The egg stage (卵期ranki) is the first stage in a Tamagotchi's Life Cycle. Nearly every Tamagotchi release begins with the egg stage. In order for the egg (タマゴtamago) to hatch, the user must first set the time. On modern releases, they may additionally have to set the date, the user's birthday, and username. After a period of time (five minutes on earlier releases, though the time has been reduced on modern Tamagotchi pets), the egg will hatch into the baby stage character.