GrowBud is a calm, side-screen productivity game launching on 26 January 2026, created by South African indie developer Jared Brandjes to counter digital burnout by offering gentle, low-attention moments of relaxation while users work. Built around a philosophy of calm over constant stimulation, the game reflects a broader shift toward emotionally aware digital experiences that support mental wellbeing rather than compete for attention.
CENTURION, SOUTH AFRICA - 12 January 2026 - Living in a fast-paced society where technology constantly evolves and the pressure to always be “on” has led to digital burnout. South African game designer Jared Brandjes has the answer in a game called GrowBud, a creation that forces us to digitally relax.
GrowBud, launches on the 26th of January 2026, and is a calm productivity experience designed to live quietly on the side of a user’s screen growing silently, while they work, offering small moments of mental pause amidst busy days.
Developed in South Africa, by Jared’s indie studio, Make Games Play, GrowBud was created in response to the rising burnout, anxiety and digital fatigue shaping how people work and unwind. Instead of demanding constant attention like traditional games and apps, GrowBud sits in a small vertical strip of the desktop, where players can gently tend to virtual plants, watch them evolve, and return to their tasks. “GrowBud is meant to sit with you, not pull you away,” Jared explains. “It’s there when you need a moment. And when you don’t, it fades back into the background.”
Balancing teaching, freelance development and parenthood, he found himself asking a simple but uncomfortable question: what if the way we relax is now contributing to the same exhaustion we’re trying to escape? From there Growbud was born.
By day, he is a game development lecturer, shaping the next generation of digital creators. By night, he is an indie developer building GrowBud from the ground up. In between, he is a parent, navigating the same financial pressures, screen-saturated environments and time scarcity that define modern family life.
Living Inside the Problem
The idea for GrowBud was born not in a boardroom, but in the middle of Jared’s own daily reality. He observed how many digital products, including games, are built around intensity: more mechanics, more notifications, more stimulation. But in watching his students struggle with anxiety, and in balancing his own workload and family life, he began to see a different need emerging.
“I started noticing it not only in myself,” he explains, “but in my students too. Anxiety, the feeling of being overwhelmed and creative fatigue. Everyone is connected all the time, but very few people feel rested.”
That observation sparked the foundation of GrowBud, a game designed not to compete for attention, but to soften the digital environment people already live in. Not for more noise, but for moments of calm.
GrowBud responds to that need in an intentionally simple way. The game lives on a small, vertical strip of the desktop. It grows while you work. It does not demand attention; it gently invites it. Players check in, tend to their plants, watch them evolve, and return to what they were doing.
The pleasure comes from something deeply human, watching growth happen. Nurturing something small. Seeing change over time. In a world of constant urgency, the slow rhythm of growing plants on a quiet corner of the screen becomes grounding a soft mental pause in the middle of a busy day.
Growing young talent through real world creation
Jared’s work is rooted in youth development and skills transfer. As a long-time game development lecturer, he does not only teach theory but actively brings young South African talent into real production environments. GrowBud’s development team includes former and current students and lecturers, giving emerging developers the opportunity to work on a project.
By involving students in real deadlines and problem-solving, he is helping cultivate industry-ready skills, confidence, and creative upliftment. In a society where many young creatives struggle to access meaningful entry points into the gaming industries, his studio has become both a training ground and a mentorship space for future developers.
A more different kind of game philosophy
While GrowBud is a game, the philosophy behind it speaks to a broader cultural shift. Burnout and anxiety are no longer niche conversations. Mental wellbeing has become central to how people evaluate their work, their tools and time.
This is forcing game creators to confront a bigger question, not just how engaging a product is, but how it makes people feel while using it. For Jared, calm is not the absence of design. It is the point of it.
As digital spaces grow louder and more demanding, there is increasing value in experiences that are gentle, supportive and emotionally aware. Products that don’t compete for attention but respect it.
Building GrowBud has been an exploration of that idea: that digital experiences can offer small pleasure instead of pressure, softness instead of speed, and moments of mental rest instead of constant stimulation.
And perhaps the future of gaming, productivity and digital wellness will not be defined by how much faster our tools become, but by how much better they allow us to feel while using them. Ends.
About Makes Games Play
Make Games Play is a South African game development studio specialising in the creation of high-quality interactive experiences across PC, mobile and immersive platforms, delivering both client projects and original intellectual property. Guided by a philosophy of “make it work, then make it good,” the studio blends creativity with technical expertise in areas such as multiplayer development and user experience design to craft engaging, meaningful games while supporting the growth of homegrown talent and the local game development ecosystem.
PICTURE CAPTION:
Jared Brandjes, Lead Developer at Make Games Play.
For PR information, or to request an interview, please contact:
Samantha Hogg-Brandjes | samantha@ginjaninja.co.za | +27 84 458 4857