Desktop pet
Archimedes the owl, or your own character, sits on your desktop and brings you new mail to answer, open or leave for later.
Where: Settings→Appearance→Desktop pet
The desktop pet sits in a corner of your screen, on top of every app. When mail arrives he holds it up beside him, so you can reply without switching to Griddler. He's Archimedes the owl, or your own character.
Turn it on
Tick Desktop pet in Settings under Appearance. He starts in the bottom-right corner of your main display. Drag him anywhere; he remembers the spot, and comes back on screen if that display goes away.
To put him away, right-click him and choose Hide, or untick Desktop pet.
Answer mail from the pet
New mail pops up in a bubble beside him: who sent it, the subject, and the first lines. He's never in the way of your typing; he takes the keyboard only while you write a reply.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reply | Opens a reply box under the mail. Enter sends, Esc cancels. Sending marks the mail read. |
| Open | Brings Griddler forward with that thread open in the mail dock. |
| Later | Puts it aside and shows the next one. |
A bubble goes away on its own after 14 seconds, but not while your pointer is on it or you're typing a reply. If more than three messages land at once, you get one bubble, N new messages, with Open and Later. Mail you read anywhere else disappears from the pet too.
The badge on him is your unread count. Click him to see your newest unread mail; mail you put off with Later stays put off, and Show it brings it back.
While the pet is out, he replaces the usual mail notification from your operating system.
Switch to your own character
Right-click him, then Show ▸ My character. He becomes your painted portrait, breathing, looking around, dancing now and then, and leaning in with the letter when there's mail. Until you've painted a portrait he's your character's doll. Show ▸ Archimedes brings the owl back.
A new painting or new gear shows up on him within a minute.
Change his size
Right-click him, then Size: Small, Normal, Large, Huge, Giant or Colossal. He grows upward from where his feet are, so he stays in his spot.
Keep him still
If your computer is set to reduce motion (on Windows, Animation effects off), he holds still. To let your character move anyway, right-click him and tick Animate. It's there only when he's your character.
Limits
- Up to 8 bubbles wait in line; the rest are in your inbox as usual.
- The badge counts to 9+.
- Your character needs a graphics card that supports WebGL; without one he stays an owl.