Fishy is a Flash game that's been floating around the web for quite some time. What's remarkable about it is that it is incredibly simple, yet nerve-wrackingly difficult to master.
The premise is so simple you could pick up the game without instructions. You, a fish, are dropped into a tank. Fish swim by—some big, some small, some HUGE, some tiny. Your job is to eat any fish that are smaller than you, which makes you grow. As you grow, you can therefore eat larger fish.
Controls are with the arrow keys, but beware that the game has a sense of inertia and resistance—it takes a second or two to accelerate to full speed, and you will slow down and stop without pressing any keys. Hitting the left or right edge of the tank will cause you to appear on the opposite edge.
Fish eat other fish merely by touching eachother; it doesn't matter which direction a fish is facing, or which part of the other fish it touches. When two fish collide, the larger survives.
Touching ANY fish larger than you ends the game, period. No life bar, no extra lives, no continues, the game just ends. This, combined with the less-than-instant response of the inertial controls and the random nature of the fish that sweep by make the game difficult (and sometimes maddening). After playing it for about two years, I've still only managed to beat it, oh.. twice.
Xgenstudios, the authors of this game, recently updated the game, which now starts you at level 1 and allows you to progress through the levels as you eat fish. Each level features larger fish. In theory, this would make it easier to beat, but in practice, I keep losing.
Personally, I think I enjoy classic a little better than the new version. Also, the music and sound effects are adorable (and despite being horrifically repetitive, actually pretty catchy).
Click Fishy, or Fishy Classic.
(Here is an HTML link to Fishy Classic for the Javascript challenged.)
Cool game... some fishes sure are wierd colored...
I was surprised that you didn't already have this, as it's a truly addcitive and great game. I agree with Jay that the classic version is much better than the newer one.
Uhm, on my Motorola C650 mobile I have the same game...
Giorgio
Actually, you agree with Jarod, as he wrote the review. =)
Although I'd love to take credit for all the great reviews lately, truth is, there have been many who have come forward with contributions for the site. One review, coincidentally, from Wulfo is on deck. Look for it soon!
Our I.T class has spent countless hours playing this, we got it on fishy classic so the fish was so big it ate everything that swam into it.
It said we ruined the environment
How many levels does this game have?
I will agree with Jarod and the others who have commented. Fishy Classic was better. I find it quite difficult to judge whether a fish is larger than me until we touch. Does anyone have a good method for judging size?
The music on this is very catchy. I have started humming it at work before realizing what I was doing.
Nice review Jarod!
I played this a while back.... I didn't kno that they had a new version.....
I tend to go for length regarding what fish can be eaten. If you hover above or below it and you're longer than it, then you're safe. Although it's pretty pointless to go after a fish that you're not sure about anyway.
Good game, but I like Something Fishy better.
I thought that the bigger the fish you ate, the faster you grew, so it was to your advantage to eat the biggest fish possible at all times.
hmm. new comment layout. i like it.
i played this game a while ago. tons of fun. thanks for bringing my attention back to it! = )
The classic version I've managed to finish several times..
The newer version I've yet to finish. It's much harder. Perhaps there's a different ending?
Hmmmm, I can't open the classic game.
I love Fishy Classic, but the link doesn't seem to work (although the new version is fine). I click on it and nothing happens! Does anyone know if the link is broken or is it a problem on my end?
This game is very addictive! I love it. Great review!
I also agree that the original was better. and man i wish there was a pause button!
For anyone having trouble getting the game to load, you will need JavaScript enabled in your browser for the pop-up window to appear.
Here are the non-javascript links just in case you need them: Fishy, and Fishy Classic.
I don't know how many levels Fishy has-- I've only gotten to level 7 (I think). Most of the time I die on 6.
Of course, I've beaten Fishy Classic more than a couple times. The sequel is much faster, as well as having a greater proportion of fish that are bigger than you on later levels.
I just made it to level 9-- incredibly difficult!
This game is actually a remake of an old intellivision game called Shark! Shark!, which was far more addictive and playable. The inclusion of the shark was the best bit, I'm surprised they didn't include one in this remake.
I havn't won this Fishy game, but I have won Shark Shark which is a whole lot more fun because if you get the timing right you can kill the Shark.
Wow, fun ^-^
I still haven't finished Fishy Classic XD
But my highest score for Fishy was about 9000. I forgot what level I was on though >_
They should have put a pause button on the game >_
I love these games, especially Classic. It's frustrating when you get eaten though.
Its kinda confusing whether the fish is bigger than you or not/..
great game. i do like this one. and i agree, classic fishy is better. it was fun to see it here.
but i have to agree with the person that mentioned "something fishy". talk about frustrating. it's even harder to control, and there is little sound, so when i'm into the game and the shark comes by with that weird noise i nearly jump out of my skin every time.
ARRRRGGGG!!!!! This game is driving me crazy!!! How do you avoid all those gigantic fish? The fish that are smaller than you rarely ever come by at first, so you're stuck at the same size forever until you find food.
My boyfriend played this game obsessively for weeks and was only about to reach level 11...how many levels are they? has anyone finished the game?
hmm i played this game before but never has it had levels... maybe this is a new version or sumthin
what was the other game name? was it spelled insainaquarium?
for some eason jay i can't play fishy classic! and from what a lot of people have said it is better then the newer version. Can you please try and fix it?
thanks in advance
chloe - I've added an HTML link to Fishy Classic above.
Two things: the ending is sort of worth the effort, and the bigger you get, the harder it is until you dwarf everything.
I got so big once that it said i ruind a ecosystem or something
Hey, for all you gamers out there who like this fishy game you can play another here:
Click Me!
Hope you like it...
i hate somthig fishy, but this game rocks i can only get to lvl 6.
I've played this game for ages and I think the newer one's better because you seem to get bigger faster. I'm not quite at the end yet it's very infuriating that I constantly die on level 7.
there are no levels in this game, just fun
i think fish not classic is better all you have to do is eat the biggest fish but the fish swim a little faster.
Does anyone have a screenshot of a high score in this game? I can't seem to find a way to beat it.
I've reached level 9 3-4 times but a huge fast Cyprinus carpio always catch me. Has anybody beaten the game???
Can't... stop... playing...
Loved this game! It's very addicting though :)
'Something Fishy' was alright, but I didn't like the controls as much as Fishy. Also, the smaller fish disappear until you only have two sizes of fish in the game. In Fishy, I like how all the different sizes are always there, and you can eat them by touching any part of their bodies.
I only got to level 7 with 13275 points. Must... keep... playing!
Me! Me! I have beaten the whole game with 85650 points ( the fish was HUGE)! At the end of the game, it had a message saying:
You ate everything and completely destroyed the pond eco-system.
I once beat it (once) and it's funny how easy it becomes at the way end. I mean you get spend a whole ten seconds on a feeding frenzy where you can eat everything!!!!! It's so weird how you don't change color along with your size because at the end I was the only orange fish big enough to be considered big.
What's "fishy" is how often you see an absolutely perfect, 'U'- or "bracket"-shaped wave of super-fast, huge fish taking up 3/4ths of the screen, making it completely impossible to survive because there's nowhere for you to go.
Fail guys. That says to me that there's logic in there to decide whether a given game is "winnable" or not, and if not, that happens and you get to start over. Way to make me feel like I'm actually playing something and have a frickin' CHANCE.
Ugh, what is this I see before me? LEVELS? In Fishy? Never before have I been so disgusted with a new version of a game. I think I speak on behalf of, well, a lot of people, when I say that Fishy is about the unbridled terror of being eaten EVERYWHERE you go. Now we have the option of sitting cosily in a level where nothing poses that much of a threat until you're "ready" for it. What rubbish.
Update