About this game
A tiny critter lives at the bottom of your screen. It walks, naps and wanders along your taskbar while you work, and underneath it is a whole monster-collecting game.
Every so often a wild critter turns up beside your pet. Click your pet and the CritterScope opens over whatever you were doing. Win, and you're a step closer to recording it.
107 critters to find across 46 evolution lines and eleven types, with rare forms: a spectre after dark, a prism once in a very long while.
Walk a world of fourteen lands, each walled off by fog and held by an alpha. Bring three to the fight, and the alpha changes type halfway down. Every save gets its own continent.
Level them, evolve them, and earn rare finishes over hundreds of wins. 55 crests mark what you've done, and some of them are secret. Build up an island of your own.
Recolour the device and choose how big your pet is. Then put your best six on an animated brag card to send someone.
- No energy, timers, store, currency or ads
- No account, and it never goes online
- About 4 MB, made to be left running all day
55 crests to earn
Every one drawn by hand at 16 × 16 and scaled up.
System requirements
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 (64-bit) | Windows 11 (64-bit) |
| Processor | Any 64-bit dual-core | Any 64-bit quad-core |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | Any DirectX 11 graphics | Any DirectX 11 graphics |
| Storage | 50 MB | 50 MB |
Behind the build
- Role
- Solo developer: design, code, pixel art, music, trailers
- Year
- 2026
- Status
- Steam page in review, demo first
- Built
- Desktop app with a web UI
Why I made it
A tiny game that keeps you company while you work, then gives you something to play when you take a break. It had to be light enough to leave running all day and never get in the way.
Decisions and trade-offs
- Small and offline by design: it lives on your desktop, so it must never feel heavy or nosy.
- It steps aside when a fullscreen game or video covers its screen, and a hotkey hides it instantly.
- Launch checklist ranked by player pain: crash-safe saves first, then fullscreen stand-down, multiple monitors, idle frame-rate throttling and cloud saves.
- Everything a store page needs, made in-house: key art, capsules, two trailers, 55 crest icons and the guide.