A free virtual pet bird for your PC

Homeless Pigeon is a free simulation video game wherein you can be accompanied by a cute little bird. Developed by Daum “itsNemo” Park, this 2D virtual pet simulator is actually a system tool that lets you add a pixelated pigeon onto your desktop screen.

Similar to Shimeji-ee and Desktop Goose, Homeless Pigeon gives you the chance to bond with an adorable virtual pet and companion while you work on your PC. However, it’s pretty limited in its functionality and behavior since it’s designed to be passive and you can’t really customize any settings in order to expand them.

What does the homeless pigeon do?

When you launch Homeless Pigeon, you’ll get a note that will thank you for your adoption of the aforementioned bird. A crate will plop down on the center of the screen that contains the bird’s nest—which you can drag around with your cursor. Then a second crate will come, containing the bird itself. As soon as it’s loose, you can interact with it and watch it run about independently. 

Unlike the nest, you can’t pick up the bird to move it around. You can only click on it to pet it—and with enough petting, it will start following your cursor around. It doesn’t have any disruptive behaviors like Desktop Goose does so you don’t have to worry about windows being opened and closed. However, you can’t customize its behaviors either, like how Shimeji-ee allows you to do so.

This makes for a fairly boring virtual pet after several hours, as the only actions it does are running around and sleeping on its nest. It would be nice to be able to customize the pigeon or unlock new items and behaviors the more you interact with your pet. It’s still quite a relaxing game, however, and you can always easily hide it away by closing the game’s window.

Could use more configurations

All in all, Homeless Pigeon is a great virtual pet game if you want a desktop companion that’s pretty low maintenance but still utterly adorable as it explores your screen. Its behaviors are passive and you can just observe and pet it to prompt it to follow your cursor. However, it could still use additional features for a more fun experience, such as customization options and interactive items.