I Am Fish Four Fish, One Ocean

Each fish gets its own levels and its own way of moving. The goldfish is the plain swimmer, which mostly means learning to steer whatever container it is stuck in. The pufferfish inflates into a ball and rolls across land like a wobbly boulder. The piranha bites through objects, chewing pipes open to flood a room with water. The flying fish leaps out and glides through the air to reach the next pool. A final level puts all four on screen at once, and you need every ability to get through. Same goal, four completely different feels.

The trip starts in a pet shop tank and ends at the open sea, and almost nothing in between is water. You hitch rides in jars, mop buckets on wheels and the occasional pint glass, rolling through a quaint coastal county full of busy roads, rooftops, deep fat fryers, seagulls and locals who did not ask for a fish in their kitchen. Fountains, swimming pools and sewers serve as rest stops along the way. The look is bright and cartoonish, all saturated colors and sunny little villages, which makes the constant near-death moments considerably funnier.

The controls are the joke and the challenge at once. A round fishbowl builds momentum and does not turn on a dime, so crossing a rooftop becomes a slow, careful negotiation with physics. Death comes from dry bowls, hard landings, cars and birds, and you simply restart at the nearest checkpoint, which are frequent. The flying fish levels in particular are the steep part of the curve, and getting the launch right takes practice. When a plan finally works, usually after a dozen absurd failures, it lands all the better for it.