Something is soothing about games that have a defined loop. If you know exactly what you're going to do to progress, you can turn your mind off and enjoy the experience.

Feed and Grow: Fish is a game that's all about the loop - there's not much of a story to be told, nor is there a lot of strategies involved. You do one thing, and you do it well - and for some, that's all that's necessary for a good game. Taking a look at how the game works, though, can tell you whether this gameplay loop fulfills you.

Work your way up the food chain

At its heart, this game is just about the food chain. The concept is straightforward - you're a fish, and you're going to eat other fish. As you eat those fish, you get bigger and turn into different types of fish.

find your prey and eventually turn into a monstrously large creature.

Does it make a lot of biological sense? No, not really. It does, however, work as a video game. Your goal is to navigate the various bodies of water so that you can find your prey and eventually turn into a monstrously large creature.

In all honesty, this game isn't exactly high art - and that's fine. It knows what it wants to be, and it does that very well. It's possible that more could be added when this game leaves early access. Still, at the moment, it stands as a beautiful example of what happens when a developer is dedicated to a single concept.

Goofy graphics fir the concept

There are two ways to go with a game like this in terms of graphics. You can either go hyper-realistic, or you can make the game a cartoon. Fortunately, the developers choose the second route, and it was the right choice. The game looks a little silly, and that fits the overall concept. Every creature seems a little goofy, but the environments themselves look great. There's a lot to like here in terms of visual variety.

The audio isn't quite as good as the visuals, though. That's not to say that the audio is terrible, but merely that it's not anything special. The audio really could come from any underwater game, almost to the point that one has to assume that it's going to be replaced as the game makes is further along the development cycle. It's not a bad audio experience. It just doesn't make much of an impact on the game.

The gameplay needs some work

One of the most frustrating things about this game is that you can see where it has the potential to be great. Unfortunately, it feels like most of what the game could be is still in the development stages. There are two modes now - Survival and Deathmatch - and neither one seems fully fleshed out. There are plenty of little glitches and bad design choices that still need to be ironed out.

Swimming and eating are effortless and intuitive. What doesn't work, though, is that your progress doesn't get saved between sessions. You're going to have to start over every time, and those early moments of the game quickly lose their luster. It's a shame, too, because the game does get more fun as you go along.

Should get better

Feed and Grow: Fish is a game that has a lot of potentials. Unfortunately, it's just not where it needs to be quite yet. Keep an eye on this game as it goes through early access, though, as it could become something quite special.

Feed and Grow: Fish is an aquatic survival game that's currently in Steam Early Access.