I Am Fish is a hilarious adventure video game wherein you must help fishes escape their bowls and reach the ocean. Developed by Bossa Studios, this 3D physics-based simulation game is a wacky platformer that has you rolling containers full of water into dangerous paths just to free a fish.

As the spiritual successor and sequel to I Am Bread, I Am Fish is all about trying to stay alive while using only half-responsive controls. As such, it can be as rage-inducing and frustrating as brutal platformers like Cuphead. However, it’s still forgiving enough to encourage you to try again.

How many levels are in I Am Fish?

In I Am Fish, you get to play as four different types of fish, who are friends who’ve been forcibly separated from their home in a pet shop fish tank. They all decide to try and escape back into the ocean to hopefully reunite. However, they’re all trapped inside fragile fishbowls and the way to the sea is filled with hazardous obstacles—and they can’t exactly breathe air for long, too.

The gameplay consists of manually controlling a fish in the water. There are four controls: movement, camera panning, and swimming up and down. When freely swimming, you can do cool tricks such as jumping through the air. However, you’ll mostly be stuck on something with water in it, like a fishbowl, a glass jar, and even a cleaning cart used by janitors. You need to carefully move around to survive.

This is where this game’s intentional general difficulty comes in. You must control your container’s momentum as you swim. They come with limits, though, such as the jar only being able to roll back and forth. Plus, glass breaks—leaving you to die. It helps that three of the playable fish have special abilities for traversing areas. However, the game’s still pretty hard and you have 13 main levels to complete.

Inherently quirky charm

Despite its surprisingly challenging gameplay, there is a charm to I Am Fish that cannot be denied. You get to play and get to know four distinct characters, each with their own personality, strengths, and weaknesses you need to keep in mind as you tackle all kinds of challenges along the way. From the cheerful Goldfish to the wild Piranha, there are different play styles to experience and learn here.

Then there’s the core gameplay itself, posing physics-based challenges that revolve around seemingly simple tasks that can cause harm if not properly executed. Things like crossing roads, traversing local wildlife areas, and even handling a fragile fish bowl become matters of life and death. All of this, in the hope of getting back home, safe and sound with their friends and families.

Being a fish is hard

All in all, I Am Fish is a challenging physics-based platformer but it can still be a rewarding experience. The difficulty here is comprised of dangerous moving objects, fatal heights, and even spots where it’s easy to get stuck on. The game’s cute 3D graphics and hilarious gameplay and cutscenes more than make up for the stress you’ll be going through, though.