Drawquarium is an aquarium sandbox where you draw the fish yourself, and then they swim, make friends, pick fights and have babies.

It was built by one person who works as a 3D artist in film, and who started it to bring his own children’s drawings to life.

The facts: releasing 13 November 2026 on Steam. Developed by byKaleb, published by rokaplay. Windows, single-player, with a free demo on the store page now. Price not yet announced.

Key features

Your drawings become creatures with opinions

You draw a fish in the in-game editor and drop it into the tank. Once it is in there it interacts with everything else you have made — forming friendships, rivalries and relationships, falling out with neighbours, and occasionally having babies.

This is what separates Drawquarium from a drawing toy. A toy would display what you made. Making your drawings behave socially means the thing you made has a life you did not author, which is the entire reason people get attached to aquarium games in the first place.

Plants and scenery are drawn too

Vegetation works the same way — draw it, place it, build the habitat. The developer is explicit that you can ignore the brief entirely and draw sea mines or skyscrapers if you would rather.

That permission matters more than it sounds. The failure mode for a creative sandbox is making the player feel they are drawing wrong, and saying so directly on the store page is a small design decision doing a lot of work.

Desktop Wallpaper Mode

You can set the aquarium as an animated desktop wallpaper and keep feeding and playing with your fish while the game itself is closed.

This is the feature that will sell it. The desktop pet genre works because the thing lives on your screen all day rather than waiting for you to launch it — and here the thing on your screen is something you drew.

Focus tools built in

A journal, a task manager, a timer and a customisable clock sit alongside the tank. It is positioned as a space to work next to rather than a game you sit down for.

You do not have to be able to draw

Templates and a set of ready-made fish are included for people who want the aquarium without the drawing. Reasonable, and it widens the audience considerably.

The honest caveat

No price has been announced yet, and it is a first game from a solo developer — there is no track record to judge the scope against. Everything known about it comes from the store page, the trailer and a free demo.

Play the demo before wishlisting on the strength of the trailer. The trailer is doing something emotional and doing it extremely well, and that is a different question from whether the aquarium holds you for twenty hours.

Where to find Drawquarium

• Wishlist on Steam — releasing 13 November 2026
• Free demo available now
• Publisher: rokaplay
• Windows. Single-player. English, French, German, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Russian

Frequently asked questions

When does Drawquarium release?

13 November 2026 on Steam.

Is there a Drawquarium demo?

Yes, a free demo is available on Steam now.

How much does Drawquarium cost?

No price has been announced yet.

Do you have to be good at drawing to play Drawquarium?

No. Templates and ready-made fish are included, so you can build an aquarium without drawing anything yourself.

Can you use Drawquarium as a desktop wallpaper?

Yes. Desktop Wallpaper Mode keeps the aquarium running on your desktop while the game is closed, and you can still feed and play with the fish there.

Who made Drawquarium?

A solo developer who goes by byKaleb, a 3D artist working in the film industry. It is his first game. rokaplay is publishing it.

Is Drawquarium on Mac or console?

Windows only at launch, according to the Steam page.