Fishbowl (LudoNarraCon '24 Preview)

Long Distance Isolation

I can’t remember if Fishbowl came to me via a fortuitous moment on Twitter (or X if you’re into that) or if I saw the reveal on the PlayStation Blog, but either way, I’m glad I did. Yes, many slice-of-life games are competing for your attention in today’s climate, but the attention to detail and charming art that Prateek Saxena and Rhea Gupte of imissmyfriends.studio give the game should move this one to the top of your list.

Saxena and Gupte are relatively new to game development, and started making Fishbowl in the middle of the pandemic. As they write in the Press Kit for the 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.

Alo is living alone, away from her family, after graduating college and getting her first job. She’s a junior video editor for a social media star and is still processing the loss of her beloved grandmother Jaja. The emotion is palpable when she receives a box in the mail from her mother, containing memories of home and those tied to her. The titular ‘fishbowl’ is one of those things.

Then, Alo remembers she has a bit of work to do, so she grabs a hard drive she brought home from work, and logs on to her computer to speak to a co-worker she hadn’t met yet. They work together on a vlog, and this process is a mini-game where you need to match up clips to their correct track. I’ll be honest when I say that this flustered me a bit, but at least my lackluster performance didn’t hurt Alo so much with her co-worker.

The co-worker mentions that they will be working from home from then on, seemingly referring to the COVID-19 pandemic before signing off. After, I took some time to wander my apartment, but not before speaking to a friend, a teacher, who also mentioned that she’d be teaching online. The apartment contains a multitude of things to interact with, from the fishbowl you got in the mail, to a toaster where you can make yourself a piece of toast, and your refrigerator, where you can treat yourself to some tasty leftovers.

You learn a lot about Alo through this exploration - it’s the biggest place she’s ever lived, she created a corner in her bedroom for relaxation but she hasn’t used it yet, and she’s seemingly going through a creative block, as evidenced by the crumpled papers around her desk. After showering and taking care of brushing her teeth, I settle in bed and learn that Alo wasn’t able to say goodbye to her grandmother before she passed, among other things.

The following sequence is poignant and relatable for anyone who’s ever had that moment of regret, that moment of what if that you’ll never know.

A release date has yet to be announced, but Fishbowl will be coming out on PC and PlayStation.

(Preview based on early access to the demo by imissmyfriends.studio and Fellow Traveller.)