"The action consists of a tiny triangle shooting other blips that arrive from offscreen to destroy it. It levels up and earns loot, briefly interrupting your other work as you choose upgrades and look for synergies to help the lo-fi automated ship survive its hostile confines a little bit longer, or at least until you power down your PC. Indie developer Conrad Grindheim made it on a whim in just a month."
"When we reached 36 I was super happy because we had basically doubled our goal. Lo and behold...we ended up reaching over 1,500, landing us in the top 4 most played Steam demos, as well as getting a special commendation and a feature from Steam. To say that this was unexpected would be selling it short, but I could not be happier."
"Desktop Defender is part of a recent wave of Steam games that mostly play themselves while you do other stuff on your desktop. Some, like Bongo Cat, are minimally interactive. Others, like Bao Bao's Cozy Laundromat, can be more complex. While some are just fun distractions, others play off the satisfaction many people innately get from watching a fictional measure of progress continually tick upwards."
Desktop Defender is a compact idle-shooter that sits in a corner of the desktop while other tasks run. A tiny triangle automatically shoots incoming blips, levels up, and collects loot. Gameplay pauses briefly to let the player choose upgrades and pursue synergies that extend survival and long-term strategy. Indie developer Conrad Grindheim created the game in about a month. The demo surged from a modest wishlist base to over 1,500, becoming one of the most-played demos during the October 2025 Steam Next Fest. The game belongs to a wave of "screen-sitting" idlers that balance passive play with occasional interaction.
Read at Kotaku
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