TANKED: The Game – A Deep Dive into an Aquatic Adventure

TANKED: The Game, a free-to-play action game for Android devices, brings the excitement and educational elements of Animal Planet’s hit show, “TANKED,” to your fingertips. Developed by Discovery Communications, this app allows players to experience the thrill of building and managing their own thriving aquarium, mirroring the real-world expertise of Wayde King and Brett Raymer, the show’s renowned aquarium building duo. While offering a relaxing and engaging experience for casual gamers, TANKED: The Game also incorporates educational aspects, subtly teaching players about fish care and the responsibilities involved in maintaining a healthy aquatic environment. This review will delve into the game’s features, mechanics, strengths, and weaknesses, providing a comprehensive overview for potential players.

Apps and Gameplay Mechanics

TANKED: The Game provides a surprisingly immersive experience for a casual mobile game. The core gameplay revolves around acquiring, caring for, and nurturing a diverse collection of fish. The game starts with a tutorial guided by Wayde and Brett themselves, providing a friendly introduction to the essential aspects of fishkeeping within the game’s virtual world. This tutorial effectively walks players through the initial steps, from purchasing their first fish to understanding crucial stats like hunger, happiness, and overall health. These stats directly impact the fish’s well-being and contribute to their overall growth and development within the aquarium.

Maintaining a happy and healthy aquarium involves more than just feeding your fish. Players must actively monitor their aquatic companions, ensuring their needs are consistently met. The game cleverly incorporates mini-games to add an element of fun and challenge while simultaneously allowing players to gather necessary resources. Two primary mini-games stand out: the Bubble Game and the Race Game.

The Bubble Game requires players to skillfully navigate their fish through an underwater environment, collecting valuable bubbles while avoiding debris like cans and paper. This game tests reflexes and hand-eye coordination, rewarding successful collection efforts with in-game currency and other resources. The Race Game presents a different challenge, tasking players with guiding their fish through a course, collecting clams while avoiding obstacles such as corals and boat rudders. Both mini-games cleverly integrate resource collection with engaging gameplay, preventing the experience from becoming monotonous.

Beyond the mini-games, the game features a shop where players can purchase new fish, expand their aquarium, and acquire items that enhance the happiness and health of their aquatic inhabitants. This continuous cycle of resource gathering, fish care, and aquarium expansion forms the core loop of the game, providing a consistently rewarding experience. The progression system, while straightforward, is well-paced, allowing players to gradually unlock new fish and expand their underwater kingdom. This gradual unlocking process maintains a sense of accomplishment and keeps players engaged over extended periods.

Games and Content Limitations

While TANKED: The Game successfully captures the spirit of the television show and provides an enjoyable aquarium management experience, it isn’t without its limitations. One noticeable shortcoming is the relatively limited variety of fish available. While the game features a selection based on real-world species, the overall number of fish remains relatively small, potentially leading to a sense of repetition for players who quickly unlock the entire roster. This limited selection diminishes the long-term collectibility aspect that often drives engagement in similar games.

Another aspect requiring improvement is the visual design of the fish, which, while based on real-world counterparts, lacks the level of detail and animation one might expect from a modern mobile game. While the animations are functional and convey the fish’s behaviour, they feel somewhat simplistic compared to other games in the same genre. This visual simplicity, coupled with the limited variety of fish, might lead to a feeling of staleness after extended gameplay. The game could significantly benefit from adding more fish species, enhancing their animations, and enriching the overall visual experience.

While the game’s core mechanics are engaging, the lack of significant depth in gameplay could also be seen as a limitation. Although resource management and fish care are present, there is limited strategic depth beyond the basic mechanics of feeding, cleaning, and upgrading the aquarium. This relative simplicity caters well to a casual audience, but those seeking a more challenging and complex aquarium management experience may find the game lacking in complexity.

News and Updates

As of May 23, 2023, the latest version of TANKED: The Game (version 5.0) is available for download. This version includes bug fixes and performance improvements, although specific details regarding these updates are not readily available. Discovery Communications, the developers, have not publicly released a detailed changelog detailing each update’s features and improvements. The lack of transparent communication regarding updates might leave players uncertain about the game’s ongoing development and potential future additions. Regular updates with new content, improved graphics, and enhanced gameplay features would significantly improve player retention and satisfaction.

For Business and Monetization

The freemium model employed by TANKED: The Game is fairly standard for mobile games. While the game is free to download and play, in-app purchases are available for speeding up various processes or acquiring resources more quickly. The game’s monetization is relatively unobtrusive, and players can enjoy the core experience without feeling pressured to spend money. However, the limited number of fish and relatively simplistic gameplay might impact the game’s long-term revenue potential. Expanding the game’s content, adding more engaging features, and providing a more robust end-game experience would be key to encouraging more players to invest in the game.

Android and Platform Specifics

TANKED: The Game is exclusively available for Android devices, running on Android 9.0 and above. The game’s size is approximately 90.29 MB, a relatively small download size for a mobile game, making it accessible to a broad range of devices. The English language version is currently available, though translations into other languages might be available through alternative app stores or future updates.

Conclusion

TANKED: The Game provides a fun and relaxing experience for casual gamers interested in aquarium management. The integration of the “TANKED” brand and the educational aspects related to fish care are strong points, offering a unique selling proposition. However, the limited variety of fish and simplistic gameplay limit its appeal to more demanding players. Future updates that introduce more diverse fish species, enhanced graphics, and a greater depth of gameplay mechanics would significantly improve the game’s overall quality and long-term engagement. While currently a good starting point for casual players interested in aquarium simulation, further development is crucial to ensuring the game’s continued success.