Insaniquarium Review

Game_Name: Insaniquarium
Platform: PC
Developer: Flying Bear Entertainment and PopCap Games
Publisher: Gamehouse
Genre: Action Adventure/Pet Simulator
GamePlay Rating: 9
Graphics Rating: 8
Replayability Rating: 8

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Insanity at it's Best

The object of Insaniquarium is simple: take good care of your fish. This includes feeding them when they’re hungry and shooting the hideous alien creatures that teleport inside the tank with your special laser gun. Thus is the life of fish owners in Flying Bear Entertainment’s Insaniqarium.

The Setup

Insaniquarium is one the most creative games I’ve seen in a while, and a breath of fresh air (or water) in the free-online-every-other-game-is-a-puzzle-game-involving-cubes area. To start off, you’re given an aquarium with two baby guppies in it. Your ultimate goal is to purchase an egg which will hatch and give you a new creature for your tank, as well as advance you to the next level. You get money by clicking on the coins that the fish drop. In order to keep the fish alive, you need to consistently feed them fish food. The more food they eat, the bigger the fish get. The bigger they get, the bigger the coins they drop, which are worth increasingly more money. Once you save up enough money, you can buy a third of your egg (think of it as layaway). You can also purchase more guppies, which in turn will increase the amount of money you have coming in. Fish food, fortunately, is cheap enough that it might as well be free.

Invasion!

After a while, you’ll find your tank teeming with coin-pooping fish. Then comes the most outrageous aspect of Insaniquarium, no doubt the reason why the word “insane” is embedded in the title: hideous alien monstrosities will manifest inside your tank and try to eat your fish. You must destroy these random abominations with your laser cannon by clicking on them. Shooting them in the head propels them downward, while shooting them in the tail rockets them skyward. Hits landed on their right or left sides follow the same rule and nudge them in the opposite direction. By utilizing these techniques, you can steer them away from your fish until they’re finally destroyed.

Upgrades

The Setup

Insaniquarium is one the most creative games I’ve seen in a while, and a breath of fresh air (or water) in the free-online-every-other-game-is-a-puzzle-game-involving-cubes area. To start off, you’re given an aquarium with two baby guppies in it. Your ultimate goal is to purchase an egg which will hatch and give you a new creature for your tank, as well as advance you to the next level. You get money by clicking on the coins that the fish drop. In order to keep the fish alive, you need to consistently feed them fish food. The more food they eat, the bigger the fish get. The bigger they get, the bigger the coins they drop, which are worth increasingly more money. Once you save up enough money, you can buy a third of your egg (think of it as layaway). You can also purchase more guppies, which in turn will increase the amount of money you have coming in. Fish food, fortunately, is cheap enough that it might as well be free.

Invasion!

After a while, you’ll find your tank teeming with coin-pooping fish. Then comes the most outrageous aspect of Insaniquarium, no doubt the reason why the word “insane” is embedded in the title: hideous alien monstrosities will manifest inside your tank and try to eat your fish. You must destroy these random abominations with your laser cannon by clicking on them. Shooting them in the head propels them downward, while shooting them in the tail rockets them skyward. Hits landed on their right or left sides follow the same rule and nudge them in the opposite direction. By utilizing these techniques, you can steer them away from your fish until they’re finally destroyed.

Upgrades

Soon enough you’ll gain access to upgrades for things like fish food and your laser cannon. You’re also limited on how much food you can drop in the tank at once, which is another thing you can upgrade later. Keep in mind though, before you go all willy-nilly, that these things reset after each level. So don’t waste too much time upgrading past what you need to beat the level. After a few levels, you’ll be able to purchase piranhas. Piranhas are interesting creatures (in this game at least). They don’t eat fish food, they eat guppies. That’s right. You have to buy guppies to feed them in order to keep them alive. It’s not all in vain though, as Piranhas drop diamonds like guppies drop coins. And diamonds are very good. That’s all I’m going to tell you. I’m not going to tell you what you get from the eggs, because finding out is half the fun.

Visuals and Audio

Insaniquarium is very easy going on the eyes. The graphics are nice, especially for what it is. The whole thing has a bubbly, cartoony look to it which fits the game nicely. The sound is nothing to brag to your mom about (I doubt she cares, anyway), but it gets the job done.

Wrap-Up

As far as free internet games though, I dare say Insaniquarium is the most addictive one I’ve found yet. After a while, you'll find yourself loving your fish as if they were real. Don't laugh. Please don't laugh.

Play Insaniquarium

• Go ahead, give Insaniquarium a try: Insaniquarium at PopCap Games