Shimejis!

[swamptrogg]

For anyone unaware, shimeji is a desktop toy that allows characters to walk around and interact with windows on your screen. They were pretty popular around the 2010s, but I don't see much of them anymore. I believe the original shimeji software is no longer available, but there are a lot of other options available, including shimeji for mobile devices!

I personally used to use D-Pet on steam, which had a lot of nice quality of life features, but since I switched to linux I'm using Shijima  I haven't tried it yet, but I also plan on using Webmeji to add shimeji to my website!

Does anybody else remember shimeji, and do you currently use it? I'd love to see what characters you have installed!

[trashcompactor]

i keep forgetting and i really want to make a shemeji of my oc. thx for the app names <3

[Gloogo]

Ha, I didn't realize these were still a thing! While I've never used any that use the name "Shimeji" specifically, this reminds me of a few similar programs I used a long time ago. The ones I remember most were the "Nick Clickables" from popular Nickelodeon cartoons that would float around your desktop and could be interacted with. I have definitely used others, (maybe some from Yahoo Widgets if anyone remembers those?) but I can't remember them all. It's fun to see that things like this are still around. 

Looks like the Spongebob one I remember was from around 2003:

[Bede]

I LOOOOVE Shimeji! Right now, I have Awakened Pure Vanilla Cookie as my main (I try to use only one at a time to save computer resources, as my laptop is very dinky), but in the past I mained the Shadowpeach ship shimeji, and the Zorua shimeji. My friend really likes the Siffrin shimeji!

[Dan Q]

Thanks for sharing; I'd forgotten that desktop buddies were a thing! I always quite liked the one with the sheep.

I got some of the same energy lately from Rusty's Retirement, though, which is a casual/idle Stardew-like clicker runs at the side or bottom of your screen where a robot tends its garden, sometimes with your help. It's cute and calming.

Speaking of adding personality to your desktop: anybody remember the Johnny Castaway screen saver?

[crazyroostereye]

I am trying to use them, the software for it is working on support for my particular Setup. Here is the Link to the Software. I hope the Support comes soon, for the time being Ill just have to be Patient :).

[tarraxahum]

This is a very "stop telling everyone I'm dead" moment for me 'cause I'm pretty sure old-school Shimejis still work! :D I just had to install Java and voila, they're running around my Windows 11 just as well as they did years ago on older systems.

So really my only problem is that nobody makes them for newer fandoms anymore, so if I want my new fav characters on my desktop I have gotta draw them myself... and unfortunately I really struggle with the chibi style.

While researching I've recently found out that by figuring out the code a little bit you can easily add more animations and interactions to a shimeji (as long as you have sprites for them), so if I ever finally draw one I'll definitely be doing that. How fun would that be!

[Leonia]

Does desktop goose count? I love this little guy even if him stealing my mouse sometimes gets frustrating, but also it's very funny. I haven't used him in a minute since I swapped to Linux recently but he's the closest I ever came to messing with anything like this.

[thide]

i love these types of desktop pets! ive used shimeji, desktop goose and ukagaka too. i agree with not being able to find more modern characters a lot too ;p the most recent ukagaka character i could find is the team fortress 2 demoman, which isnt SO old but is pretty old...

[KiwiMeowo]

Yea, I am using Shimeji, and I made a shimeji of my OC Cosmos!

It took quite a bit of trouble to install it, since Shimeji doesn't have an official mac version, and there is no firefox extension. However, I eventually learnt there is this ShimejiEE-cross-platform which allows Shimejis to run on mac! Now Cosmos can do her own thing while I do my homework!

As for the extension, I have managed to download the script for Chrome, and I attempted to modify the code to make it work on Firefox. Well I succeeded a bit, I managed to replace the default sprite with Cosmos', and I had to change the position for each sprites in the spritesheet for reasons I don't know. The script works now, but it isn't possible to have more than one sprites. It's too difficult to understand the script when it is minified :P

[dizzy]

shimejis are so lovely! its so cute watching them interact with the desktop and wander. i think making some of some of my characters would be really cool, but i need to learn how...

Does desktop goose count? I love this little guy even if him stealing my mouse sometimes gets frustrating, but also it's very funny. I haven't used him in a minute since I swapped to Linux recently but he's the closest I ever came to messing with anything like this.

omg, i used to use desktop goose all the time a few years ago! i named mine henry. it's such a silly creature. i really like that you can go in and change the images and text that it drags in, i remember making some custom motivational ones and a few devious ones hehe.

[AnIzzi0t]

I use shimejis.xyz for mine

it has a limited selection and I find the editor confusing, but IT HAS RIN SO ITS FINE   

I main rin but I also use tails, tweek, and natsuki sometimes :]

[candycanearter07]

I used to use shimeji for a bit, but it was frustrating since there was only one native version for linux (shijimaqt), it was on flatpak, and every other version of the software was completely broken. Also, for some reason it didn't seem to respect my "dont duplicate" option and very frequently completely filled my computer overnight, to the point i had to set up a script to consistently restart the app every 15 minutes. If anyone knows of a good LINUX version of shijima I might try to get back into it, but I really do not want to deal with the headache anymore.

[st3phvee]

Speaking of adding personality to your desktop: anybody remember the Johnny Castaway screen saver?

Holy crap! Instant memory unlock! I haven't thought about Johnny Castaway in about about 30 years...

You just reminded me of another one ... the bad dog screensaver. 

[ABlueRose]

I've used them a couple times over the years. I'm a little surprised people are saying they can't find more modern characters, because I just found one for a My Hero Academia character. I used to have a Sans one from Undertale. I might download one again, and see how it goes!