kibbits

Kibbits Press Kit

What journalists, bloggers, and YouTubers need to cover Kibbits. Hosted at kibbits.app/press. This file is the source of truth that page is generated from.

At a glance

  • Name: Kibbits
  • Tagline: Your pets, your pace.
  • Genre: Cozy fitness companion app
  • Platforms: iOS, Android
  • Release date: not yet announced
  • Price: Free
  • Developer: Ishan Panta (solo developer based in Nepal)
  • Press contact: ispanta03@gmail.com
  • App Store: not yet live
  • Play Store: not yet live
  • Website: https://kibbits.app
  • Twitter: @kibbitsapp

One-paragraph description

Kibbits is a calm pet companion app where real-world steps grow a personal menagerie of pets. The more you walk, the more pets find you, and each pet grows through three hand-rendered ages as the two of you put steps behind you. Every part of it is free, with no microtransactions. One optional Supporter Pack lets people say thank you, and it unlocks nothing. The design principle: warm, hand-illustrated friends who are always happy to see you.

One-page description

Kibbits is a virtual-pet companion for people who already enjoy a walk and want a warm companion for it. Pets find you when you walk, growing into a personal menagerie that lives in a soft pastel meadow. Step thresholds unlock new pets through gentle daily drops; crossing 50,000 steps in a single day rolls for a rare breed. Each pet is drawn at three ages, and it moves between them on the lifetime steps you have walked together, never on the calendar, so a rest week costs nothing and growth never runs backwards.

Kibbits's design is calm and unhurried by intention. The streak counter is gentle: it simply counts your days of finding 5,000 steps and starts over without comment when you come back. The free app is fully featured, with no microtransactions and nothing gated behind the optional Supporter Pack. Notifications cap at one daily message, opt-in, at the user's chosen quiet hour.

Built by Ishan Panta, a solo developer in Nepal, Kibbits took shape after years of trying fitness apps that either ignored the user's body or punished them for missing days. The aesthetic draws from Studio Ghibli stills and games like Cats & Soup, with each pet hand-illustrated. The app is engineered for 60fps on mid-range hardware and respects the user's data: step counts stay on the device, there is no cloud sync, and there is no Kibbits-controlled server.

Kibbits launches on iOS and Android. The date is not yet announced.

Story hooks (for journalists)

If you're writing about Kibbits, here are angles that may resonate with your audience:

Angle 1: The warmth-first fitness app

How a solo developer set out to make a fitness app that feels like a warm companion. The "always happy to see you" design principle and what it meant for every product decision.

Angle 2: Growth as design ethics

The mechanic of "your pet changes based on how much you walk" is one tone-deaf reframing away from feeling like a daily judgment about the user's body. How Kibbits threaded this needle: growth measures the steps you and the pet walked together rather than a rate, so it only ever accumulates. There is no stage to lose, nothing shrinks on a rest week, and a pet left alone simply stays young until you come back.

Angle 3: Cozy apps from unexpected places

Building a Studio-Ghibli-aesthetic cozy app from Nepal, distributing globally via Apple and Google. The challenges of payments, banking, and tax for a Nepali indie developer.

Available assets

Ask and we will send them: logos, the app icon, screenshots, isolated pet portraits, short looping clips and the app preview video. Tell us the shot, the crop and the resolution you need.

Developer biography

Ishan Panta is a software developer in Nepal, and Kibbits is his own project.

Contact: ispanta03@gmail.com for general and media questions alike, or @ishanrai on Twitter.

FAQ for press

Q: Is Kibbits free? A: Yes, and no ads. There is one optional $4.99 Supporter Pack, a cosmetic thank-you that unlocks no gameplay, no progression and no features. Everything in Kibbits works without it.

Q: Is there a streak? A: A gentle one. Kibbits counts your days of finding 5,000 steps and simply starts over when you come back. The audience is people who already walk, so the app is a warm companion for the walk you already take.

Q: How does growing up work? A: Every pet is drawn three times, as a pup, a young animal and a grown one. It moves to the next drawing on the lifetime steps you have walked together, at 100,000 and 500,000 steps. Because that total only ever rises, a pet cannot lose a stage.

Q: What if I don't walk much? A: Your pets stay young for longer, and they're just as loved. Nothing shrinks and nothing is taken away: a pup is every bit as adorable as a grown one, and it will still be there whenever you come back.

Q: Does Kibbits work without internet? A: Yes, from first launch. Every pet illustration ships inside the app, so there is no asset download, and steps, pets and growth all work with no connection. The only screen that needs the internet is the Supporter Pack one.

Q: Do you sell my data? A: No. Health data stays on your device and reaches nobody, including us. There is no Kibbits-owned server. The app's only outbound requests go to RevenueCat, and only around the Supporter Pack: opening that screen, buying, restoring, or a launch check for someone who already owns it. They carry no step count and no health value. A person who never opens that screen makes no request at all.

Q: How many pets are there? A: 11 at launch (6 common, 1 uncommon, 2 special, 2 rare), with more added in free post-launch updates.

Q: How do you get a rare pet? A: Walk 50,000 steps in a single day. That triggers a rare drop. Rare pets are designed to feel earned, not gambled for.