How to Play
There is no tutorial, and nothing is on a timer. The reef will wait.
You can draw a current of light. That's it — that's the whole toolkit.
Fish that touch its glow follow it. Fish that don't, don't.
- Find a lost fish. Look out into the dark for a pulsing distress beacon. There are twelve.
- Begin the current beside it. Press and drag starting near the fish — a ribbon of light follows your pointer. Starting somewhere random and hoping won't work; the fish has to believe the line is for it.
- Draw it into the Heart Coral. The glowing anemone at the centre. The fish rides your light home.
- Repeat. Twelve times.
The fish is reading your intention, not just your pixels. A stroke has to:
- start at the fish — it answers a line drawn for it
- stay continuous — no big jumps
- travel toward the Heart — mostly forward, not doubling back
- arrive at the Heart — finish there, don't stop halfway
- not wander — curved and expressive is fine; scribbling is not
And then the fish has to actually swim it. Drawing a line touching the fish and the Heart is not a rescue — it has to travel most of the path first. If a fish is watching your stroke but hasn't committed, you'll see it turn and hesitate. That's it deciding.
Only one fish answers each stroke.
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Left drag | Draw a light current |
| Right drag | Orbit the camera |
| Wheel | Zoom |
| One finger (touch) | Draw a current |
| Two fingers (touch) | Orbit / zoom |
Every few rescues, the world permanently changes. This is the real progression — not a number, a place.
| Rescues | Garden | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Moonwell | Moon cleaners return to the shallows |
| 3 | Silverfin Hollow | The silverfin school finds a home |
| 6 | The Violet Nursery | Young corals pulse with violet light |
| 9 | Lantern Reach | Lantern fish emerge from the dark |
| 12 | The Crown Reef | The whole reef answers the Heart Coral |
Chain rescues within 25 seconds of each other and Lumina multiplies
(25 × combo). The HUD badge burns down like a fuse.
You never have to chase this. It's there if you want a reason to move.
Eight achievements. They survive a reef reset — that's the meta-progression.
| Tide mark | How |
|---|---|
| First Light | Guide your first fish home |
| Tide Turner | 3 rescues |
| Chain of Light | ×3 rescue combo |
| Halfway Home | 6 rescues |
| Garden Keeper | 9 rescues — four gardens awake |
| Heart Constellation | Complete the campaign |
| Swift Tide | A full run under 6 minutes |
| Keeper's Return | Complete the campaign twice |
Open the record with the trophy badge in the top-left corner.
When the last fish comes home, the school forms the Heart Constellation — an eight-second ritual, and then dawn. It's replayable.
Saved to localStorage on your own machine. No account, no server, nothing
leaves your browser. Clearing site data resets the reef — but your tide marks,
best run and completed runs are the part that's meant to persist.