the controls, successful selection is the immediate task. If you are checking Intelligence progress, compare your result with the completed-round threshold. This keeps a short attempt understandable without requiring a perfect finish every time.

Use this diagnostic sequence when the game behaves differently from what you expected. It combines the documented button roles, card objective and edition differences into a practical check. The basics, Games (Entama), Bandai’s CYOI product page

What you observe	What to check next
You cannot find a four-card screen	Confirm that you selected Match cards and that your edition includes it.
The selection moves without confirming	Use B to confirm; A moves through selections.
You return to an earlier menu	Check whether you pressed C, the cancel/back button.
The intended cards reveal different characters	The selection worked; the cards did not match.
Intelligence does not rise after one completed round	Check the reward table: one round lists zero Intelligence.

The useful distinction is between operating the game and getting a match. Once the intended two cards are selected and revealed, the controls have done their job. For the standard Entama card game, follow the A/B sequence, read the result by completed rounds, and treat a six-round finish as a fortunate outcome rather than proof of a hidden selection trick.

• 超じんせーエンジョイ！たまごっちプラス はくぎん — Bandai
• 超じんせーエンジョイ！たまごっちプラスチョイがえ チョイチェンジぴんく — Bandai
• Games (Entama)
• The basics
• Tamagotchi Entama and Uratama: Instruction Guide in English