My desktop is very busy. This is largely by my own design. I use a laptop, but I split my screen into two. At any given moment, I've got two browser windows open—the Google Doc where I'm writing this draft is open on the right side of the screen, with my email open in the browser window next to it. Sometimes, I'll swap the email out for Discord, Slack, or a spreadsheet I use to keep track of my freelance work. Unfortunately for my attention span, I also often have a little game running at the bottom of my screen: something like Rusty's Retirement, Nanomon: Virtual Pet, or Cornerpond.
These are all semi-idle games,which require some attention every so often. Plant eggplants, feed my virtual pet, reel in a fish. I usually find these sorts of minor distractions helpful; they're little breaks but aren't as distracting as picking up my phone and scrolling.
Tiny Aquarium is the latest idle game I've added to my desktop. From developer Lunheim, Tiny Aquarium is literally an aquarium that runs on the bottom of your desktop screen. It just requires a little bit of setup before you can watch your little fishes thrive.
If you're familiar with Facebook's Happy Aquarium, the super popular aquarium game played by 7 million people daily in its heyday, Tiny Aquarium will look familiar. But Tiny Aquarium, despite the name, is actually part fishing game, too, which sets it apart from the likes of Happy Aquarium. You've got to catch the fish that swim around in your aquarium by heading out onto the water in a boat. Pop some corn on the end of your line (or some other bait) and drop your bobber in the water. The fishing minigame is a familiar one: You click to keep a moving bar following a little fish. If you are successful in the minigame, you'll catch the fish.
There's also a social element to it all, in that you can fish with other players—up to 100 per online ocean or swamp. It gets pretty crowded, which makes it hard to find a space to cast off, which is why I prefer a smaller fishing lobby. I don't find that people fishing in Tiny Aquarium chat all too much (there's chat functionality on the left-hand corner while fishing) but I still like the companionship. A pop-up shows what fish the other players have caught, and you can visit other aquariums from this screen.
Like any game, there's a grindy element. You've got to unlock items to help care for and grow your aquarium, as well as better bait. It's slow. Fish generate income just by existing, so that's how you earn money to unlock stuff. Customization options are gated off, as are more tanks. Then there's the breeding program. It's all fine—I don't spend a ton of time making active progress toward unlocking any of that stuff. I'm not really concerned with collecting all sorts of different fishes. (Though there are certain fish I do covet, like a collection of carp, my namesake.)
What I do like, especially, is enjoying the tiny aquarium I've built on the bottom of my screen. The fish do their own thing. Every so often, I fullscreen the game and feed the fish. Then, back to whatever I was doing. Getting to this spot—where you're satisfied with the amount of fish in a particular tank—is reaching that no thoughts, all fish state.
Fishes hatch, grow, and change, even when the game isn't up-and-running. That's one thing that I've learned the hard way—you can't just abandon the game, but there's a way around keeping your fish alive. You see, I left Tiny Aquarium alone for about a week or so, and when I returned, all my fish were dead. Yikes! My aquarium was all green and slimy, too. Unfortunately for me, I didn't read the fine print, which is the thing about the game running while offline. You can, however, freeze your aquarium if you're not able to pay much attention to it, so your fish won't die.
Then, you're able to revel in the chilled out aquarium and its exceptionally cute pixel fishes.
