Tiny Glass Tank: Dwarf Shrimp and Friends

thank you for posting beginner tips. >>NOTE: at this time, I can only recommend this game to those who enjoy a grind.<< there seems to be a consensus online that the margins are very tight at the beginning of this game, especially for those who don't like selling their shrimp friends. for example, I've only gone on one catch trip (the cheapest one at 400 coins/trip. note that the forest pond (500 coins/trip) recommended in the guide is locked behind an expensive "license" and you only start with 1000 coins). I am only trying to keep 3 shrimp (I didn't want my single starter shrimp to be lonely), but quickly found myself without enough coins to go on a second catching trip to earn more coins. to be clear, I haven't bought any licenses, tanks, decor or food, etc (used free food only). I've only bought water change (15ea) and crushed coral (60ea) which I had to do 3 or 4 times in the 1 hour that the game ran. I only used these items when water quality was about to drop from "stable" to worse. (I was only trying to stay in "stable", not "pristine", so I don't feel I was changing the water excessively). I only fed the shrimp when they put up the hungry icon, so I don't know why the water quality declined so quickly. about the crushed coral, all 3 shrimps wanted a 6.9-7.1ph, the tank started at 6.6ph, so I was using the crushed coral to help with their happiness, but the effect doesn't last long (I asked the developer about this and there is a decor item that can be purchased to raise the ph slightly and continuously the same way that the catappa leaf can lower ph, but the item is locked behind a shop upgrade license (costs a lot of coins). also, the hearts don't look like they're going to increase to the recommended 3-5 hearts before running out of coins that are needed for water changes to maintain happiness. I played about 1 hour and my shrimps were only at 2 hearts. I feel this un-fun part could be overcome by starting out with more coins. (at time of writing this, you start with 1000 coins) another way to go would be to have a few options of different coin amounts to chose from, so that those who prefer a challenge have that option. having some kind of daily income could be another solution. or maybe adding a cheaper/free catching trip option. I absolutely love, love the art. gameplay just didn't feel as cozy as I expected/hoped for. I don't have a problem with grind-y games, but I don't think that's how it should feel at the start, especially for a cute cozy game. I don't think the price of the "licenses" (purchased with coins) for unlocking content is the problem, I think this grind aspect is fine for unlocking access to additional plants/decor in the shop (at the start the only plant options are java moss and marimo ball) and unlocking new catching areas/different critters. I think that the high cost for extra tanks is fine too. and I think these features should all provide enough motivation for players to grind, but at the beginning of the game, I think you should be able to keep more shrimp than you sell, I think you should be able to keep your first few shrimp if you choose to play that way. I don't think that a hard grind of selling shrimp right off the bat should be a requirement or else be doomed to run out of coins.. it isn't for the average casual gamer that this game type typically targets. *** I think this game is a fantastic idea. I really like all the detail you've thought of and have implemented with botanicals and water types. I really liked aquazone back in the day and you've captured a bit of that here with heaps more cute-ness; the shrimp and snails and their animations are absolutely adorable. the music is cozy & pleasant. *** I am hopeful for a future update with a solution for the early-game struggle, I would re-install in a heartbeat. I'd even be satisfied with the addition of a coin-generating cheat code. xD I really wanted to interact with more of the content in this game; I've been waiting so long for something like this game, but I feel something needs re-balanced regarding early gameplay. I will be following. :) best wishes! ***

It feels like this game can't quite figure out what it wants to be: an active fishing and gathering game or an idler and it fails at trying to be both. The early game margin is so thin that it completely demotivated me. You're encouraged to get attached to your shrimp, but you also need to sell shrimp to have any income at all. They don't breed or grow, so the single shrimp you caught is all you'll ever have until you catch more. The shrimp are also *DEMANDING*: requiring feeding *multiple* times per day, while also *rapidly* deteriorating water quality--both of these are contrary to how shrimp and tanks work in the real world. I understand that the dev sped things up for the sake of gameplay, but it turns the game into a huge baby-sitting affair rather than any kind of idler. I understand that the dev says that this "isn't" an idle game, but I think maybe they miss the point of having a shrimp tank? I love the idea here, but not the execution as-is. Maybe things will change in the future.

A very cute game. I recommend it for those who enjoy grinding, as it's not an idle game. The developer is kind and listens to feedback. They’ve updated the starter packs, which help you take care of your critters more easily in the beginning. You can’t really leave the tank unattended and need to manage everything carefully. I wonder if it would be nice to have an idle mode like being able to toggle it on and off after you finish feeding or decorating. It would be nice to come back and see a clean, refreshing tank, because right now, every time I return, the water is murky since the quality drops quickly. I still enjoy the grinding, though. Looking forward to future updates from the developer. เกมน่ารักมากก ซื้อแบบ day 1 เลย ตอนแรกเข้าใจว่าเป็นเกมชิลๆ แต่งตู้น่ารักๆ แต่จริงๆต้องบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรประมาณนึง เดฟใจดีและรับฟัง อัปเดตล่าสุดทำให้เล่นง่ายขึ้นแล้ว มีตัวช่วยเพิ่มเติมหลายอย่าง แต่อย่าเผลอชิลเกิน ต้องบริหารดีๆต่อไป ตอนนี้เริ่มชินละ ปรับมายเซ็ตคิดซะว่าเราเป็นพ่อค้ากุ้ง จับน้องมาขายไป นี่คิดเล่นๆว่าถ้าเปิดตัวมาด้วยภาพลักษณ์แบบ 'มาเป็นเจ้าของธุรกิจซื้อขายกุ้งแคระกันเถอะ' น่าจะเหมาะกับรูปแบบเกมอยู่เหมือนกัน (แต่ก็เข้าใจที่ตัวเกมไม่ได้ไปทางนั้น แค่วิธีการเล่นมันฟีลนั้นจริงๆ) ความเห็นส่วนตัวคิดว่า คุณภาพน้ำเปลี่ยนเร็วมากทำให้ตู้หมองแทบจะตลอดเวลา (ในโลกความเป็นจริง น้ำตู้ปลามันเสียเร็วขนาดนี้เลยเหรอ) ไม่เคยสลับจอกลับมาเห็นตู้สวยๆสดชื่นเลย ต้อง monitor ประมาณนึงและเปลืองมาก ถึงแม้ว่าน้องๆจะอยู่ในน้ำสกปรกได้บ้าง แต่ใครจะอยากปล่อยตู้หมองนานๆ คิดว่าถ้ามีโหมด idle ก็คงดี แบบว่าหลังจากตกแต่ง ให้อาหารอะไรต่างๆแล้วก็กด idle ปล่อยดูน้องเด้งไปมา หากจะเล่นต่อต้องออกจากโหมดนั้นก่อนอะไรงี้ แต่ก็เข้าใจในความสมจริง idle เป็นวันน้องๆคงหิวกันแย่ แต่ก็เป็นไอเดียเล็กๆน้อยๆเผื่อพิจารณาปรับตามเหมาะสมต่อไป (ตัวเกมมีศักยภาพที่จะทำได้สองทาง why not both) แต่เข้าใจและเคารพการตัดสินใจของผู้พัฒนาเสมอ ยังไงก็ตามเกมสนุกดี ท้าทายมาก เป็นกำลังใจให้เดฟและรอดูอัปเดตต่อๆไป

LOOOOOOOOOVE this game!!! as someone with fish/shrimp tanks I really enjoy this game. It's very relaxing and the art style is very cute <3 I leave the game in the background while working and its like I have a shrimp tank on the screen.

*Edit* I see the developer's response to my review. They have added bonus cash at the start to make the beginning easier. I will try this out. Very charming game, but early game needs rebalancing. The need to grind detracts from the idler format this game is trying to emulate. I'd much rather prefer a faster way to set up my ideal tank so that I can happily leave it idling while I do other things.

i enjoyed the collecting aspect in particular. i unlocked all the scooping spots and im on my way to completing the scoop catalogue for the 3rd spot before moving on to the 4th one. i tried this out without taking the starter pack to see how grindy it can get, and yeah, it does get grindy but i like the gameplay loop in general good things i appreciated: - i like that the earlier 2 scoop spots are the quick money-makers, with the 1st spot being guaranteed to profit while the 2nd spot fluctuates, but has a reasonably high chance of netting you good money. i was initially confused why only 3 critters can be caught from any one spot in one trip and thought that expanding the number of critter storage spaces would increase the number of critters i get per trip, but apparently that doesnt work. its a fixed 3 critters per trip. - shop items are reasonably priced since things like water quality and hunger drop rapidly. for snails i feed them the premium snail food (25 gold) exclusively and for shrimp i have only been feeding them the default free algae or the red shrimp food (15 gold) and it works fine for me so far. things i hope could be improved - i didnt know that acquiring new licenses also meant that the shop lineup expanded each time because the explanation was hidden behind the "scooping" guide from manatee. i wouldnt have guessed it was included in there since i thought that scooping was self explanatory and didnt click on it until i had to write this review - theres no "back" option for going to the first of 3 guide menus from manatee (the one with the hearts, food, and water info). you can only get to it by clicking to the menu and clicking on "learn" again - when you click on a critter, their stats (hearts and hunger) will show up. the hunger bar is static and does not actually decrease even though time is actually passing while the critters info is kept open. it would be great if the critters stats actually reflected the stat accurately in real time - more scooping spots would definitely be welcome in the long term - a "one more trip" button after a trip is done would be good. if the number of critters per trip is going to be fixed at 3 (so that money-making by increasing hearts provides more returns than just spamming trips), then i would love to have a button that lets me start a new trip right away after the scooped critters are shown (maybe a 3rd button in addition to "end trip" and "sell all") when im just mindlessly going on trips to quickly rack some coins up - an option to let me select specific critters from a trip to sell before i end the trip would be good. sometimes i just want to sell the common critters and not the rest - more snails would be nice. i was a little sad to see that there were only 10 snails. more ramshorn colours and other common shrimp tankmates like malaysian trumpet snails and the like would be good i think - more manatee requests. the current selection can be done within the first 2 hours or so of gameplay i think. maybe a few more like "reach 5/7/9/10 hearts on 1 critter" or "max out your license", stuff like that - a small icon that shows what item is being selected for food, water, pH items when monitoring the tank would be good. it would be a good qol i think so that theres no need to right click the icons each time to check before clicking the buttons to use the items (i hate having to use my red shrimp food by accident because i misclicked the food button and theres no way to just not let it go to waste lol) - an explanation on how passage of time works for tanks that are not active would be good i think? i was under the impression that all tanks will have their water quality decrease at equal rates, but it seems like things decrease faster only for the tank that you are actively observing? im not too sure honestly but its something i observed so i have been careful about only clicking into tanks that i want to feed more often - pH and how it is balanced is very confusing. theres a tooltip telling players that theres no need to chase for perfect pH, but... i just want to try to do that for maximising hearts per food dropped and like to see the number at least be closer to my critters preferred parameters. the default starting pH seems to be 6.7, but this number will not increase for most of the game until you acquire your 3rd license and unlock the coral decor in the shop that can boost your pH a little. but even then, this is the only pH-raising decor. meanwhile, there are billions of leaf litter and other pH-reducing decor available as early as the start of the game. with all due respect, why? i understand that theres a larger variety of pH-reducing items in reality as well, but its just odd to me that theres literally only 1 piece of decor that raises pH. all other pH-raising items (in the Items menu, i.e. consumables) raise pH for like 5 seconds before it goes back down to its original value anyway. in fact, im half-certain from my few trials of these items that using any of these temporary pH-raising items will lead to the stable pH being lower than 6.7 instead (for a while my pH has hovered around 6.5 to 6.6 after using 2-3 of these items). i dont mind the fact that the effects are temporary since it is indeed stated to be so, but i dont think literal seconds is what people expect when they waste their coins on these all this to say, if pH is so unimportant, why make it a thing? the fact that all early shrimp (and pretty much all snails by virtue of being snails) prefer a pH higher than the default urges the player to seek pH-raising items, but it's only deep into the game that they can address it adequately. and if the player is expected to monitor it casually, why make it so difficult to raise it to any value above the default? speaking of that, it took like 7-8 pieces of the coral decor in the starter small tank for pH to be raised from 6.6 to a stable 6.8 to 7.0. it being cheap is not the problem. it requiring that many items is just cumbersome. i bought the tiny glass bowl (partly by accident) and put 2 pieces of coral into that and the pH for that now hovers between 6.8 and 6.9 i would love for there to be more varieties of coral, and maybe more available from the 2nd license or so. pH-raising items are so ineffective they may as well not be included at all. as for pH-reducing items, apart from decor (which, well, functions as decorations), i do not know of any shrimp that may need pH to be even lower than 6.7 and require pH-reducers. then again, i havent finished my 3rd scoop spots catalogue and havent started on catching the 4th scoop spots critters, so i may have not just reached the point where i need them. but at this point, literally only pH-raising items are ever needed since all the shrimp (and snails) have preferred pH at 6.9-7.1, yet they are the scarcest in the shop, and the temporary items only raise it for seconds at a time thanks for the wonderful game, i really enjoyed it and will continue to play it

I played for 3.5 hours and its not working The idea is great and i love this kind of games but in here You need to hold on to your shrimps to make them more worth at the same time you need to sell them to make money ,i started with a full tank and run out of money fast I try it again with only 2 and again run out of money even with only a shell for cleaner water all you do is feed and clean water with no cash comming in Does this type of game not generate money over time for the creatures you hold instead of sucking your wallet dry