Right on cue, the Windows Phone game Grow has made it to the Windows Phone Marketplace today. As we mentioned before, Grow is a fish-eat-fish arcade game from Epic Pixel. The game is a cross over from the Android Marketplace and is Epic Pixel's first venture in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Grow makes a nice first impression and is a nice addition to the Marketplace's gaming library.
Grow is a multi-level, multi-environment game that has you playing the role of a fish from life as a guppy in a jar to a big fish in the ocean. Your job is simple, eat everything in sight. As you consume your prey, coins will appear that can be collected and used in the Grow Store to buy upgrades.
You control your fish with either a virtual joystick, a touch and move method or your Windows Phone tilt sensors. The tilt controls work the best while I found that with the virtual joystick and touch/move method your finger seemed to get in the way.
Grow has two game modes (adventure and survival) along with two gaming levels (normal and advance). The adventure mode has you progress through 78 levels across 7 different environments clearing your jar/tank/ocean of all the food in sight. All the while avoiding the dangers (fish glowing red who will eat you). As you progress through the levels, the dangers get...well...more dangerous. Once you unlock a level, you can go back and replay that level to try to best your original score.
With survival mode you simply try to survive as long as possible eating as much as you can and dodging the dangers. The longer you last, the more intense the dangers become.
After spending the afternoon playing Grow I found the Windows Phone game to be very entertaining. Graphics are nice and game play is challenging. The bonuses that pop up from time to time and the upgrades you can purchase with your coins give you a fighting chance to work your way through the various levels. Grow makes a nice first impression and will be a fun game to pass the time with.
Unfortunately Grow doesn't have a trial version. It would be nice if there was a trial version to let you play the first two levels and maybe that will change. The full version of Grow will run you $1.99 and you can grab it here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.
