This version of Fishdom is a fully upgraded offline edition from what you might find in an app store. That means that Fishdom not only has better graphics, it is a bigger game than its counterparts and there are no microtransactions whatsoever. It even has a “screensaver mode” for PC, where you can enjoy the company of your little fish friends while you browse other things on your computer.
The game has a very cute art style reminiscent of animated Disney movies, with very detailed backgrounds and objects. Each decoration you can add to your tank is clickable, making adorable little animations. Even the personality of your pet fish (yes, the fish have personality) is on the cutesy side. Since the point of owning a fish tank is to look at it, it makes sense that the art style is so appealing.
But what do you do with your own fish tank? Well, maintain it of course! Your priority number one is to keep the fish fed and happy. For this, you have different buttons that change your cursor and how you interact with the environment. You use the fish food to feed your hungry friends and the sponge to clean the tank, which can get dirty if unattended for too long. Yet the main point is to decorate the tank to transform it into an aquatic paradise.
There is a shop menu in the game where you can find all sorts of things, like decorations, more fishy friends or even additional tanks. The decorations come marked with little icons that show what set they match, like either pirates or ancient Greeks.
But that is just in case you want a matching set, you can put whatever you want since it is your tank. If you are feeling particularly uninspired however, you could just buy what your fish recommend. If you do so, they might even show their appreciation to you!
In order to buy all of these fish and decorations however, you are going to need money. And before you go searching for your credit card, no, not that kind of money. You need gold coins, and they are earned on the main gameplay feature of Fishdom: Match 3.
To enter a game of Match 3, you simply press the big play button and you are good to go. In case you have never played one of these, you will see a grid filled with little pictures before you, and you have to align (or well, match) at least three of the same picture in order to make it disappear, tetris style.
If you can’t make a match, you can’t move the tile. That would be the gist of how a regular Match 3 game goes, but Fishdom has its own twist: you are not looking to make a high score, you need to get rid of specific tiles, marked with a golden glow. The less time it takes you to get rid of them, the bigger the reward.
As you play the different levels, you will encounter things that will aid and harm your progress. There are tiles that require multiple matches to disappear, boxed tiles that need a match next to them to open, and chain tiles that prevent progress unless a specific match is made.
If you play well however, you can earn different explosives that can get rid of multiple tiles around them, or even destroy all of the same picture you point at them. If you are looking to make the best time, the game can get quite strategic. It is worth pointing out that nothing is preventing you from playing the Match 3 game non-stop, you don’t have to unlock anything of it via the fish tank.
Fishdom achieves everything it sets out to do; it is a great Match 3 game and an amazing pet simulator filled with cute friends to keep you company inside and outside the game.
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