Little Gulp

Little Gulp is a 3D eat-and-grow game set under the sea. You start as a very small fish in a very big ocean: gulp down anything your size or smaller, keep away from anything bigger, and grow one size at a time until the fish that used to chase you become snacks. The camera pulls back as you grow, and the reef reacts: schools scatter, puffers puff up, eels lunge from the sand and gentle giants nudge you along.

There are 128 levels across eight seas of sixteen levels each: Sunny Lagoon, Kelp Forest, Jelly Bay, Sunken Ship, Open Blue, Polar Sea, Ember Vents and Midnight Trench. Each sea brings something new, from stinging jellies to cold currents, lifting vent bubbles and a dark trench where a glowing light might be a trap. Levels mix different goals: grow to a target size, eat a number of one kind of fish, collect pearls from the water and from clams, stay safe for a set time, catch golden fish, or lead lost friends home to their anemone. The last level of each sea is a boss: a bully such as Big Barry or Captain Chomp. Grow big enough first, then bump it away three times to open the next sea.

You have three hearts. A bite costs a heart and some of your growth, and growing a size gives a heart back. Dashing uses stamina that refills over time and helps you catch fast fish. Quick gulps build a combo that raises the score multiplier up to five times. Power-up bubbles give you a magnet that pulls pearls and snacks toward you, a speed boost, a bubble shield that absorbs one bump, or a feeding frenzy that lets you eat one size up. Each level has three stars: finish it, finish within the par time (or reach a given size on survival levels), and don't get bitten.

Some tips. The bar at the top shows who you can eat. Sneak up on puffers from behind before they puff up. In the Polar Sea, ride the cold currents to move fast instead of swimming against them. Save a little stamina so you can dash away from a hunter.

Pearls buy twelve fish to play as, from Pip the clownfish to a narwhal, plus upgrades for speed, dash, bite and pearl magnet. Open Ocean, which opens after level 8, is an endless swim with fish from every sea for a high score, and from level 3 on a new daily challenge waits every day. Little Gulp plays in the browser with mouse, keyboard or touch, on desktop and on phones and tablets in either orientation.

Eat fish your size or smaller. The strip at the top of the screen shows who is on the menu. Each time you grow, bigger fish become food. Dash to catch fast fish and chain gulps for combos. Bubbles give power-ups: a magnet, a speed boost, a bubble shield or a feeding frenzy that lets you eat fish one size bigger.

Every level has three stars, for things like finishing, beating the par time and never getting bitten. Run out of hearts and the level ends. Open Ocean unlocks after level 8, and daily challenges after level 3.