by Sharon A

Created on: October 31, 2008   Last Updated: November 03, 2008

In Fishco, the player becomes the owner of a virtual fish shop. This is represented by a single fish tank on the screen. The player needs to breed, raise and nurture the fish in order to sell them to the public. The objective is to ensure the happiness of the fish, as this makes the fish more valuable, thus making more money.

Game play is decidedly awkward, as the transition between clicking on the fish tank contents and the tool bar is rather fiddly and doesn't allow for smooth execution. Progress throughout the levels is rather slow and uninspiring. When a player clicks on fish or selects options from the tool bar, nothing particularly exciting happens. There is not a great deal of action, or any great motivation to continue playing.

Fishco's sound effects are really nothing out of the ordinary. They are rather dated and quite predictable. With ancient graphics and a ho-hum color scheme, the only surprising aspect of the graphics was the severe eye strain it caused in such a short period of time.

The tutorial was very informative, but this appears to be counterproductive when one considers just how pedestrian the game is. How hard is it really, to click on a few pictures, after all? The game moves so slowly, that the player will have plenty of time to figure it out, if they could only be bothered. To say the game was monotonous would be as obvious as stating that Britney won't be winning mother of the year anytime soon.

Many players new to this game may be reminded of the game, 'Insaniquarium'. (For those unfamiliar with this game, it can be found here: http://www.popcap.com/gamepopup.php?theGame=insaniqu arium) Fishco could be considered a rip-off of this game's concept, but without all the fun, personality, quirkiness and fast paced action that hooks a player to sit at their computer desk for a deliciously unhealthy amount of time. It begs the question, why was a game produced to be ten times as bad as the original? If you loved Insaniquarium, you'll really see all that Fishco is missing; color, original sound effects, oh, and that important little detail: fun.

So, who would play Fishco? Probably young children who've not yet been introduced to the joys of Insaniquarium. Or perhaps a forty year-old virgin who lives with their mother? If you can sit through the sixty minute trial, you'll deserve to be paid for your time, rather than actually pay good money for more of the same. 2/5

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