Animation.exe

Your desktop has company

A tomato, a cactus, a paperclip, a mug, a potted leaf and a plush have moved onto your Windows desktop. They stroll along the taskbar, climb up to the tops of your windows, wander across all your monitors, doze off when things get quiet and wave good morning when you come back. Your desktop stays clickable the whole time.

14 little scenes, each with its own endings

The gang rides a wave across your screen, dances for rain, hitches a ride on a window and scrubs it until it sparkles. They fly a kite, toast marshmallows by a campfire, blow soap bubbles and play fetch. They pretend to close a window (just kidding!), go fishing in a corner of the screen, fly a tiny plane in an airshow, shoot paper balls into the bin, drain a glass through a bendy straw and chase pixel pests off your desktop. Watch, or join in with your cursor.

Every scene has four endings and a rare one waiting to be found. The gang adds new scenes to their routine over your first days together, and you can start any of them yourself from the catalog.

Play along with your cursor

Rest the cursor on a friend to pet them. Draw circles to start a dance, shake the cursor to make someone dizzy, or flick it to throw the ball. When a scene invites you, press Play to steer the kite, catch the fish or pop the bubbles. Or just sit back and watch. With Grab on, pick a friend up and toss them across the screen: they always land safely.

Press Come here on the little bonsai menu and the whole gang gathers around its pot. Press Quiet and everyone sits down for a calm break until you press it again.

A friendship that grows

• An album of 70 moments to fill, rare versions included.
  
• A diary your companion writes in their own voice, with the days you've spent together.
  
• Up to ten hearts of friendship, earned by spending time together, petting and playing.
  
• 12 accessories in three color sets, from a bow and a beanie to a wizard hat and a crown.
  
• 24 Steam achievements to unlock, two of them a surprise.

No timers, no streaks, no missed chances: nothing is lost while you're away.

Sounds cute, stays calm

Every friend has a wordless little voice, with soft sound effects and a gentle original soundtrack, each with its own volume. By default the gang puts on a scene about every five minutes; pick anything from every 15 seconds to every 15 minutes, or let them just hang out. Play pauses while another app is fullscreen, quiet hours keep everything silent, and the icon by the clock hides the gang or pauses play for an hour. They can start with Windows if you like.

Your screen stays yours

The first time you play, you choose how the gang sees your desktop. Nothing reads your screen before you decide.

• Basic: they only use your cursor and the position of your windows. Nothing on your screen is captured, read or saved.
  
• Full: a helper on your PC looks at the screen so they can react to windows, buttons and motion. Everything happens on your PC: no image or text from your screen is saved or sent.

Switch modes or pause screen reading anytime in Settings > Privacy. The little bonsai menu shows an eye on its pot whenever reading is on. The gang stays out of your screenshots and recordings unless you turn on Show in recordings and streams.

Made for your desktop

• Six friends with their own personalities, faces and voices
  
• 14 scenes with four endings each, plus a rare one
  
• Petting, cursor gestures and scenes you can join
  
• Album, diary, ten hearts of friendship and 12 accessories
  
• Calm defaults, quiet hours and a tray icon
  
• Works across multiple monitors
  
• 24 Steam achievements
  
• Interface in 31 languages