Little pixel pets that live on your desktop.
They wander along the bottom of your screen, nap in your menu bar, and wave hello. Pet them, feed them, and send them on quests while you work.
Also for Windows and Linux. The pets on this page are real: try dragging one.
PetsBring any pet you like
Desktamer plays Codex pets. Browse the ones people share on codex-pets.net without leaving the app, or drop in a .codex-pet.zip, a sprite sheet, or any animated GIF. A Knight and a Wizard come with it, so you're never alone on day one.
They get on with their day
Pets walk along the bottom of your screen, stop to look around, wave, and nap. The see-through parts of a pet let clicks pass to whatever's underneath, so they never get in your way.
- Click
- It jumps.
- Drag
- It dangles, and drops when you let go. Turn gravity off to leave it where you put it.
- Rest the cursor on it
- Its card opens. Stroke it and hearts float up.
- Right-click
- Feed, Play, Wave, Nap, Stay here, Size, or Send home.
- Pinch, or Option-scroll
- Make it bigger or smaller. Alt- or Ctrl-scroll on Windows and Linux.
All of these work on the pets on this page, too.
Look after them, if you like
Each pet has food, energy and fun, which run down slowly while it's out, and a bond of up to five hearts that grows as you look after it. Hungry pets hang around, tired ones slow down and nap, and happy ones wave and jump.
There's no guilt in it. Pets never get sick or run away, and time at home, or with the app closed, is restful. Turn care off and they simply keep you company.
Luck's card is open on the rightbelow. Try a snack.
An idle RPG starring your pets
While Desktamer runs, your three happiest pets earn gold. Spend it on levels and training, evolve them every 20 levels, and push through a world that never ends. Fights play themselves, so it's happy to wait for you.
- Eight regions to a loop, and every loop comes back darker
- Four classes, each with a special move every third turn
- A hat from every boss, which your pets wear on the desktop
- Rebirth from stage 60, for stars that make each run go further
A little help with your day
When something comes due, the pet nearest your cursor stops, waves, and tells you in a speech bubble. Miss it, and the pet holds up a little sign until you click it.
Quick capture opens over whatever you're doing, from a keyboard shortcut. Type a line and it works out whether you meant a task, a timer, a reminder, water or a note.
- Focus
- A Pomodoro timer. Pets settle down while you focus, and cheer when the break starts.
- Timers
- Several at once, plus a stopwatch. They keep running while the computer sleeps.
- Water
- A daily goal in liters, glasses or ounces, with reminders paced to it.
- Reminders
- Remind me to… in ten minutes, an hour, or at a set time.
- Routines
- Morning and evening checklists your pets bring by.
- Tasks
- Today's to-dos. What you don't finish carries over to tomorrow.
- Breaks
- A nudge to stand up after 30 to 90 minutes at the computer.
- Notes and stats
- Quick notes, and 30 days of focus, water and tasks at a glance.
Quiet when it matters
- On a call Bubbles and chimes wait while your microphone is in use, and pets keep calm.
- Do Not Disturb For an hour, or until tomorrow. It clears itself when the time's up.
- Away Nudges wait while you're away from the keyboard, and come when you're back.
- Focusing Pets stop wandering during a focus round.
Your things stay on your computer
- No account Your pets, notes and stats stay in a folder on your computer. No analytics.
- The gallery Goes online only when you open it, and only talks to codex-pets.net.
- Updates The check carries nothing about you or your pets.
- Crash reports If Desktamer crashes, it sends where in its code it happened, and nothing that names you. You can turn that off.
$9.99
Paid once. Yours to keep.
- Everything Pets, care, Quest, Today, notes and stats. No tiers, no subscription.
- Updates included New versions download quietly and install when you restart.
- Three computers Any mix of Mac, Windows and Linux. Replacing one? Free up the old one from About.
Your license key arrives by email. Desktamer asks for it the first time it opens, before any pets come out.
Download
Questions people ask
Is there a free trial?
No. Desktamer asks for a license key the first time it opens, and a license is $9.99, paid once.
Can I use it on more than one computer?
Yes, on up to three at a time, in any mix of Mac, Windows and Linux. To move it to a fourth, open About on one of them, choose Deactivate This Computer, and activate on the new one.If the old computer is gone, get in touch and we'll free it up.
Does it need the internet?
Only to activate your license. After that it works offline for good. It also checks for updates every few hours, and the gallery goes online when you open it.
Which pets can I use?
Any Codex pet: a .codex-pet.zip, a pet folder, or its spritesheet. Animated GIFs and WebPs work too. Pets already in ~/.codex/pets show up by themselves, and the built-in gallery has plenty more.
What's different on Windows and Linux?
There's no menu bar to walk in, so pets walk along the bottom of the screen: on Windows, on top of the taskbar. Quiet during calls works on macOS and Windows; on Linux, use Do Not Disturb.
Will pets get in the way of my work?
Clicks go through the see-through parts of a pet. You can tell a pet to stay put, send it home, or hide them all from the tray or with a shortcut. They keep calm during calls and focus rounds.
Where is my data kept?
In a folder on your computer: your pets, their care, Quest, notes and stats. Every launch keeps a backup copy of each file.