Filed under: Gaming, iPod Family, iPhone, App Store
TUAW hands on: the simple joys of Koi Pond
About a week or so ago, I spent $0.99 at iTunes to pick up a copy of Koi Pond. With all the software that constantly moves onto and off of my iPhone, it should say something that over a week later, Koi Pond is still installed. It's a little treasure.
Koi Pond provides exactly the experience its title suggests: it puts a virtual Koi Pond onto your iPhone, allowing you to place plants and feed the fish. The fish in question swim around the screen and run away from the rippled waves you create when messing with the water. If you leave your finger still enough, eventually a koi or two will investigate and nibble on your finger before darting off on its pre-existing fishy business.
In theory, there is no point to Koi Pond. It's there to experience and enjoy. In practice, my elder children issue each other challenges: "Make the worst pond" (no fish, no plants, no sunlight, brown rocks, rotting food) or "Make the most psychotic koi" (one fish, sunlight, lots of splashing), etc.
For $0.99, it's a great deal on a little toy. Turn off autolock and cheerfully burn out your screen by sitting it on a stand on your desk. The fish will swim and burble ad infinitum. (It helps to have the iPhone docked while doing this.)
Koi Pond is available for iPhone and iPod touch. It costs $0.99 at the iPhone App Store.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jbappleman said 6:19PM on 8-26-2008
Good article, Erica!
I have to agree leaving my iPod in the dock and just watching it is amazing.
First, BTW!
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welchb said 6:20PM on 8-26-2008
I wondered what this app was all about.
Now that I see it reviewed... I still wonder what it's all about. heh.
Confusing. Especially that it isn't free. Since it doesn't DO anything, etc.
You know what I'd really like - is Insaniquarium from popcap. Bought that for my palm (and pc) way back.. dumb game, but lots of goofy fun.
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Jeff Brown said 6:32PM on 8-26-2008
I mean no disrespect to Koi Pond, but the fact that it is the top app shows just how useless the VAST majority of iPhone apps are. I think I have 3-4 I actually like outside of what comes with the iPhone. Endless games(which barely earn the name in the XBox/PS3 era) hundreds of calulators/converters, a dozen "flashlights", a bunch of applications that essentially just give you information you could look up on a web page. Where is the innovation here? This thing is a COMPUTER in you POCKET, and it gets treated like a second rate Gameboy.
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VeganTnT said 7:05PM on 8-26-2008
This has little to do with the usefulness of Koi Pond.
I myself bought it after trying it on a friend's ipod touch and being REALLY impressed.
The graphics are beautiful
The water ripples realistically
The fish move and dart away realistically
And the attention to detail was amazing
An example: The first version of koi pond did not have the koi nibbling your finger. That and the feeding of the koi was added in the next version because users asked for it.
After seeing all that I couldn't help but buy the app. It may not be useful but 99 cents is nothing when it comes to showing your appreciation to a dev.
It's just like when Frogger and Tetris came to the app store. These are 10 dollar games that make little use of the Iphone hardware. Everyone bashes on them in the reviews because they are terrible.
It's basically a reward for making something of geniune high quality.
The reason games aren't progressing is because Apple still has a NDA in effect. There isn't a way for them to share code or license it like Unreal Engine. Everyone basically has to start from scratch.
Kai Cherry said 8:43PM on 8-26-2008
Well Jeff...it is simple really:
1. Apple set the tone. They do not *want* the iPhone to be "a computer in your pocket" and, starting at WWDC really, as I said, set the tone to insure this.
2. Unlike normal software development, or even licensed development like a game console, developing an app for the iPhone carries a level of risk that most laypersons don't understand...largely because those that DO understand aren't allowed to 'splain it to you. Couple this with the aforementioned lack of really good, bookshelf-class documentation and the disallowed collaboration between developers, you have inexperienced developers on a...shaky... platform basically doing things that are low-risk...because they pretty much have to.
The iPhone development ecosphere is very much "top down". The fact that most apps appear to be toys, or glorified webapps is in no way surprising to people in the thick of it all. It is just unfortunate that people that are...not...are left to sort thru this confusion for themselves.
Just...take my word for it. There are a world of apps out there waiting to be written...and people waiting, wanting and willing to create them for you...when the environment for doing so is...allowed...to flourish.
Koi Pond does a great job using the hardware. It is 99¢. C'mon.
Sending developers the message that working on something for months, buying or creating art/music/script/whatever assets, testing on a platform that has...quirks...AND not even knowing IF you will even be *allowed to sell* your product after that work,telling them that "it isn't even worth 99¢" is really not going to help you get the kinds of apps that you want, either.
I imagine it must be "weird" for people to see what they feel is a bundle of "crap" apps in a system that was supposed to be designed to spare you from them, but I gotta tell you that knowing what I know and can't tell, it doesn't surprise me in the least.
-K
Michael said 9:33PM on 8-26-2008
I guess Kai Cherry and VeganTnT said it best.
Here are three additional points I'd like to make:
Firstly, Just because the AppStore doesn't have all the typical Shoot em Ups and classic genre games, nor "real" productivity apps like a full-blown Microsoft Office editor right now doesn't mean that it won't have them later. These apps are complex, which is why you're mostly seeing simple, tentative apps like Koi Pond.
Second point I'd like to make, is that the AppStore membership does cost US$99 per year to remain there. http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/apply.html You might want it to be free, but the developer is then paying out of his own pocket to keep this on the store, AND spend his own time refining it in updates. The fact that they added in some features makes me happy that they haven't just released a 1.0 and left it there, they love this app too.
Thirdly, not every app has to result in a "Win" or "end product". You may want these things but why not have an app that will just let you relax, and destress? Its the same reason why people keep fish. They technically have "no aim in life", but its the fact it is calming to people, and mesmerizing to watch, that make people do it.
Having said all that, I'm now off to buy this app. Thanks Erica for posting a video clip - its really convinced me that its smooth and very slick. Bravo to the developer too!
m said 5:28PM on 9-26-2008
i agree. use your heads. this could be a platform 100x more useful than the palm pilot ever was. instead, it's like a giant portable konfabulator. i don't care how many days remain to the opening of the next harry potter movie, and looking at even truly beautiful fish will grow old fast. where are the specialized programs for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, attorneys, teachers? people would spend good money on portable references, portable front ends for legal discovery databases, test preparation, library catalog portals, and so on. that's 4 off the top of my head. it's amazing how little imagination the development community seems to have in this area, and how slow established vendors have been to exploit it. maybe apple doesn't want it to be a computer. not having cut and paste sends a clear signal.
totoro said 6:44PM on 8-26-2008
Depends what you consider "useless" I suppose.
I find Koi Pond to be a lovely little program. As "useless" as computer wallpaper maybe, or ringtones.
Depends on what you consider "innovative" for what is basically an iPod Phone, too.
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Kai Cherry said 9:01PM on 8-26-2008
Hi Jim :)
Buckingham said 7:14PM on 8-26-2008
I'm one of those who think 99% of the apps in the store are useless. That said, I don't think Koi Pond belongs to those. While it has no business use or any utility, it has some value to it. It's certainly a novelty app brings out some the device's capabilities.
Now how about that app that displays a drawing of a mouth? :)
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Matt Burris said 7:19PM on 8-26-2008
I use Koi Pond to show off to anyone 40 years of age or older that have never heard of an iPhone, or very little about it. Koi Pond never fails to impress them, and it's a hit with the kids, too. It's well worth the 99 cents.
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Stephen Lang said 8:50PM on 8-26-2008
I bought an iPhone 3G just for Koi Pond.
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Ted said 9:15PM on 8-26-2008
I murdered my family just so I could collect money for Koi Pond.
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Stupid Guy #3 said 12:31AM on 8-27-2008
I sold my first-born on the black market so I could afford to buy a gun so that I could murder my family to collect money for Koi Pond.
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Marco said 2:31AM on 8-27-2008
Most game consoles have simple, "useless" games when they are introduced, it's just a matter of learning the device. I think we'll see much more advanced stuff later on.
I ignored Koi Pond quite some time, but bit the bullet and bought it. And I must say it is a very nice application, which actually makes yourself relax if you look at the pond long enough.. just like sitting next to a real pond and dreaming away.... :)
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Ed said 2:56AM on 8-27-2008
Clever but pointless
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Jeff Brown said 6:20PM on 8-27-2008
Again, no disrespect for Koi Pond. Clearly it is a pleasant distraction and the authors did a good job or it wouldn't be at the top of the app store.
But the fact that it is the TOP seller is sort of alarming to those who want a little more beef. With 2000 bad programs and no end in sight, all I see is brief and mildly positive revues of a few pretty dull apps. Where is the "Hey Apple - where are the REAL programs? Stop piling all this **** on us!". It's time for people to start giving them a little grief about it so they don't think everything is OK. Maybe they were just overwhelmed trying to roll out too much at once, but to me the App store(and all the nondisclosure nonsense, etc) needs fixing fast. Allow the iPhone to be great.
I'm old enough to remember Apple's stubbornness allowing Windows to get their foot in the door, and dread seeing it happen all over again...
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danielsdesk said 9:32AM on 8-29-2008
All application marketplaces are usually filled with light, 'filler' apps for people testing the waters... Facebook's apps were mostly contrived and annoying when they first came out with it (though some will argue that they still haven't come out of that entirely yet)
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