Fish Tycoon

Fish Tycoon is a virtual pet game but with so much more! I played this game obsessively when I had a PalmOne a few years back, so I may have out stayed my personal welcome on the game, but if you are new to it then it is a real treat.

You are given $300 and some eggs to get you started, with an ultimate goal of finding the 7 magical fish. All you really need to do is drop these eggs into your tank and the game will explain to you the basics of how to look after them. There are over 400 breeds of fish so there is a lot of possibility and variety in your tank.

The game plays pretty slowly but that's because it is meant to be left for periods of time as you get on with your day. You essentially set up your aquarium and hope your little fishies live and grow so that you can then start to breed them. When you first play, this wait seemed excruciatingly long, as I kept checking my game to see if they had grown. This helps to keep you addicted to the game as the excitement every single time you open it is satisfied when you see what type of fish has grown (or died eek!).

As you progress through the game you will need to buy meds, eggs and special plants. This will all help you to breed more and more fish and hopefully find those elusive rare magical ones. There are other things for your tank too and even a little diver and filters, making it as realistic as possible. You can also sell some of your fish in your virtual pet store, helping you fund new supplies and customizations for your virtual aquarium.

There are 2 tanks that you can have which are great for when things are getting a bit full in one tank, and there is the shop tank too. The game has a large scope, you really need to think about which fish you will be breeding, and make sure they are healthy and fed... along with what research you will do so you have better skills in food, environment and advertising.

My main detracting comment would have to be that the resolution is a bit poor, which makes some of the text difficult to read. Also, the fish movement is a bit stuttered. And of course due to the nature of the game, if you leave it for a while, expect all those fish to be dead when you return.

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This game has hours and hours of game play in it. It's also very reasonably priced for what you are getting. The only drawback might be that if you have already played this game to the end on another platform, which means you may be fed up with fish...