The dream of PictoChat on the Nintendo DS lives on in this iMessage app

The Nintendo DS’ stylus-based messaging app PictoChat wasn’t the first place I instant-messaged (that would be my friend’s AIM account) but it was absolutely the least overwhelming and most pleasant place it happened. PicoChat, an iMessage app from developer Idrees Hassan that you can download right now, attempts to recapture some of that peer-to-peer messaging magic on your iPhone.

PicoChat looks like a version of PictoChat that’s been squeezed into the lower-third of your iPhone, complete with alphanumeric and emoji keyboards, and controls to change the line weight of your drawings. It wouldn’t be PictoChat without the ability to draw and write with a stylus, so PicoChat also goes the extra mile and displays an onscreen stylus when you doodle with your finger.

Nintendo debuted PictoChat alongside the original Nintendo DS in 2004 as more of a curiosity than a play at messaging dominance. The app required both messengers to connect their handhelds over the same Wi-Fi network, which naturally limited its reach as a communication tool. Still, Nintendo included the software on the DS Lite and the DSi in 2006 and 2009, respectively, and the 3DS’ optional Swapnote app was considered a spiritual successor of sorts when it came out in 2011.

PicoChat can’t fully recreate the small, personal feeling of PictoChat while strapped on top of iMessage, but if you miss the cumbersome, but considered messaging of your DS days, it’s a pretty great hit of nostalgia.