frequently asked questions
FAQ — Murmels
Quick answers to the questions that come up most.
Can I have more than one creature?
Murmels is built around one creature at a time — the one that hatched when you first opened the app. There's no roster or multi-creature management in the current version.
How does my creature's personality change?
Personality drifts slowly based on how you actually care for it — roughly ±0.02 a day — so it's shaped by weeks of play, not any single session. There's no menu to set it directly; it's a reflection of how you've treated your creature.
What happens if I don't open the app for a while?
Your creature keeps living without you — sleeping, waking, and having its own off-screen events, caught up the next time you open the app. If it goes too long with low care, it can run away; if you're away while it's on an adventure, you can call it home early from the banner, or it comes back on its own with a welcome-back moment.
What's an adventure?
You can send your creature off for 1 to 8 hours, tracked the whole time with a Live Activity. It comes back with a short story and usually a souvenir. You can call it home early any time from the adventure banner.
What's the Field Journal?
An automatic record of everything your creature discovers — favorite foods, quirks, tricks, dreams — complete with keepsake photos. Open it from the More menu, and export the whole thing as a PDF whenever you like.
Can I change what my creature looks like?
Shimmer berries, found through play, let a grown creature reshape its texture, pattern, mouth, top, or tail from three seeded options. You can undo the most recent change at any time and get the berry back. Its core shape, palette, eyes, and size stay as they hatched.
Does Murmels need an internet connection?
No. Murmels runs entirely on your device — no account, no cloud, no backend. It works the same with or without a connection.
Is my creature's data private?
Yes. There's no account, no analytics, and no ads. Everything about your creature — its memories, room, and journal — lives only on your device.
What are the widgets for?
Home and Lock Screen widgets let you check in on your creature at a glance, with interactive Boop and Snack buttons you can tap right from the widget — no need to open the app.
Will my creature die or disappear permanently?
Long neglect can cause a creature to run away, but that comes with a reunion moment rather than a permanent loss — the goal is to encourage care, not to punish you irreversibly.
Is Murmels free?
Murmels is currently in TestFlight beta — join from the link on the app page to try it before it reaches the App Store.
How do I contact support?
Email us at hello@typewrittencode.com — we read every message.