This popular game comes in two variations: a downloadable, paid version with a limited free trial, and a free online version. You start with a tank and one guppy. Keep feeding your guppy and it will grow and eventually drop gold coins that you can collect and buy more guppies with. Later in the stage, hungry, seafood-loving aliens will invade your tank, and it's up to you to protect your guppies by zapping the aliens with your laser gun. Sounds wacky? Wait till you try the real thing.
Over and over again: You start with an empty tank
and two guppies at each new stage, and the buildup
process gets tedious after a while.
The online version at PopCap Games (http://www.popcap.com/gamepopup.php?theGame=insaniquarium) is free to play and features a good number of levels that will likely keep you occupied for at least a couple of hours. The game gets progressively more complex as you level up, with different enemies to fight and nifty upgrades that you can earn.
There is always something new on each stage, but even then this game is probably good enough to keep you occupied for no more than a few hours at most.You start over with an empty tank and two guppies on each stage, meaning that you'll have to go through the same feed-collect-defend process every time and this gets repetitive rather quickly, new nifty upgrades or no. Being an online game, the graphics are very simple but fits the cartoonish and unrealistic setting of aliens in a fish bowl.
Good enough: Unless you are looking to play this
game for a long time or on an offline computer, the
trade-up in graphics and the handful of add-ons aren't
quite worth $19.95.
The downloadable version, titled Insaniquarium Deluxe, promises better 3D graphics, a full-screen mode, more levels and upgrades. At $19.95 and downloadable direct from the website, it's not too expensive, but the online version is really quite adequate to keep you occupied for a while. This game, being simple, will probably be one of those titles that you'll play fervently for a few days before you put it aside. If you find yourself still playing the online version after a week, perhaps the paid download version would be for you.
