Bit Buddy

I've spent more on a single kebab and my constant supply of Monster Energy(TM).

The one drawback to this program is that it forces you to “play” it through Steam. Unlike Wallpaper Engine which can run independently without Steam being open, this app requires Steam to stay active, and it doesn't launch on start-up which means it shows up as a running game and can interfere with or block you from playing other titles at the same time. The ability to collect accessories is pretty cool, my buddy is currently an octopus with a bunch of tentacles and floating shadow eyes all around it, when I type it viciously slams it's tentacles onto the keyboard and it's a nice little addition to my RainMeter setup.

To be clear: the program itself works great, but the mandatory Steam runtime is unnecessary friction that hurts the overall experience. I still recommend the game but if I gave it a rating this alone would be worthy of knocking a star off.

A little app that puts a dog on your desktop to mimic your mouse and keyboard actions. While the mouse movement is quite accurate, the keyboard animation is just his paws hitting the same spot every time. For every button pressed or action performed, you earn points that accumulate and eventually unlock a new reward, or you might need to click on a bag that randomly appears on the screen.

Rewards fall into several categories that let you change just about everything. For instance, you can replace the dog with a new character, add a hat (which is more like a background effect), swap the keyboard for a book, or stir a hot pot with a spoon instead of using a mouse.

The amount of content is extensive, with over 70 characters and 200 hats, not to mention other categories that each include around 60 items. Although some items repeat, like in the mouse and keyboard category, where several are very similar with only slight differences, there’s still plenty of new stuff to unlock.

The last feature is the exchange. If you select five items of the same quality, marked by a border around them, you will get a random item of better quality. All unlocked stuff will still be available after the exchange, but you can only exchange an item once.

This isn’t a game you “beat”; it’s something whose achievements and rewards you earn over time without even noticing. The only rule is to remember to turn it on when you start working on your computer so it can register your actions.

A vastly superior alternative to bongo cat, not just in input display (buddy moving the mouse or banging a controller never gets old), but also in item variety, drop rate, and customization. A lot of the individual pieces are viable for mixing and matching so you're not trapped tediously recreating an item set. You can have a well dressed buddy you like almost immediately. As a result, getting items doesn't feel like bongo cat's disappointing, punishing grind. The optional effects are really fun as well. You can scale your buddy up or down so it will generally fit into even the busiest game UIs. I love my buddy. 😌