Vivarium is an adventure video game developed and published by Vivarium Dev.

About

Vivarium is a story-driven adventure game set in the world of a terrarium!

Key Features

• Gameplay focused on exploration and character storylines—expanding on the RPG town concept from games like Stardew Valley.
• Hand-drawn cel-animation graphics inspired by classic anime—akin to Cuphead’s take on 1930s cartoons.

Story

Jenny lives in a quaint ranch house by herself in the whimsical world of Vivarium.

…However, not all is as it seems in the terrarium.

Objective

Jenny finds the giant tree in the center of the terrarium has died—throwing off the balance of the world in Vivarium.

However, a new sprout has taken root in its place.

As Jenny helps characters, solves puzzles, and grows in her experiences, the tree sprout grows in size.

Characters

• “Yulia” the talking Slavic Dog hermit
• “Rishi” and “Gunter,” the local shopkeepers
• …and more to meet in the world of Vivarium

Game Loop

1. Explore – Gain access to new locations and characters.
2. Find Quests – Take on quests and mysteries in the terrarium.
3. Solve – Solve puzzles with items, conversation, and ingenuity.
4. Grow and Repeat – Gain experience with your actions, causing the sprout to grow.

World

Explore a dense, hand-painted world in Vivarium—filled with scenery, nooks, and secrets to discover.

Art Style

Our style is inspired by classic animation, especially from 70s to 80s Japan.

Vivarium features a totally hand-drawn traditional cel-animation process—reflective of the media it’s inspired by. Every frame of the game is hand-crafted with love!

Vivarium’s environments are rendered in rich, thickly saturated gouache painting. Every area features its own original art assets and highly detailed painted backdrop.

Vivarium uses subtle post-processing, lighting, and color grading to achieve a retro-cinematic aesthetic. Hand-placed dynamic day-night cycle lighting. Grain, lens focus-blur, and a cel drop-shadow are all applied in-engine. These effects replicate the look of traditional animation photographed and printed on film.