Remember those little programs which were called “desktop mascots”?
They appeared as small animated images of characters, doing not much, but standing/sitting there to keep you company. They weren’t traditional virtual pets, as they don’t need direct care.

Has anyone thought of (or has already done) this concept in PICO8? It could be like the classic Neko software, as said character could move around the screen randomly on its own or by the user’s input.

picotron would be more suited to this, as it’s a whole fantasy desktop environment!

Yeah, Picotron could be possible in this situation too, but I’ve also personally thought more of using the entire physical handled game system as a tool for having the desktop mascot being “present” with you… Like the BMO simulator for GameBoy! X3

@merwok I’ve totally forgot that there’s indeed a Picotron program for such things
https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=140876
I was trying to tinker my own, but to no avail :/

you can definitely make your own project even if one exists! happens all the time with fantasy consoles

I read this very nice article recently on virtual pets: http://www.nathalielawhead.com/candybox/about-desktop-pets-virtual-companions-discussing-the-inhabitants-that-fill-the-void-of-our-digital-spaces