You know those rainy days, when everything just seems gray and boring? It’s such a day today; it’s storming outside and it’s cold, which also means it’s the perfect time to grab a cup of coffee and dive into the colorful underwater world of Aquascapes.
As soon as you enter the game, a cute turtle greets you, offers to explain the gameplay, and you forget about your everyday life immediately. You can either watch this tutorial or skip ahead and find out for yourself what Aquascapes is all about.
Long story short, you’re the owner of a virtual fish tank; you can decorate it with plants and objects (for example the classic broken jug), fill it with various fishes and watch them as they swim around and interact with each other.
But it’s not all that easy... you start out with an empty aquarium and have to play hidden object mini-games to earn gold and seashells,so you can buy new items in the store and eventually work your way up to achieving the great trophy.
As you level up, the available objects and fish become more beautiful, but also more expensive and demanding. Not all fish will want to live in a plain boring aquarium, so be sure to enhance its beauty with new stuff every now and then.
Earning gold shouldn’t be too hard, because the mini games are pretty easy and sadly not very diverse, which for me is the only real flaw of the game. You always have to find hidden objects, sometimes you have to race against the clock, other times you have to find all the golden items before the pirates claim them, but the principle stays the same.
Somehow you still look forward to them, since every completed mini game means something new for your aquarium. And, let’s be honest, buying a new exotic plant for your virtual fish tank is pretty awesome, whether we want to admit it or not! And, in case you aren’t able to find an object, there’s a hint button that will show you exactly where it’s hidden. Although, if you manage to find all the items without any help, you’ll get extra gold and can earn a series of achievements.
When it comes to the backgrounds and the fish, those are charming indeed. Every scene is full of wonderful details, lovely objects, and adorable underwater creatures that can brighten any gray afternoon.
Just watching the little fishes in your tank and reading their witty comments can be quite relaxing and entertaining, almost like watching a real aquarium (except these fish are much better conversationalists). The music and the sound effects are well-made and fit the atmosphere of the game perfectly as well.
Overall, Aquascapes is a really entertaining game, and although it's not very challenging, it makes up for that with its playful design. It’s perfect for younger players, since they will most likely enjoy the characters and the easy gameplay even more than I did, but also learn new words while playing the hidden object games.