Josh Hendrickson
Social distancing is for the birds. At least, that’s what Desktop Meadow seems to be saying. Desktop Meadow comes from the same developer who brought us Desktop Goose. And unlike that chaotic horror, this game calms you down with pixelated flowers and fluttering birds. A mail-carrier bird will even deliver you occasional kind messages written by strangers. Best of all? It’s free (as in donations).
You might remember Desktop Goose as the game that brought chaos to your desktop. The little jerk goose littered your desktop with windows and obnoxious art. Desktop Meadow is almost the antithesis of that game and is all about zen, peace, and tranquility.
The concept behind Desktop Meadow is incredibly simplistic, and that’s part of its charm. Start the program, and the tops of your windows will grow little flowers. Before long, birds and butterflies will flutter on your screen and perch next to the flowers.
If you can’t go outside right now, why not bring the outside to you? Plus, digital flowers won’t give you allergies and a runny nose, so bonus. But look around, and you’ll see a couple of new additions to the bottom corners of your desktop.
On the bottom right, you’ll see a mailbox. Occasionally, a little bird mail-carrier will deliver letters to you. These are real letters written by anonymous people elsewhere in the world who are also running Desktop Meadow.
On the bottom-right, you’ll see two buttons slightly tucked off the screen. One closes the program, but the other allows you to write a letter and send it off to the nether. Before messages get delivered, a moderator screens them, and only kind epistles will make their way to other users.
Right now, there’s isn’t much to Desktop Meadow, and it’s a tad buggy. I saw flowers appear in the middle of a context menu, for instance. And since it’s so new and lacks a security certificate, you may see Chrome and Windows Smart Screen flag the program.
But you can download it from itch.io right now for free. Donations are accepted, and by default, it will recommend $2. If you have the cash to spare, why not throw a pizza slice worth of money Sam’s way? But if you don’t, you can choose to skip and download the program for free.
