Weyrdlets is the virtual desktop companion you didn't know you needed

Weyrdlets might look like a typical virtual pet game, but if you look beneath its adorable exterior, you’ll find it's secretly helping you to become more self aware, acting as a useful reminder to be more mindful about your own wellbeing. Alongside Stardew Valley, Summerhouse and Animal Crossing, Weyrdlets' relaxed vibe naturally makes you want to slow down when you dive into your island pet paradise, but if you don't have time to spend in the game itself, then you can still take care of your pet on the side as they occupy your desktop. They're truly virtual pets in that sense, as they can wander exactly where you don’t want them to, and they'll be interested in the most random items when you're performing your everyday PC tasks.

If nothing else, it's a fun and easy way of having a bit of company during your day, whether you’re studying, working from home, scrolling through endless emails or, ahem, writing a guide. I’ve been playing a lot of Wuthering Waves for work recently and, and over the last week, my Weyrdlet has joined me on my adventures, minding its own business on top of my game while everything played out underneath it. Despite encounters with several fierce Tacet Discords and one misadventure where my Resonator fell off a very high cliff, my Weyrdlet whiled away the time fishing off its little boat - it has its priorities sorted.

Regardless of whether you're playing the game or just hanging out with your Weyrdlets on your desktop, your companions will need to be kept fed, clean, exercised and entertained. But, unlike a real pet, you can (thankfully) forget about them for a weekend and they’ll be all right when you turn on your PC again after a few days away. If you’ve had a virtual pet experience with a Tamagotchi then you’ll be pleased to know a Weyrdlet is not as high maintenance as they are, which makes the experience of caring for these little creatures much more enjoyable and, more importantly, stress-free!

Their needs can all be monitored through the stats bar, which appears on your desktop or in-game while you're on your island. To keep them well fed, you'll need to ply them with the two most important food groups in the world (fruit and cookies), and also give them enough attention by petting them with your mouse. These are the two most important needs you have to meet for a happy Weyrdlet, though drawing out the finer points of their personality will require them to be sent out on adventures to help them gain knowledge about the world.

It's a very chill kind of task loop, but as I settled into the routine of caring for my Weyrdlet, it made me start to re-evaluate how I treated myself when I'm sat at my PC all day. It's ended up encouraging me to take proper screen breaks of my own so my eyes don’t feel the strain of staring at my monitor so much, and when my Weyrdlets need feeding or one of their stats has dropped dramatically, I'll ask myself the same questions to see if there are any needs I’ve been neglecting while working as well.

Self-care is something I’ve struggled to manage in the past, but that's precisely why Weyrdlets has struck such a chord with me. On top of being a game about keeping virtual pets, it also houses several (really quite useful!) productivity tools to help players reset and centre themselves during their busy, daily routines. There are even widgets you can add to your desktop, or access on your island, that help with this. My personal favourite is the Wellness tracker. Here, you can check in with how you’re feeling through a reflection, which asks you to use a slider to determine how good or down you’re feeling that day, before delving deeper into your feelings to figure out why you’re in that space. It makes you look inwards to pinpoint exactly where the feeling stems from, and you can then see if there’s anything you can address to help if you're in a low mood, or celebrate it if it’s a good one. You can then see your journey through its in-game tracker.

When you're just on your desktop, you can customise the appearance of these trackers so they're not too intrusive either - including your Weyrdlet's stats bar (though I do admit that seeing my pet’s ears do a cute little wiggle as they walk did distract me a tad to start off with). You can move each bar wherever you want, and adjust their size and opacity as you see fit. Your Weyrdlet's stats are easy to parse at a glance, too, and if you don't spot the red ring indicating that something needs your attention, an icon will eventually appear above your pet's head to remind you they need to take action.

Of course, you can also visit your pets on their island in the game itself, where you can customise their home with various decorations such as beds, windows, and stools. You can also take your Weyrdlet out to the park and play with them there - though don’t push them too fast on the swing or they will fly off and faceplant into the ground (they were fine, honest!). There's even a touch of the game Kind Words in here, too, as you can leave notes of encouragement for other players. These wash up as messages in a bottle on the shoreline, though since this is just the Steam Next Fest demo version, I've yet to encounter any of these myself. Still, you never know who will read it and what it will mean to them - so always be kind with your message!

As I've been typing all of this, my little Weyrdlet (called Milkshake) has been sitting happily on the back of its tiny boat with a fishing rod in the bottom right corner of my screen, oblivious to all the deadlines and things I need to do today. Milkshake is living their best life, and while my to-do list grows bigger and bigger, I know that having them there beside me is still a very useful reminder: if we can be so kind and attentive to a virtual pet, then we can also find time to find the same courtesy for ourselves.