Since the first Fishdom game was released just over two years ago, the series hasn’t exactly changed all that much. The general premise has stayed the same – play match-3 puzzles to unlock items for your fish tank – but the games are so superbly executed that there is little room for complaint from us.
Since the first Fishdom game was released just over two years ago, the series hasn’t exactly changed all that much. The general premise has stayed the same – play match-3 puzzles to unlock items for your fish tank – but the games are so superbly executed that there is little room for complaint from us.
The latest game in the series, Fishdom: Seasons Under the Sea, takes three of the previous installments and packages them together in one fishy bundle. If you don’t own any of them already, this will be a fantastic purchase – otherwise, you’d probably be best to stick with what you’ve got.
Fishdom: Seasons Under the Sea presents you with three fish tanks, each with a separate theme taken from an old Fishdom game. You’ve for the Halloween tank from Spooky Splash, the Christmas theme from Frosty Splash and the Thanksgiving tank from Harvest Splash. Since each theme was an entire game on its own originally, it’s no surprise that Seasons Under the Sea offers a hefty amount of content.
No matter which tank you choose to play with, your objective is always the same – you must fill the tank with fish, scenery and plants to earn bronze, silver and gold trophies. Everything costs money, however, and to earn the cash needed to progress, you’ll need to play a series of match-3 minigames.
These match-3 games are quite familiar territory, especially if you’ve played another Fishdom game. Using the concept from Bejeweled, the idea is to swap two pieces around so that three of the same picture are lined up. There are yellow squares dotted around the board, and if you line up three or more of the same piece over a yellow square, it will turn blue. Turn all the yellow squares blue to win the game and grab the cash.
There are plenty of extra twists to keep the concept fresh. Stone squares need to be matched twice, while locks can be broken by matching whichever item is concealed behind them. The match-3 games can be played in ‘Relaxed’ mode i.e. with no time limit, or ‘Against the Clock’, and there are plenty of levels to keep you entertained.
Buying items and fish for your tank is as simple as clicking the shop button and choosing what you’d like to buy. Nothing has changed at all since the first Fishdom game two years ago, and it’s starting to feel a little shallow now (excuse the pun). Fortunately, you’re able to switch between the different available tanks at any point, so keeping the setting fresh adds plenty of replay value.
Other features include the option to take photos of your fish tanks and email the results to your friends. There’s also a screensaver mode, which displays your fish tank whenever your computer is left idle for a while – although we do wonder whether anyone actually uses screensavers anymore!
Of course, if you already own one or even all of the Fishdom titles that are bundled here, there really isn’t much point in checking Seasons Under the Sea out, as it offers nothing new besides the three previous games in one handy package. If you don’t own any of these titles, however, then this is the perfect way to get into the Fishdom series and see what the fuss is about.
