fishbowl by imissmyfriends.studio

Fishbowl screenshot: Alo in her bedroom

Developer

imissmyfriends.studio
Based in Goa, India

Release date

TBA

Platforms

PlayStation 5
Steam

Website

imissmyfriends.studio

Regular price

TBD

Social

Twitter
Discord
Instagram
YouTube

Description

Fishbowl is a heartfelt coming of age story told over a month where you unpack puzzles to rediscover childhood memories, video call loved ones, work from home while taking care of yourself and chores, to figure out life one day at a time.

Twenty-one year old Alo gets her first job in a new city and is living by herself while grieving her grandma’s death, the choices she makes each day will lead to a unique journey of self discovery.

Features

  • Video call a diverse cast of characters with branching conversations
  • Work from home with a fun matching video editing game
  • Rediscover memories by solving unpacking puzzles
  • Do your best with home & self care or do as much as you like
  • Experience beautiful, hand-drawn pixel art and our cozy lofi soundtracks
  • Make decisions, uncover the past, figure out life one day at a time
  • In Fishbowl, *feel* all feelings as there are no *right* endings

Contact

Email us at hello@imissmyfriends.studio or DM us on Twitter.

Awards & Nominations

Events & Showcases

Press

  • Every game with deep accessibility features detailed during this year's show
        — Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp at Destructoid, 7th June 2024
  • “One of the standouts of the entire showcase for me was Fishbowl...With how often well-resourced studios erroneously claim adding accessibility is impossible, it’s great to see a studio doing everything it can to make its game approachable.”
        — Geoffrey Bunting at The Verge, 7th June 2024
  • “Fishbowl, by imissmyfriends.studio, is about relationships and video editing and is made by a development team of two.”
        — Christian Donlan at Eurogamer, 7th June 2024
  • Fishbowl To Be Part of Access-Ability Event
        — Aritra Bhowmick at IGN India, 6th June 2024
  • “Fishbowl looks to be an emotional story of loss, loneliness and finding the joy of life through it all”
        — Rincs at Video Games are Good, 12th May 2024
  • “It’s a heartwarming story that is helped by some great writing, bringing the seemingly small and simple world to life”
        — Willa Rowe at Kotaku, 10th May 2024
  • “The game’s visual charm lies in its delightful pixel art style and warm narrative”
        — at Unpause Asia, 10th May 2024
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  • “The demo successfully conveys the emotional gravity of the narrative through its descriptive dialogue, gameplay, and design”
        — Alisha Alix at Kakuchopurei, 10th May 2024
  • “I’m excited to see how this game progresses, and what other memories Alo has to share”
        — Inanna Carter at Game Luster, 10th May 2024
  • “What I didn’t expect was a story that hit a little too close to home and left me teary-eyed by the end of my time with it.”
        — Tanushri Shaha at TechRaptor, 9th May 2024
  • “I truly believe that Fishbowl will be one of the best indie games of its year when it launches”
        — Emma Flint at Gaming Bible, 9th May 2024
  • “The story is about dealing with grief and the first 20 minutes left me wanting more to learn about how Alo’s story unfolds”
        — Sanchay Saksena at IGN India, 9th May 2024
  • “I’m confident that developer imissmyfriends has something special that will speak to everyone”
        — Rahul Majumdar at Video Games by GLHF, 9th May 2024
  • “imissmyfriends.studio has delivered the pitch very well, as the presentation, dialogue choices, and overall narrative content are so relatable, endearing and engaging”
        — at Vulgar Knight, 9th May 2024
  • “…it uses its short playtime to great effect, illustrating the different facets of the experience and engaging the player in the varied characters and emotive, relatable narrative”
        — Rachel Brearton at Indie Hive, 9th May 2024
  • "The wholesome, relaxing title from imissmyfriends.studio puts you in the shoes of a 21-year-old who gets her first job in a new city..."
        — Moulik Mathur at IGN India, 30 April 2024
  • Fishbowl Is An Uplifting Indie That Centres On Self-Care, One Day At A Time
        — at Vulgar Knight, 8th March 2024
  • Adorable Indie slice-of-life Fishbowl comes to PC and PlayStation
        — Ed Orr at GameSpace, 6th March 2024
  • "Fishbowl weaves together a multigenerational narrative, following the aspirations of Alo as she embarks on her first job in a new city, although working from home."
        — Hector R Fernandez at PlayStation Blog, 5th March 2024
  • "A new generation of developers is harnessing the power of cuteness to share deeper narratives within the cozy games framework"
        — Ashley Bardhan at Inverse, 17th December 2023
  • The ascent of Indian video game development
        — Aamir Mehar at Game Developer, 17th November 2023
  • Game Devs of Color Expo 2023 wrap-up: the best games from the show
        — Allisa James at TechRadar, 5th October 2023
  • “Fishbowl is an emotional odyssey of self-discovery and connection”
        — Green at Video Games are Good, 3rd September 2023
  • Upcoming Indie Game Spotlight: “Fishbowl” - An atmospheric, slice of life experience about grief and self-discovery
        — Anastasia Wilds Journalism Blog, 1st August 2023
  • The best indie games rocking the show floor at Bitsummit Let's Go 2023
        — Alicia Haddick at Rock Paper Shotgun, 28th July 2023
  • "A pixel art-style visual novel that weaves a deeply personal story through exploratory elements and mini-games."
        — Samantha Low at Tokyo Weekender, 24th July 2023
  • Featured on "Games played this week"
        — Daniel Robson at IGN Japan, 19th July 2023
  • "I cried playing this game"
        — 20m Podcast, 18th July 2023
  • "We're very curious to see where Fishbowl goes from this prologue, it handles the subject in a personal but sensitive way"
        — Chris Scullion at Video Games Chronicle, 14th July 2023
  • 5 upcoming Asian indie video games we can't wait to play
        — Isa Peralta at Next Shark, 12th July 2023
  • "Fishbowl is a beautifully written, charming game that feels relatable"
        — Jupiter Hadley at Big Boss Battle, 6th July 2023
  • 10 Upcoming Aesthetic and Therapeutic Games to get Comfortable on the Couch With
        — Chananya de Ruiter at Koktail Magazine, 4th July 2023
  • "One of the first games to catch my eye (at Wholesome Direct) was Fishbowl"
        — Hope Bellingham at Gamesradar, 13th June 2023
  • "Heartfelt RPG Visual Novel Fishbowl to be in Wholesome Direct 2023"
        — Ali’sha Alix at Kakuchopurei, 9th June 2023
  • "Fishbowl is a game about the impact of grief"
        — Sophie Azlan at Kakuchopurei, 8th April 2023
  • Interview on how we approach making our first-ever game, Fishbowl
        — Jared Ettinger at Pixel Pizza Podcast, 8th December 2022
  • "The pixel art and the lighting look beautiful and make the home look like a cozy place to live in."
        — Nima Dabirian at GameLuster, 12th March 2022

Teaser

Screenshots

Fishbowl screenshot
Fishbowl screenshot video call zuari
Fishbowl screenshot
Fishbowl screenshot puzzle sorting
Fishbowl screenshot puzzle sorting
Fishbowl screenshot
Fishbowl screenshot video editing menguzonuo
Fishbowl screenshot video editing
Fishbowl screenshot
Fishbowl screenshot Iris video call

GIFs

Fishbowl screenshot home
Fishbowl screenshot sorting puzzle
Fishbowl screenshot video editing
Fishbowl screenshot video call zuari

Capsule art

Fishbowl capsule art
Fishbowl capsule art

Illustration by Sarthak Sinha

Credits

Rhea Gupte
Writing, Creative Direction, Design

Prateek Saxena
Art, Programming, Music, Design

History

imissmyfriends.studio is the two of us— Rhea and Prateek. In our other lives, Prateek worked as a UX designer at a non-profit and Rhea as a multidisciplinary artist and writer.

We both dreamed of making games and storytelling since we were little. In the middle of the pandemic, we decided to finally embark on the journey, albeit part-time.

We started as beginners, with no prior experience in game development, only having watched as many talks, tutorials, documentaries on the subject as we could over the years. We began learning while building our game. Since we are still working our other jobs, we’ve committed to spending some time daily on Fishbowl. Since April 2021 we’ve been navigating between this measured discipline, boundless excitement and sinking self doubt which typically accompanies making a game.

The idea of Fishbowl is closely inspired by our mindset during the pandemic. Through this time, we were reflecting on our lives in isolation, what it meant to support our loved ones long distance, and to take care of ourselves. Fishbowl is a warm and cozy story about living in isolation, nurturing friendships and understanding grief. We hope it resonates with everybody who plays it.