Fishbowl is a non-combat, story-driven, relaxing experience with no ‘right’ endings by imissmyfriends.studio.
Fishbowl is a unique game developed by imissmyfriends.studio, a two-person indie game studio based in India. It is a heartfelt, slice-of-life, coming-of-age story of Alo that unfolds over a month.
The game allows players to experience a warm and cozy story, where they work from home as a video editor for a social media star. The gameplay involves an arcade-style matching game, and players interact with diverse characters through video calls. Moreover, players can rediscover their past by sorting through puzzles that reveal childhood memories. The game encourages self-care and home chores, allowing players to figure out life one day at a time.
Fishbowl Breaks the Mold with its Narrative-Driven, Non-Combat Gameplay
Fishbowl offers a refreshing gameplay experience with its unique mechanics. It breaks the mold with its narrative-driven, non-combat gameplay. It's like stepping into a coming-of-age story, where the absence of set endings lets players explore emotions and experiences freely. Fishbowl isn't just a game—it's an immersive journey where every moment offers a chance for growth and reflection.
Here the players get to keep in touch with their friends and colleagues through video calls. It allows them to have a branching conversation with diverse characters, making the experience feel real and engaging. Moreover, in Fishbowl, you get to step into the shoes of a video editor for a social media influencer. Your job involves playing an arcade-style matching game to edit videos and interact with coworkers.
The game also taps into nostalgia, guiding players through puzzles to explore their late grandmother's life and relive childhood memories. Lastly, it promotes mindfulness by balancing home chores and self-care tasks, so that you do as much or as little as you can.
Fishbowl is a Journey of Self-Discovery of 21-Year-Old Alo
As stated above, Fishbowl tells the heartfelt story of a 21-year-old character named Alo. She moves to a new city for her first job and lives by herself while grieving her grandma’s death. It is about her journey of self-discovery, where the choices she makes each day lead to a unique journey with branching paths and multiple endings.
Fishbowl is closely inspired by the developers’ mindset during the pandemic, reflecting on their lives in isolation, supporting loved ones over long distances, and taking care of themselves. It’s a warm and cozy story about living in isolation, nurturing friendships, and understanding grief.
Fascinating Art Style and Lofi Soundtracks Create Cozy Environments in Fishbowl
Fishbowl stands proud of its unique and fascinating art style. It boasts lovely hand-drawn pixel artwork, giving it a captivating and special appearance, and making it different from most games available.
The graphics in Fishbowl are definitely magnificent as you can see the care and detail put into every pixel, making the visuals clean, colorful, and fascinating. Moreover, the art style brings a nostalgic vibe, taking us back to the video games that we grew up with.
And let's talk about the atmosphere—it's warm and cozy. Soft colors, intricate environments, and characters you can relate to all contribute to this inviting vibe.
Coming to the audio, the game features cozy Lofi soundtracks, which are known for their relaxing and calming effects, and ambient noises. Hence the audio helps to create a warm and cozy atmosphere in Fishbowl.
In gist, Fishbowl is the type of game you can sink into and feel right at home.
imissmyfriends.studio – The Hardwork of Rhea Gupte and Prateek Saxena
Fishbowl is made by Rhea Gupte and Prateek Saxena, who started their game company, imissmyfriends.studio during the pandemic. Prateek worked as a UX designer at a non-profit organization and Rhea as a multidisciplinary artist and writer, in their previous roles before starting imissmyfriends.studio.
They didn't know much about making games at first but learned everything they needed along the way, like how to use the right software and how to handle the business side of things.
Though they had lots to learn and sometimes felt overwhelmed, they did manage to accomplish a lot as their game, Fishbowl was selected as one of the first to be part of PlayStation's India Hero project.
The game was first introduced at Gamescom 2023 and has been well-received by the gaming community ever since. It was nominated at the Colors of Indie 2023 and was the runner-up for the India GDC Upcoming Game of the Year 2023 too. In addition, the game was praised for its emotional narrative and unique gameplay mechanics.
Well, Fishbowl will soon be released on PlayStation 5 and PC, and, it would be justified to say that this title stands out in the gaming world because it mixes old-school game ideas and creates something new and exciting. People love it, which shows that new game mechanics can make games more fun and social.