Desktop companions were very popular years ago as they gave you an extra motivation to click away on your computer while you waited the three to five business days it took for a web page to load. To me, that might be a few years longer, but now we have a new game all about bringing a little virtual creature to your desktop thanks to developer Weyrdworks.
In Weyrdlets, you start by choosing from several design options for your pet. I chose the bug-eyed Wagyu, which is really the poster child of the game. It’s like a baby dinosaur squashed in a hydraulic press (in the best way possible), and all of the creatures in the game are designed in a sickeningly adorable way that you can’t help but fall in love with. If you’re worried that your pet won’t look unique or personal, don’t worry, because you’ll be given a random color for your pet immediately after choosing, and you can easily accessorize them with all sorts of cute accessories. We all know a dog owner who calls their Chihuahua their “teddy baby.”
After studying possible name options, you’ll be thrown into the game world of Weyrdlets: a small island with a floor and a wall as shelter for your pets, a boat to send them on adventures, space to play, and a boat for premium items. If you’re looking for a cozy Animal Crossing-style base-building sim, keep in mind that while Weyrdlets offers plenty of customization options, they’re often very expensive, meaning that after buying a new wall color and a side table, you’ll barely have any money to feed your pet for the next few days. When it comes to being a dad, I don’t care. Add to that the problem of premium currency, which is doled out in such small portions that it feels more like a greedy mobile game.
All jokes aside, the game shines much more as a virtual desktop companion. Here, you and your friendly pet are simply left to relax and enjoy each other. You can place them anywhere on the screen and have them work in the background. However, also note that if you plan on spending a decent day at work with Weyrdlets running in the background, you may want to place your pet on a secondary monitor. I gave him one of the two-hour “long adventures” where my pet sat on a boat for a while, relaxing in a corner, not walking around or digging things up. Otherwise, my Weyrdlet was too distracting when I was trying to do anything. Even when I wasn’t working, my pet walking around my screen seemed less cute and more irritating, which only made me feel like a bad owner for wanting to keep this “good boy” quiet for five minutes. Outrageous, I know.
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However, your Weyrdlet can be incredibly useful while you’re working or doing whatever you want at your desk, as Weyrdworks has built in some additional features that let you set a timer for when you need to take a break from work and return to work, remind you to drink water, and many other clever little additions. If you can handle having a little creature running around on your screen and acting like it’s not there most of the time, you’ll probably find it to be quite a productive assistant.
Back on your island, there are a few additional things you can do. Throw a hula hoop at your pet and it will move in a fun little animation. Take it to the playground and you can click on swings, seesaws, and more there. However, this all adds up to more clicking, and you can’t spend more than a few minutes on these activities. As a game, the experience feels a little perfunctory, as it emphasizes Weyrdlets’ importance as a desktop companion rather than a simulation game, but if that desktop experience is too distracting, then you’re really at a loss.
If you want a cute digital bug, nothing beats Weyrdlets. The creature design perfectly combines silly and cute, making you feel like the worst person in the world when you’re not throwing treats and toys at your pet. On the other hand, the overall gameplay experience is pretty lame, with a slowness that might put you off depending on how attached you are to your pet. As an after-dinner companion, it can also feel like an extra responsibility rather than a fun friend outside of long adventures. But maybe that’s just me. Still, I enjoyed my time with Weyrdlets and I’d say check it out if you want a digital pet.
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