Orb.Farm opens with a short welcome and an empty glass orb. You pick materials from a list (glass, sand, stone, wood, water) and living things (algae, grass, bacteria, daphnia, fish and goldfish), then paint them into the orb one pixel at a time. Two gauges at the top track carbon dioxide and oxygen, and those numbers are your report card.
The pleasure is watching the pieces interact. Algae grows in light and water, daphnia graze on it, fish need oxygen, and dead matter needs bacteria to break it down. Get the balance right and the orb looks after itself; get it wrong and it slowly turns murky. It was made by Max Bittker, who also made the falling-sand game Sandspiel, and it shares that game's sense of a world you can poke at.
It runs in the browser with no sign-up. Give it time: ecosystems are slow, and the best moment is coming back after a few minutes to see what survived. For more digital sandboxes, try /site/sandboxels or /site/powder-game.
Tips for getting the most out of it
- Read the four welcome cards first; they explain the balance.
- Add plants and algae before fish, so there is oxygen to breathe.
- Leave it running for a few minutes and come back.
Questions about Orb.Farm
What is Orb.Farm?
Orb.Farm is a browser toy where you build a small aquatic ecosystem in a glass orb. You add sand, water, algae, daphnia, bacteria and fish, and watch them interact while carbon dioxide and oxygen meters show how healthy it is.
Who made Orb.Farm?
Orb.Farm was made by Max Bittker, who also created the falling-sand game Sandspiel. It runs in the browser and needs no account.
Sites like Orb.Farm
Sandboxels
A falling-sand sandbox with hundreds of elements to mix.
- Rabbit hole
- Works on phones
- Alive · checked 27 days ago
WebGL Fluid Simulation
Swirl glowing fluid around with your cursor.
- 5 minutes
- Works on phones
- Alive · checked 27 days ago
Monterey Bay Aquarium Live Cams
Watch jellies, sharks and sea otters on live cams.
- Rabbit hole
- Works on phones
- Alive · checked 27 days ago
PhET Interactive Simulations
Free physics, chemistry and math simulations you can poke at.
- Rabbit hole
- Works on phones
- Alive · checked 27 days ago
Asteroid Launcher
Design an asteroid and fire it at any spot on Earth.
- 5 minutes
- Works on phones
- Alive
Koalas to the Max
Click through a pixelated mosaic until the picture appears.
- 5 minutes
- Works on phones
- Alive · checked 27 days ago