Max Bittker
Many of our worlds have gotten smaller in 2020. Tiny spaces — a well-tended box garden, a stocked-up kitchen — have become more important and more satisfying. Orb Farm is an entire little world in a glass jar in your web browser, and it might be one of the most soothing things you try all day.
Orb Farm was inspired by Life in Jars?, a YouTube channel dedicated to self-sustaining jarred ecosystems. It’s a simple pixelated ecosphere that you fill with grass, fish, and water fleas, plus all of the bacteria and natural resources they need to live. The simulated days and nights pass as your little animals dart around stone formations and driftwood, snapping up algae and ricocheting between fronds of grass. They’ll live as long as you keep…