Desktop pet companions
Animated virtual pets and characters that roam the desktop, browser, or menu bar, reacting to clicks, typing, or AI coding agent activity, often with break reminders or Pomodoro timers, for people who want a playful on-screen companion.
Built for: Casual computer users and developers
Projects since May 04
197
Different builders
182
Last 4 weeks vs 8 before
+24%
AI is the core
7.6%
Projects per week
Mostly desktop app (25%), web app (24%), mobile app (16%) · from r/SideProject, r/vibecoding, r/IMadeThis, r/chrome_extensions
Latest
- Barstucks — Simulates ordering coffee at a virtual cafe where the barista misspells the customer's name.“I built a virtual cafe where the barista misspells your name”
- Side Quests — Offers a list of about 200 real-world activities to do when bored, wrapped in a retro 80s/90s-themed website with parody and Easter eggs.“"My daughter and I built a deliberately retro website because she and her friends were tired of doomscrolling.””
- Displays the current activity of a Muse as an animated cat on a phone home screen.“I made a little cat that lives on my phone's home screen and shows what my Muse is doing”
- Split-Flap — Displays text on a railway-style split-flap board animation in the browser.“Split-Flap, a railway-style flap board for any screen in the browser”
- Simulates a koi pond in 3D, with fish swimming around in a virtual pond.“I try to make 3d version koi pond simulator”
- Teaches typing through a roguelike game with pixel particle effects and retro demoscene-style music.“i made a typing game inspired by 90's demoscene... for people who hate typing games”
- JevMade — Provides a searchable catalogue of Jev experiments, videos and guides with credit and links to original creators.“JevMade - A searchable catalogue of 2,300+ Jev experiments, videos and guides”
- Six Seven Fly — Displays an animated fly in a browser page for the user to interact with.“Six Seven Fly 🪰”
- Pets Therapy - Desktop Pets — Displays animated desktop pets on the screen as a companion.“I got a new promo video, what do you guys think?”
- Pet the Cat — Lets the user walk through an ASCII-rendered ray-traced world and pet a cat.“Pet the Cat”
- AI Coach — Runs a desktop pet on Mac that hatches, grows, and unlocks small tools, with optional links to Claude and website drop-ins that subscribe to RSS or save bookmarks.“I built a Mac desktop pet that learns useful tools as you raise it”
- Baby Zoo — Lets toddlers tap and listen to animals to learn their names.“I made Baby Zoo, a tap-and-listen animal app for toddlers. Does the demo make sense?”
- Pawse — Displays an animated desktop pet that reacts to cursor movement, typing speed, and AI agent activity, and offers break reminders and a Pomodoro timer.“I made a free desktop pet that cheers on Claude Code / Codex while they work and celebrates when the task is done”
- CapyZen — Provides an AI chat companion in the form of a virtual capybara pet that remembers the user, generates dream images, floats over other apps, and includes minigames.“CapyZen: a chill AI capybara on top of your apps”
- Eyes — Puts animated eyes on screen that follow the cursor or respond to input as a novelty.“Putting the EYE in AI”
- Ploposaurus — Offers a mobile app whose function is not described in the post; see ploposaurus.com.“Our first run at mobile app.”
- Murmeli Baby Monitor — Generates a short animated video of a marmot alerting parents when a baby wakes, for promoting a baby monitor.“Opus 5.5 One Shot Video Generation - Imitation”
- Delivers educational learning activities for children on iOS, with an Android version in progress.“Shipped v1.3 of my kids' learning app: one SwiftUI codebase, live on iOS, Android build in progress with Skip Fuse”
- PoopySoft — Offers a few poop-themed calculators, a Chrome dinosaur-style runner game, and links to poop-related products.“I Built a Website About Poop”
- Fly Lab — Simulates a fruit fly colony in a 3D chamber where users place food and hazards and adjust environmental conditions to observe feeding, movement, health and development.“Six months building a connectome-inspired fruit fly simulator with AI. It just launched on iPhone.”
Most discussed
- Desktop Cat — Displays a pixel cat on the desktop that reacts to mouse movement, typing, and AI agent activity.“I spent 3 months building a reading app that made 1k USD/year. Then a cute desktop cat made 150 USD in a day.”
- Runs an emulated adult fruit fly brain, built from the FlyWire connectome, in the browser via WebAssembly.“A full fly brain emulated in the browser and provided a pleasant life”
- Tiny Slow Life — Runs a small animated island world along the bottom of the desktop while the user works.“A stranger bought my first paid app today. After a year of building, it finally feels real.”
- PaperReef — Turns photos of hand-drawn fish into animated fish that swim in shared or private virtual aquariums.“I built a shared virtual aquarium where anyone can add their own hand-drawn fish”
- Animal Butt — Lets visitors touch animal butts on a web page for entertainment.“I made a stupid website where you touch animal butts”
- Marble — Provides an interactive generative world where children aged 6 to 12 explore, create images, and learn through play.“I built a generative learning world for kids aged 6-12, launched a beta this week-end, kids are doing the most amazing things in there:”
- Ultilight — Lights up a desk coaster with NeoPixel animations that respond to in-game events in games like League of Legends and CS.“Built an ESP32/Rust-powered gaming coaster, got 10K+ likes on Instagram, but only 2 sales. Where am I messing up?”
- Lets players watch and spot birds in a 3D lakeside scene with slowly shifting light.“Made a small 3D birdwatching game with Fable 5 from a single prompt”
- Tabi — Displays a virtual creature in the browser that chases the cursor, hides in empty tabs, and reacts to loud notifications.“What if your browser had a tiny creature living inside it?”
- wisp — Runs a small animated pet in the macOS Dock that can be fed, walk around the screen, follow the cursor, and show water, posture, and break reminders.“I made a tiny Mac pet that lives in your Dock and reminds you to take breaks”