What It Does
Shape Shifters is a satirical plugin that puts a Tamagotchi-style virtual pet inside Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Illustrator, and Photoshop. It does not save you time. That is explicitly the point. Made by Nick Greenawalt, it is a fully functional creature-care game that runs while you work.
Your pet lives and dies in real time, even when the app is closed. Neglect it long enough and it dies permanently, losing all its cosmetics. A new egg then appears in its place.
Key Features
Egg hatching. Each run starts with hatching a randomly generated Shape Shifter. Over 2.5 million combinations of appearances and names are possible, so your pet is effectively unique.
Pixel economy. Keeping the plugin open while you work earns “pixels,” the in-game currency used to buy upgrades called mods.
Mods. Upgrades include things like HP improvements per click, slower HP drain, new outfit categories, and tiered unlocks (uncommon before rare, etc.). There is also a PTO upgrade that prevents death during inactivity.
Daily outfits. New outfit layers become available each day, giving you a reason to check back in.
Perma-death. If your creature’s health hits zero, it loses everything and resets to an egg. No save states, no mercy.
Who It’s For
Anyone who wants a low-stakes distraction baked into their editing environment, or anyone who appreciates a plugin that openly admits it exists to waste your time. It is also a solid novelty gift for a designer friend who has every productivity tool already.
Pricing
Shape Shifters is a one-time purchase at $9.75. A single license covers one installation plus one archival copy. Upgrade pricing may be available for existing customers when logged in.