Aren’t puppies just adorable? Isn’t popping bubbles in the bath the best time ever? Imagine those two combined – no, not popping puppies in the bath, psycho – envision a cute puppy popping bubbles and you’ve just thought of the concept for Soda Pup, the fun and free app from FishPotato Games.
This is a curious game that takes a little bit of getting used to; not because it’s difficult, but because of the random nature of the bubble generator…but, I’m getting ahead of myself. OK, essentially, you are in charge of a friendly, jovial puppy that has a predilection for sipping Coca-Cola through a straw. Each level posits you in a cavernous setting with dozens of bubbles floating around; once you tap your finger on the screen, the puppy is placed there and it sits, wagging its tail, waiting for the first bubble to connect with it. As soon as this happens, the race is on and you have to hope that the other bubbles will hit the pile of growing bubbles and cause a high-scoring chain reaction, clearing all or the majority of them to let you progress to the next level.
It is a simple game, but its attraction lies in its random dispensing of the bubbles, with them flying at different angles each turn so you don’t know what to expect even if you are replaying the level. The cute graphics and fun music make it a really enjoyable app to play, suitable for kids and adults alike.
You can use ticking tennis balls that explode into big bubbles and ice cream cones that seep into those hard-to-reach places to help you complete each level; as you progress further, you’ll come across obstacles such as No-Pup zones and pesky squirrels that un-pop bubbles, adding extra challenges to the game.
Soda Pup is a very lighthearted app yet surprisingly addictive; I keep finding myself flicking it on at random moments, trying to get past one particularly tricky level in which the cave has several jutting walls, which make it hard for the pup to reach the bubbles. All in all, a bit of a winner.
