About Pixel Gulp
Pixel Gulp is a free eat and grow fish game you play right in your browser. You are Pip, a little reef fish at the bottom of the food chain. Eat the fish that are smaller than you, keep away from the ones that are bigger, and grow until you can eat them too. Every bite fills the growth bar; fill it and the level is yours.
There are 20 levels in four seas: the Sunny Shallows, the Kelp Forest, the Twilight Wreck and the Glow Deep. Each sea has its own fish and brings new things one level at a time: hunters that chase you, pearl clams, jellyfish, a dashing barracuda, mines around a sunken ship, dark water lit by glowing fish and, at the very end, the Great Shadow.
How to play
- Swim. Move the mouse and Pip swims to the pointer, or use the arrow keys, WASD, a gamepad or the touch stick.
- Eat smaller fish. Swim your mouth into them. The food chain at the top left shows what you can eat now.
- Grow. The growth bar has two size-ups; after each one, the next fish in the chain becomes food. A full bar wins the level.
- Keep away from bigger mouths. A red ! means a bigger fish has spotted you. Swim away: you are faster.
- Chain bites into a frenzy for double, then triple points.
- Dash for a short burst of speed when the DASH bar is full.
- Bite tails of barracudas and the Great Shadow from behind for big points.
- Free Mode: one endless run in the open ocean with three hearts. Dive deeper for more points and bigger hunters, and stay away from the surface when a gull cries.
Controls
| Action | Mouse / keyboard | Phone / tablet | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swim | Move the mouse (no click), or ← ↑ → ↓ / WASD | Stick, or DRAG anywhere (OPTIONS) | Left stick or D-pad |
| Dash | Click, Space, Shift or X | DASH button | A, X or a trigger |
| Pause | P / Esc | Pause button | Start |
| Mute | M | Sound button | – |
The four seas
- Sunny Shallows: warm turquoise water over coral and sand. Glint minnows, sunny tangs and coral groupers. Learn to eat and grow, start your first frenzy, grab pearls from the clams and meet the first hunters.
- Kelp Forest: swaying green kelp. Kelp sprats, reef parrots and rose snappers, stinging jellyfish and the barracuda, whose tail you learn to bite.
- Twilight Wreck: a purple dusk around a sunken ship. Glimmers, banded butterflies and spinefins swim between chained mines.
- Glow Deep: dark water where only your light and the glowing fish show the way. Lanternfish, hatchetfish, lantern anglers and the Great Shadow, a shark that eats fish of any size.
Scores, stars and the leaderboard
Fish are worth 10, 25 or 50 points by size, multiplied by your frenzy. Pearls, sinking stars, YUM? cravings and tail bites add more, and a cleared level adds a clear bonus plus 300 for every life left. Every level gives up to three stars: one for clearing it, one for losing no life and one for beating its par time. The leaderboard ranks your total, the sum of your best score on every level, so clearing new levels and replaying old ones for a better score both move you up.
Tips
Eat the school, not the stragglers
Small fish come in schools. Swim through the middle of one and you can eat four or five in a second, which starts a frenzy right away.
Watch the food chain
The icons at the top left change as you grow. Right after a size-up, the fish that chased you a moment ago are dinner.
Swim out of the barracuda's line
When a barracuda shows its ! it aims and then dashes straight. Do not race it: move up or down out of its line, then bite its tail as it passes.
Use the dash to escape, not to hunt
The dash recharges in about two seconds. Keep it for the moment a mouth gets too close.
Read the full Pixel Gulp guide for every sea and its fish. Looking for more? Bounce through rings in Pixel Rebound, steer a coin crowd over the sea in Coin Tide, or read about games to play when the internet is down.
Pixel Gulp FAQ
Is Pixel Gulp free?
Yes. Pixel Gulp is a free fish game in your browser, with no download and no account. Signing in is optional and only adds the online leaderboards, daily quests, cosmetic fish skins and keeps your cleared levels with your account.
Can I play Pixel Gulp offline?
Yes. Open the page once while you are online and your browser keeps the game. After that every level plays with no connection at all, and your cleared levels, stars and best times are saved on your device.
How do I play with the mouse?
Just move it. Pip swims towards the pointer, so you never have to hold a button. A click gives a short dash. Arrow keys or WASD work too, and so does a gamepad.
Which fish can I eat?
Every fish your size or smaller. The fish icons at the top left are the food chain of the sea you are in: lit icons are food right now, icons with a red ! are bigger than you and will eat you. Only a mouth bites, so brushing past a big fish's tail or belly is safe.
How do I finish a level?
Eat to fill the growth bar at the top left. Its two marks are size-ups: after each one you can eat the next fish in the chain. When the bar is full the level is won. A few levels also ask for tail bites, shown on the level card and the HUD.
What is a frenzy?
Eat several fish quickly and the FRENZY letters light up. A full meter starts a frenzy that doubles every point, and keeping it going makes a wild frenzy that triples them. Stop eating for a moment and the meter drains.
What are tail bites?
Barracudas and the Great Shadow can never be eaten, but you can bite their tails from behind, where their mouths cannot reach you. A tail bite pays big points and makes the predator swim off for a while. Tail Chaser, Spine Garden and The Great Shadow need tail bites to finish.
What are the dangers?
Bigger fish show a red ! when they spot you and then chase you, slower than you swim. The barracuda shows a !, aims and dashes in a straight line, so swim out of its line. The Great Shadow eats any size. Jellyfish sting and freeze you for a moment, and mines blow up on touch. After losing a life you are safe for a moment and keep your growth.
How does the scoring work?
Small, medium and big fish are worth 10, 25 and 50 points, doubled or tripled in a frenzy. Pearls, stars, tail bites and YUM? cravings add bonuses, and clearing a level adds a clear bonus and a bonus for every life left. Your best score on every level is kept, and the Pixel Gulp leaderboards rank your total: the sum of your best scores. Hardcore has its own board.
What is Free Mode?
FREE MODE on the title screen is one endless run in an open ocean. Swim left, right and down as far as you like: the deeper you go, the darker the water and the bigger the hunters, from the Sunny Shallows past the Glow Deep into the Abyss. You have three hearts (one on Hardcore), a bite costs a heart, and if you swim up too fast you jump out of the water, where a gull may be waiting: when it cries, dive. Free Mode has its own Normal and Hardcore leaderboards and never touches your campaign progress.
How do I play on a phone?
Tap the game to play full screen and turn the phone sideways. By default an analog stick swims and a big DASH button gives a burst of speed. Prefer to steer with your finger? OPTIONS > CONTROLS: DRAG lets you touch anywhere and slide: Pip follows your finger from where it is, so your finger never covers the fish.
Can I change how Pip looks?
Yes. Signed-in players can spend the stars from daily quests and the login streak on fish skins in Rewards: Koi Pip, Neon Pip and Golden Pip. Skins never change how Pip swims or eats.
Related guides
- Pixel Gulp Guide: Eat, Grow, Frenzies, Tail Bites and Every SeaHow to play Pixel Gulp, the free eat-and-grow fish game: controls, growing, frenzies, pearls, the dangers of every sea, tail bites and scoring.
- Games to Play When the Internet Is Down (No Wi-Fi Needed)What you can actually play when the Wi-Fi drops: games built into your browser, offline-ready web games, and how to prepare so the next outage isn't boring.
- Free Browser Games With No Download and No Sign-UpWhat "free" really means for browser games, how to spot the catches, and an honest look at how NoInternet Arcade is paid for: ads, an optional pass, no paywalls.
Last updated: · NoInternet Arcade
