Screenshot of Froggy Valley by Gooodgis on Scratch
Did you know you could recreate beach vibes, boat rides, and underwater quests on Scratch? We created a list of our favorites below...
1. Famish Fish
Screenshot of Famished Fish by Griffpatch on Scratch
Guide an adorable clown fish as it feeds on smaller fish near the ocean floor. The more fish you eat the bigger your clown fish will get. And the bigger your fish gets, the more meal options your little swimmer has.
During the feast you must avoid eight different enemies including a puffer fish, a shark, a blue fish and even a littered aluminum can. There are four levels and three lives. Each level gets harder as the deep sea gets more crowded with predators.
We're obsessed with the cute art style, as well as the clean coding on the backend. For example, there is only one sprite for the water bubbles, but they appear throughout the blue background in varying sizes. We also love the added touch of darkening the scene when the shark appears.
Release Date: May 29, 2019
Scratcher: Griffpatch
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 260,600+ (as of 2/16/24)
Remixes: 1,150+ (as of 2/16/24)
2. Tappy Tadpole
Screenshot of Tappy Tadpole by kevin_eleven_1234 on Scratch
Ever want to become a tadpole? Say no more!! This game allows you to hop from one lily pad to the next. Every successful leap is worth five points. A cool hack we noticed is being able to skip lily flowers and pads. As long as you connect with one of the aquatic plants, you're safe and on the path to beating the game's highest score.
The obstacles? Ripples, splashes, and of course the green inlands at the side of the pond. Tappy Tadpole is all about timing, aiming, and launching. We're super impressed with the backend coding that makes the pond's movement look all too real. We also noticed the elongated tongue took a whopping 61 sprites to animate.
Release Date: September 25, 2017
Scratcher: kevin_eleven_1234
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 50,000+ (as of 2/16/24)
Remixes: 100+ (as of 2/16/24)
3. Orblo: Fishing Frenzy!
Screenshot of Orblo: Fishing Frenzy! by OrbleoOfficial on Scratch
Next up... a fishing game that's full of surprises. We love how much it resembles real-life fishing from casting the line and waiting for the pole to tug. When the time is right, the player must repeatedly tap the space bar (or phone) to garner enough strength to reel in the prize.
There are over 40 uniquely-named creatures to collect that range from common, uncommon, and rare. They include a box jellyfish, a merry fishmas, a sea snek, a freshwater froog, and more. You can also catch random objects such as a strange rock and an old boot. Everything looks beautifully hand-drawn and written with impeccable detail.
If you think the game ends there, think again! This Scratcher also created a shop with some neat power-ups. For example, with enough FishPoints you can add more pull to your line, increase your chance of catching luckier fish, decrease your wait time, or even double your FishPoints.
You can easily end up playing this game for an hour or more, so we encourage you to give it a try!
Release Date: August 8, 2023
Scratcher: OrbleoOfficial
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 151,000+ (as of 2/16/24)
Remixes: 440+ (as of 2/16/24)
4. Froggy Volley
Screenshot of Froggy Volley by Gooodgis on Scratch
Looking for some friendly competition? Froggy Volley is a pretty cool two-player game set on a sunny beach. Using the WASD and arrow keys, players try to keep the volley ball in the air before it lands in the sand.
The game art is adorable, the music and sound effects are subtle, the motion physics are impressive, and we also appreciate the intentional animations. Each frog has a "hit" face with tightly-closed eyes; the characters and volley ball have dynamic shadows that move and scale; and there are waves crashing the sandy shore in the background.
Release Date: September 20, 2023
Scratcher: Gooodgis
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 193,000+ (as of 2/16/24)
Remixes: 1,000+ (as of 2/16/24)
5. Fish Catch
Screenshot of Fish Catch by yoshihome on Scratch
Finally, Fish Catch is a collaboration between three Scratchers with some pretty cool features. It set's on a fishing boat in the middle of a rough sea. There are 7 different fish to catch including a light bulb fish, a shark, and a sting ray. The game play requires a ton of coordination, as you have to steer the ship with the WASD keys, drag the fish to the boat, and avoid falling barrel bombs. The game also features a shop with five different boats to choose from. In the game description, the team outlined the amount of work that went into the project, which included ...
1,324 blocks of code
128 assets
123 lists
44 variables
15 sprites, and
7 lists
Release Date: October 9, 2023
Scratcher: yoshihome, PhilHub, and AzimuthPulse
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 2,400+ (as of 2/16/24)
What Skills Can Families Learn From Water Games?
Not only are the games fun to play, but it's also fascinating discovering the ways each developer simulates water. For example, Fish Catch uses over 260 coding blocks to simulate waves in the ocean. The scene uses the pen block, x and y axes, a timer, and a sine equation (a function used in trigonometry), to generate believable motion physics. Tappy Tadpole uses speed, velocity, ripples, lines, and splashes (features that took over 140 coding blocks to bring to life).
The diversity in fluid simulations introduces players and creators to the intricacies of water and how it behaves. But developers do not have to be mathematicians or physicists to pull off this cool effect. Simpler approaches can produce equally impressive results!! For example, Froggy Valley uses 12 coding blocks (including a sine equation) to create a super relaxing wave. And Famished Fish uses 31 coding blocks and special lighting to create its ocean floor.
That's it for our list! Which game was your favorite? Which one would you remix? If you like this list, you may also love our Flappy Birds remake list here.
Scratch is developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. See http://scratch.mit.edu. All screen shots are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
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