Shimeji: Screen Buddies

Contains adsIn-app purchases
4.5
413K reviews
10M+
Downloads
Content rating
Everyone
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About this app

Shimeji: Screen Buddies are cute animated characters that live on your screen and keep you company while you use your phone. With over 35M downloads worldwide, they’re back with a big update overhaul: new animation engine, character levels, and a Mushroom currency that lets you unlock everything just by playing.

✨ Cute screen buddies, always on top
• Watch mascots walk, climb, sit, fall and play on top of your apps
• Run up to 10 characters at once for a screen full of fun
• Perfect for killing time while you wait for games to load or ads to finish
• Tap, drag and toss your Shimeji and see how they react

šŸŽ® Idle-style leveling: play and they grow
• Your Shimeji earn XP while they wander around the screen
• Level up your favorite characters to unlock new animations and tricks
• Interact with them for bonus XP and faster progress
• Different levels can reveal new moves, poses and surprises

šŸ„ Play to unlock 100% of features
• Earn Mushrooms automatically while the screen is on
• Use Mushrooms to unlock characters, animations and upgrades
• Daily gifts and rewards for coming back and playing more
• Payments are 100% optional: they only speed up progress, everything can be earned by playing

šŸŽØ Full editor: create your own mascots
• Import your art and turn it into a live screen buddy
• Recolor, redraw and fix sprites with the built-in editor
• All tools are fully unlocked - no editor paywall
• Duplicate existing mascots and customize them to make them unique

āš™ļø Smooth, smart and distraction-free
• New animation engine for smoother motion and better timing
• Optimized to be battery-friendly on modern devices
• Ghost Mode: let mascots stay visible but ignore your touches while you game or chat
• Simple controls for size, speed and behavior with live preview

šŸ“¦ Original, IP-safe content
We rebuilt the library with original characters created by our in-house artists. We removed most fan-made IP content to respect creators and copyright and keep Shimeji safe for everyone.

Disclaimer
Shimeji: Screen Buddies is unrelated to the Simeji keyboard app.
Shimeji: Screen Buddies is an independent app and is not affiliated with any anime, game or movie IP holders. Our brand name and logo, watermarked images, UI graphics and text, app source code, and curated database are original works protected by copyright and trademark law. Copying our code or assets to replicate these interactions is not permitted.

šŸ†• What’s new
• New animation engine for smoother, more detailed moves
• Character XP and levels with unlockable animations
• Mushroom currency you can earn by playing to unlock all premium features
• Up to 10 mascots on screen at once
• Fully unlocked editor and many performance improvements

Turn your phone into a tiny playground with Shimeji: Screen Buddies and let your new screen pets grow while you play.
Updated on
Jan 3, 2026

Data safety

Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region, and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.
This app may share these data types with third parties
Location, App activity and 2 others
This app may collect these data types
Location, App activity and 2 others
Data is encrypted in transit

Ratings and reviews

4.5
379K reviews
Violet T
June 13, 2025
Overall really good experience, there isn't anything that is not great except a few flaws. First, Some pets have a gap in between the wall they climb and themselves, which I find very annoying. Second, its kinda hard to get many things done. Even with ghost mode(a mode where you cannot tap or interact with the pets, they end up transparent), they are still flinging across the screen. I would say this isn't much of a pay to use app, though the perks of premium does seem to make a difference.
429 people found this review helpful
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Ghost Cat
November 15, 2025
I get that they can't do anything about copyright, but it is really unfortunate, since the main reason most people get shimeji apps is because they want to have their favorite characters on their screen :/ Manually importing them isn't bad if you can find the files, though it is a bit more inconvenient, since you have to track those down. The "Shimeji Team" characters look like they were made with AI, which is extremely disappointing...
67 people found this review helpful
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Abby
November 8, 2025
The ads are completely understandable! I love having these little guys around! I love the ghost mode and the fact we can adjust their size and animation speed! Although I really wish there were more characters, I also wish we could interact more with them, like petting and feeding would be cute, too! I understand the need for premium privileges, but not everyone can afford it! :( I would wish that the petting be included for free! (The copyright law makes a lot of sense, thank you for trying!)
4 people found this review helpful
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Digital Cosmos
November 8, 2025
Sure. We will put petting and feeding in an update coming soon 😁. Sadly we can't put characters from anime and games because of copyright law.

What’s new

šŸŽ‰ New Year Update
• Import any PC Shimeji zip and enjoy their animations on Android
• Export your Shimeji creations for backup or sharing
• More benefits for Premium users
• Animation bug fixes and smoother performance