Where's My Water Review

Unlike a lot of people these days, I do not live on my cellphone. Like any other normal adult, I live on my computer. That can make finding and playing certain games difficult, particularly when they're released exclusively for handheld devices like iPhones, Blackberries and Android phones. Thankfully Disney made sure to release a free version, though far shorter, of their surprisingly popular Where's My Water? title for desktop web browsers as well.

Released in 2011, Where's My Water? is a simple puzzle game featuring cartoon alligators. One particular gator, Swampy, lives in a rather dirty sewer city and wants nothing more than a bath. Unfortunately for him, he has neighbors that prefer chewing on the water pipes to more hygienic activities, which prevents our soiled hero from getting clean. Our job is to redirect water from either pools of standing water or from leaking pipes to Swampy's broken shower pipe so that he may bathe. The trick is that we don't actually get to touch the water, we can only clear a path by touching dirt obstructing the way. Sound easy? It would be if it weren't for those pesky laws of physics the game developers remembered. Water won't always flow in the direction the player might want, so figuring out how to bounce it off walls or movable platforms will be necessary. Points are awarded for speed, collecting rubber ducks and for providing more than the minimum amount of water needed for Swampy to get clean.

I don't see how washing with stagnant water is going to make Swampy feel clean, but this is about an alligator with an obsessive need to bathe. Realism isn't that important.

Though this game appears to be directed towards young kids, the graphics and very repetitive soundtrack are a sure sign this was meant for someone easily entertained, I have to admit that the puzzles aren't entirely easy. The first few levels aren't a problem at all, as it goes with most games, but then a few curve balls get thrown in for good measure. Eventually we have to deal with bombs in the sewers, which can be used to the player's advantage if detonated at the right time or place. For those young achievement hunters out there, accomplishing certain tasks during the levels also unlocks achievements, which can unlock special prizes like bonus stages and extra points.

The game I played wasn't the paid version of the game, and it's obvious that online players uninterested in paying get a much shorter gaming experience. The full game offers chapters to play through, each chapter offering twenty stages of increasingly difficult levels of gameplay. Online players choosing to try the free game only get ten stages of the first chapter, though if you collect enough rubber duckies you can unlock a bonus eleventh stage.

Play Now: Where's My Water?

Rating: 
Demographic: 8+ years, boys and girls.
System(s): iOS, Blackberry, Android and PC.
Players: 1