In the upcoming indie game Fishbowl, twenty-one-year-old Alo moves into a new home, living independently for the first time. There, she will cope with feeling isolated, struggling to stay connected to friends and family, balancing her job and self-care, and processing the grief of her beloved grandmother’s passing. Fishbowl co-creators Rhea Gupte and Prateek Saxena developed Fishbowl during the COVID-19 pandemic, inspired by their own feelings about the isolation brought on by the world-changing event.
GameObserver spoke to Gupte and Saxena about the process of creating Fishbowl, the emotions that went into the game’s development, and the experience of sharing the game with players who have had such strong emotional responses. Prior to Fishbowl’s full release on April 2, 2026, the duo reflected on their journey of creating a game that began as a pandemic-inspired idea in 2021 and has gone on to blossom into so much more.
Fishbowl Was Born From The COVID-19 Pandemic
Gupte and Saxena had wanted to make games for several years before starting work on Fishbowl, but they had always seen it as something that would need to happen “in the future” when time and financial situations allowed it. “It wasn’t something we saw as a path we could take, because of financial [issues] and so many other things that we had to take care of, as people who had just graduated from college,” Gupte reminisced. “It was always this far-fetched dream. But then the pandemic happened, and a lot of our work and travel had to come to a halt. [So] we started talking about, let’s make something together.”
Initially, Gupte and Saxena developed a three-month prototype of a text-based game, and greatly enjoyed the process. It was then that the pair decided to make a larger-scale game and came up with the idea for Fishbowl. Gupte described the feelings that led to the development of Fishbowl:
“It was aligned with what we were feeling at the time, right in the middle of the pandemic. We felt like those emotions would really resonate with a lot of people who [were] going through it. It’s a story of a girl who is living in isolation, going through the grief of having lost somebody she loved and cherished and [who] was a really big part of her life. How does she navigate things? How can we still tell a story which is full of hope and resonance, something that people can take something from at the end of it?“
Fishbowl Embraces All Aspects Of Grief And Memory
Throughout Fishbowl’s story, Alo remembers events from throughout her life, particularly time spent with her late grandmother. Players get to play through these memories, interacting with the dreamlike world of the past as Alo recalls her experiences, thoughts, and feelings. “We definitely drew a lot from our own emotional journeys and how we went through the grief of losing someone we loved in our lives,” Gupte said.
Memories are primarily triggered by encountering items belonging to Alo’s grandmother, many of which she unpacks from boxes via mini-games throughout the story. Players can make choices about how Alo experiences and reflects on each memory, but there are no wrong choices or bad endings – only different approaches. Saxena explained that this decision was made so as not to portray grief as one universal experience, but to acknowledge that it is something felt and processed differently by everyone:
“We didn’t want to restrict it to ‘players should experience grief just this one way.’ Want to be extremely angry? That is something you can do in the game eventually. The choices you’re making are based on how you want to process that grief, and we don’t want to say there is any right way to do it. The game sort of adapts to the choices that you’re making, rather than forcing a grief process on you.“
Players And Fans Deeply Relate To Fishbowl’s Story
As fans have begun playing Fishbowl – via its Steam demo or gameplay presented at conventions and other events – Gupte and Saxena have been touched and honored by how the story’s deep emotions resonate with each one. “It’s been really, really, heartening,” explained Gupte with a wide smile. “We feel like everything we wanted to say in the game came through to the players. It really resonates with their hearts…and that has been just so beautiful to see.”
Initially, Gupte and Saxena were nervous about bringing Fishbowl to conventions because they worried it “wasn’t a convention kind of game,” due to its focus on emotions and storytelling and its coverage of deep topics like loss and loneliness. But, as Gupte shared, the experience has been extremely rewarding. So many fans have connected with the story the developers wanted to tell, and related to the universal emotions Alo experiences during the events of the game. Gupte detailed what it has been like attending conventions to share Fishbowl with attendees:
“At conventions, we’re very careful to tell players about the warning we have at the beginning of the demo. But there’s still so many of them who want to try it out, and it really is impactful to them. After, there are hugs exchanged – it’s just such a human connection, such a human experience. It’s really special.”
Fishbowl has inspired players to open up, sharing their own experiences of loss, or their own feelings during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the developers. It may be the story of a girl coping with isolation, but the game itself has become a profound vessel for connection as it inspires its players to share their stories and experiences. The connections that Fishbowl has built will only continue and grow once the game officially releases. In a world where it’s easy to feel separate and alone, Fishbowl is exactly the kind of game we need to bring gamers together through its universal, beautiful, and deeply emotional story.
You can wishlist Fishbowl on Steam here.
