Reviewed by Tiffany Craig
Forums and in game chats drive WoW players out of the clicking and into more real life social groups, enriching the game and its possibilities. And when you think of gaming forums, it’s generally larger and more social titles like MMORPGs that come to mind. So, what then would inspire a forum dedicated to a much smaller casual game, or something viewed as a quick diversion at work? A forum where around 800 people have thus far disseminated over 33,000 articles on everything from licensing, technical support and fan art? Something in Insaniquarium, a phenomenally popular casual game, spawned the creation of just such an online community for its dedicated followers. I’m trying to figure out why.
Like many casual games, the premise is so easy a housecat could manage. You start with two fish you must feed, buy new fish and progress through the level. As they grow, your aquatic friends excrete money, saving you the trouble of virtually cleaning their fish tank and providing you with more resources to purchase them some company. Though it’s not just the care and feeding of virtual fish you’re interested in. Your all-encompassing goal is to purchase bits of egg that introduce other types friends that help throughout the levels. These friends do many valuable things, not the least of which is giving you more guppies and money. But perhaps the most important purchases are the ones that protect your scaly critters from the alien hordes. That’s right, aliens decided to invade your hectic but danger free fish tank. Maybe the extra-terrestrial mission control mistook our gallons of water and animals for food storage or perhaps they just don’t like to watch us relax at the dentist’s. Whatever the reason, the invasion is here and they want to destroy your fish.
Eventually, ultimate alien destruction aside, your screen ends up blurred with a flurry of orange guppies and metallic coins hurtling toward the ground. Quickly you click to protect, finance and feed your growing army of darlings. And that clicking is always inadequate, sometimes your fish turn green and roll over in a grunt, only to rise to an afterlife free of aliens and full of food pellets. As difficult as it seems at first, you do get used to the idea that you can’t feed them all, or even gather up all of your profits. Some things simply have to break in exchange for the greater good. And that capital goal is to venture through all four tanks and each of their five levels. After all, the fish vice grip is already directing your desire until you’ve progressed through Adventure, Challenge, Time Trial and have your well-populated Virtual Tank screen saver.
You’re strummed through the incandescent world with soothing sounds of something that sounds remarkably similar to hold music. If the glowing one-dimensional graphics and the music had a fight, the grinning “wear your headphones on construction sites” orange fish would definitely win. Even if the charmingly corporeal sound effects jumped in with a mace to lend a hand, the graphics would still radiate victory. Much of what this game has in charm comes from the grinning guppies, scowling aliens and the sad faces of starvation. The sounds of the gulping, shooting, excreting and dying serve to excellently augment that appeal.
Initially I tried Insaniquarium on PopCap’s flash games site while looking for a temporary boredom cure. I made it through the first few tanks and pottered a bit with free play. But after the HELLO’ing advertising smileys drove me to a deep rage; I found I had to get my tank fix somewhere else and relented to a download.
I didn’t yet know the compulsion that would consume my life and right 
index finger. Nor did I anticipate the lost hours, the dead fish and the need to add just one more new fish before doing whatever I was supposed to do. It overwhelmed and left me wondering where my Christmas vacation went and what happened besides my repetitive strain injury. It was in this daze I realized the simple reasons behind Insaniquarium’s informative and dedicated forum. It has everything to do with easy play, clear concept, clear graphics and plenty to do. These things come together to make you smile and though I’m loath to say it, have a lot of fun. It just goes to prove that you don’t have to be big to inspire proud loyalty.