A cozy aquarium sandbox · Windows PC
Draw a fish.
Raise a world.
Drawquarium turns your own drawings into fish, plants and food, then asks you to raise them. This independent guide covers what is confirmed, what players have seen in the demo, and what nobody knows yet.
Planned release
Counts to the start of November 13, 2026 in UTC. Steam has not announced an exact unlock hour.
Developer
byKaleb
Publisher
rokaplay
Demo
Free
Independent fan resource. Not affiliated with byKaleb, rokaplay or Valve. Facts checked November 1, 2026.
Release
Nov 13, 2026
planned
Platform
Windows PC
Steam only
Price
TBA
paid listing
Demo
Free
separate app
The short version
A sandbox about keeping the things you made.
Most aquarium games hand you a catalogue of fish. Drawquarium hands you a canvas. The loop is draw → place → feed → clean → watch. Sand, lighting, plants and even the food are yours to make, and the same tank can sit behind your work windows as animated wallpaper.
01 Choose a path
Start where you are
Whether you are deciding whether to buy, already drawing, or trying to make the tank livable, there is a route in.
A I have not played it yet
The release date, the unannounced price, the demo’s limits and the questions worth answering before you spend money.
Game overview
B I want to make something
A drawing workflow that survives at tank scale, original printable sketch sheets and a fish idea generator for blank-canvas days.
Drawing guide
C I want it on my desktop
How Wallpaper Mode is described, what to check on your PC, and how the journal, timer and checklist fit around it.
Wallpaper guide02 The loop
Four things you will actually do
Not a feature list. The actions the game is built around, with the evidence for each one.
Step 01
Make a creature
Draw from a blank canvas, start from a body template, or import a PNG. Fill tools, stamps, symmetry and a colour wheel do the heavy lifting. The editor is the game’s main instrument, not a side menu.
- Templates for fish, plants, eyes and fins
- Fill bucket, opacity, flow, hardness and lazy mouse
- Import any PNG, including a child’s drawing
Step 02
Build the tank around it
Plants are drawn and placed. Rocks, driftwood, water level, sand and lighting can be changed. The developer’s September update notes list bioluminescent plants, custom caustics and a Disco Mode with lasers.
- Draw plants and place them anywhere
- Adjust substrate, water, rocks and driftwood
- Tune lighting, caustics and glow
Step 03
Keep everyone alive-ish
Feed the fish, watch them grow and let them form friendships, rivalries and pair bonds. Leftover food and debris stay until you vacuum them. Golden Scales are the reward for a tank that is actually being cared for.
- Feeding, growth levels and age in days
- Breeding and baby fish
- Golden Scales, metallic shimmer and golden fish
Step 04
Leave it running
Wallpaper Mode keeps the aquarium behind your open windows. The same build includes a journal, checklist, timer and clock, plus a task list of goals. It is designed to be a place you visit, not a game you finish.
- Animated desktop wallpaper
- Journal, checklist, timer and date clock
- Goal list for gentle direction
03 Free tools
Tools that do something
No fake calculators and no invented drop rates. These either use your own data, check your own machine, or help you make a drawing.
Fish idea generator
Body, palette, pattern and personality. Built to break a blank canvas.
Open toolPrintable sketch sheets
Original fish and plant outlines with a grid, sized for paper then PNG import.
Open toolCan I run it?
A browser-side check of OS, RAM and cores against the listed minimums, with honest gaps.
Open toolTank planner
Plan names, colours, behaviours and relationships. Saved in your browser, exportable.
Open toolAll tools run in your browser. The planner stores data in local storage on your device; it never sends your notes to a server.
04 Guides
Written for a game you can already try
The demo is real, but it is not the full game. These guides mark the difference instead of guessing.
11 min read
Drawquarium beginner’s guide: your first tank without wasting an evening
A practical Drawquarium beginner walkthrough: draw a readable fish, place plants, feed and clean, spend Golden Scales, and set up the desktop tank without guessing.
9 min read
How to draw a fish in Drawquarium (and make it look good in the tank)
A practical walkthrough of the Drawquarium drawing editor: templates, brushes, fill, stamps, symmetry, animation, bioluminescence and the design rules that survive at tank scale.
8 min read
Fish care, growth, breeding and relationships in Drawquarium
What the official material confirms about feeding, growth levels, metallic fish, breeding, friendships and rivalries — plus what it does not tell you yet.
7 min read
Drawquarium Wallpaper Mode: what it does and what to check first
A clear look at the animated desktop aquarium: confirmed behaviour, setup expectations, performance questions, audio, and honest limits of what the store page tells us.
6 min read
Golden Scales in Drawquarium: how to earn them and what to unlock first
Golden Scales are Drawquarium’s progression currency. Here is what is confirmed about earning and spending them, one real price example, and a sensible unlock order.
8 min read
What changed since the first Drawquarium demo: all 20 listed updates
The developer’s September 2026 list of changes, explained in plain English: breeding, cleaning, lighting, Disco Mode, the new editor, focus tools and more.
Verified timeline
What actually happened
No “new update” badges for pages we edited. This timeline only records announcements and coverage, with the date each one was published.
Full update timelineStatus right now
Not released. Demo available. Price unknown. No post-launch patch notes exist yet.
Last checked November 1, 2026
- Release
November 13 release date announced
The developer published a story-driven release-date trailer and confirmed the November 13, 2026 Steam date. The trailer was covered by GameSpot and GameWatcher.
- Event
Creative Event opened during Steam Next Fest
Players could submit a themed aquarium, a creator-inspired fish or a wildcard fish through the rokaplay Discord. The post also said the demo would return to a smaller “demo-like” feature set after the event.
- Update
Large update listed 20 changes since the first demo
Breeding, aquarium cleaning, Golden Scale progression, custom lighting, bioluminescence, Disco Mode, focus tools, a global fish list and a new goal list were among the changes the developer described.
- Press
PC Gamer published a hands-on feature
PC Gamer described the demo as a relaxing sandbox and noted that fish develop a holographic shine and can turn gold under the right conditions. This is press commentary, not a formal mechanic guide.
- Demo
Free demo released on Steam
After a one-day delay, the separate free demo (app 4331760) went live. The developer asked players to wishlist the full game.
Before you buy
The answers that are actually knowable
Short answers with sources, plus a clear “we don’t know” when the developer has not said.
All frequently asked questionsWhen does Drawquarium release?
The planned release date is November 13, 2026 on Steam for Windows PC. The date was announced on October 26, 2026. An exact unlock hour was not included in that announcement, so a date-only countdown is the honest version.
Release date and countdown →How much does Drawquarium cost?
The price has not been announced. Steam lists the full game as a paid product rather than a free one, but no amount, pre-order or edition has been published. The demo is free.
What is confirmed about the price →Can fish die if I do not feed them?
We have not found an official statement that says fish can die. The store text says fish can grow, form relationships and that neglected relationships can turn sour; it also says leftover food and debris need cleaning. It does not describe starvation or death. Treat “fish cannot die” as unverified too.
Fish care guide →Will my demo fish transfer to the full game?
We found no official confirmation of demo-to-full save transfer. Treat it as unconfirmed and keep your own source images. Do not copy save folders from another game’s guide; save paths and formats are game-specific.
Save-transfer status →Is Drawarium the same game as Drawquarium?
They appear to be different products. Drawarium is a web/TV aquarium product where children draw fish and send them to a TV. Drawquarium is the Windows Steam game by byKaleb and rokaplay. We found no official statement connecting the two.
Full comparison →How this site works
Facts first. Guesses labelled.
No invented data
No fake drop rates, prices, fish stats or review scores. If a number is not published, it does not appear here.
Evidence labels
Official, press report, demo build and not confirmed are different things — and they look different on the page.
Corrections welcome
When the developer says something new, the guide changes and the source list is updated.