Simulation · Desktop colony companion

Roachy

A tiny visitor. A whole colony.

Three original Roachy cockroach characters arranged on a bright, hand-designed key-art card
A visitor on the desktop · source-runtime roach capture with original project pixels · Source-derived key art

Roachy puts a lifelike cockroach on the desktop and gives it the temperament of a tiny, opinionated pet. Feed, water, pet and tidy its home; then watch care turn into personality, family lines, and the occasional absurd interruption from a cowboy hat or a parade along the taskbar.

At its heart

A lifelike roach with pet-like feelings, generational memory and mischief that stays under the player’s control.

Experience
A small life beside your work
Platform
Windows desktop
Project stage
Desktop companion in development
Project mediaExplore Roachy.

Start with the available game media, then follow the story and mechanics below.

View project media
Desktop interaction designShow controlsHide controls

Mouse interaction is built around noticing and tending: pet a roach, choose habitat objects, and click to clean. A global hide shortcut is part of the desktop design; the final key binding belongs to the build.

The world

A life in the
corner of your screen.

The desktop is usually a place to finish something and leave. Roachy gives it another kind of life: a small, observant colony at the edge of your attention. One roach crosses a quiet patch of screen, pauses to groom, or settles into sleep; another may follow the pointer, sulk after being put away, or lead its young along the taskbar.

Care stays gentle while personality makes each animal specific. Food, water, petting and cleaning create a short daily rhythm, while six inherited temperament traits—active, bold, greedy, affectionate, grouchy and mischievous—shape how each roach responds. Being away is not a failure state, and the player chooses the ceiling on desktop mischief.

The glass habitat is a second living space, not a menu: objects can unlock new behaviors, and the colony moves between the nest and the desktop. Eggs, an incubator and a family tree make a new arrival part of a longer lineage; the design even imagines named roaches sent to a farm returning as postcards.

The player’s point of entry

Notice what the roaches are doing, tend to the habitat, and choose how much mischief belongs on your desktop. The colony’s daily needs and small surprises are meant to coexist with the player’s own routine.

The design

A colony built from small acts.

A lifelike roach with pet-like feelings, generational memory and mischief that stays under the player’s control.

01

Care without a countdown

Food, water, gentle attention and cleaning create a calm loop. Missing a moment does not turn a companion into a failure state.

02

A habitat with habits

The nest and its decorations are more than a backdrop: they give the colony a place to settle, wander, groom and rest.

03

Temperament that travels

Six personality traits shape how each roach approaches food, play, attention and the desktop; young inherit a blend from their parents.

04

Generations that connect

Egg capsules, an upgradeable incubator and a family tree turn a growing colony into a lineage rather than a sequence of disposable pets.

05

Mischief with a boundary

The player sets the highest desktop-interaction level. The design rules out typing, clicking, closing windows or disturbing files, and hides the colony for full-screen work and screen sharing.

The colony’s daily rhythm

From first visit to family tree.

  1. 01

    Notice a personality

    Watch for a roach’s pace, appetite and reaction to attention; a small routine becomes a recognizable individual.

  2. 02

    Make the habitat matter

    Feed, water and clean, then place objects that invite the colony to settle, groom, wander or play.

  3. 03

    Let the desktop join in

    Choose the mischief boundary and watch a roach cross the edge of the habitat, follow a pointer or lead a tiny taskbar procession.

  4. 04

    Carry the family forward

    Breed, incubate and name a new generation; inherited traits and a family tree make each arrival part of the colony’s story.

Project visuals

Small movements. Long memories.

Captions distinguish runtime captures and source artwork from studio-designed visuals.

Roachy’s cockroach model is “Cockroach” by CK, via Sketchfab, under CC BY 4.0. View the source model

Keep exploring

Another world is waiting.

All games

Looking at the work for a collaboration, feature or funding conversation?

Contact the studio Open the press kit