About Underwater Kingdom Quest
Momentum as the whole character of the game
Acceleration is low and drag is very nearly zero. Releasing the controls does not stop you; it leaves you travelling. Every turn has to be started before you want it, and every arrival has to be slowed for.
That single property is why this game sits apart from the rest of the adventure category. Treasure Hunt is about deciding what to collect; this is about whether you can get to what you have already decided on.
It is also why the hazards shove you. A sting reverses half your velocity, which in a momentum game is a far heavier punishment than the air it costs.
Air, vents and the rhythm they create
Air drains faster while you are moving hard and slowest while drifting, but it always drains - waiting is never free. Bubble vents refill it, and vents are deliberately placed away from the pearls.
That produces the rhythm the whole game is built on: dive, gather, return. A player who tries one long circuit of everything drowns near the end of it, every time, and a player who treats it as a series of short dives from a vent finishes comfortably with air to spare.
Learning that rhythm is the game, and it is worth stating plainly because almost nobody finds it on the first three attempts.
Currents: the fastest travel and the worst accident
Currents are drawn as boxes with animated arrows and push everything inside them - you, and the jellyfish. Entering one deliberately at the right angle is the fastest travel in the game.
Entering one by accident, in a momentum game, is how you end up on the far side of the court with no air. The arrows show direction and their animation speed shows strength, so a current can always be read before it is entered.
Because jellyfish drift in them too, a current is also where the hazards accumulate. The strongest current in a court usually has a small crowd at its downstream end.
What lives down here
Jellyfish drift on fixed elliptical paths and sting on contact for four seconds of air. Eels are anchored, lash out when you come within reach, and cost five. Neither can be fought - there is no attack in this game at all.
Both have their reach drawn: the eel's trigger circle is permanently visible, because a trigger distance is a fact the player is entitled to.
Courts get deeper each time you open one, with fewer vents and more currents. The air carried over from the previous court is what makes a deep run possible, so a clean court pays forward.
How to play
- Press Space, Enter or tap to start the first dive.
- Move with WASD, the arrows, or by dragging. You will keep drifting after you let go.
- Collect the court's quota of pearls, orbs and crystals.
- Return to a bubble vent to refill air. Vents are marked and ringed.
- Ride currents deliberately - they are the fastest travel and the easiest accident.
- Reach the court gate once the quota is met to descend with your remaining air.
Controls
| Where | What to do |
|---|---|
| Keyboard - swim | WASD or the arrow keys |
| Touch - swim | Drag anywhere; the diver accelerates towards your finger |
| Touch - buttons | Four-way pad below the canvas |
| Keyboard - pause | Escape or P |
Scoring
These are the point values this game awards, before the combo multiplier is applied where it uses one. Hit quality changes the figure: a strike at the centre of the correct moment is worth substantially more than one at the edge of it.
Tips
- Short dives from a vent beat one long circuit. Every time, without exception.
- Start every turn before you want it. Corrections arrive late in this game.
- Read the current arrows before entering. Their animation speed is the strength.
- The downstream end of a strong current usually has a crowd of jellyfish in it.
- An eel's reach circle is always drawn. Inside it, you are already committed.
- The court bonus pays 30 a second of air, so leaving with air is worth real points.
Common mistakes
- Playing it like a top-down game and expecting to stop when you release the keys.
- Attempting one circuit of the whole court, which drowns near the end every time.
- Being swept into a current while reaching for a pearl at its edge.
- Hovering to plan, which still costs air.
- Trying to dodge a jellyfish by reversing, which momentum will not allow.
Features
- Genuine swimming momentum - low acceleration, almost no drag.
- Air as the only clock, refilled at vents placed away from the treasure.
- Currents that carry the player and the jellyfish, drawn with direction and strength.
- Jellyfish on fixed drifts and anchored eels with visible reach circles.
- No attack of any kind - every hazard is routed around.
- Air carried between courts, so a clean dive pays forward.
