ART & VFX

Everything is drawn procedurally on canvas — no sprite sheets — so the reef stays crisp at any resolution and every fish can be tinted by its genes.

Fish rendering

• Each species has a hand-tuned procedural draw routine and palette. Genes tint the palette (hue shift + trait recolor) so a Golden Leviathan and a plain Leviathan share one drawing.
• Fish orient to their heading: the sprite is mirrored horizontally by facing, then pitched to the swim angle (mirror before pitch, so nose-down stays down when facing left). Tails swing off a smoothed wobble.
• Tiers 5+ carry a rarity/tier glow, strongest at the Cosmic Whale.

The living reef background

• A duned sea floor the reef roots into, with static grain and drifting ripple lines.
• Kelp and short leaf-blade algae rooted on the sand, swaying with the water clock.
• Anemones, rising spore motes, and a shadow shoal / menu giants behind the reef for depth.

The light system (sun from the top)

Additive, layered:

1. a warm-white sun bloom pouring down from the surface;
2. god rays that fan out from that single high source, breathing in width and brightness and swaying as they sink;
3. shimmering surface caustics just under the top;
4. drifting floor caustics across the water column and sand.

The caustic layers drop out under Reduced Effects for low-end devices.

Signature VFX

• Golden drop trail — dropped fish trail gold bubbles during their acclimation swim.
• Merge burst + combo callouts (COMBO / MEGA COMBO).
• Mutation sparkle in the trait colour + a floating pearl-prize callout.
• Spikefish: looming shadow warning, white hit-flash + mini-stun, death burst.

The victory sequence

1. On the merge, the win card shows the actual merged species in its mutation colour (e.g. a Golden Cosmic Whale), titled with its real name, on a halo in its accent — not a generic sprite.
2. A triumphant fanfare + confetti; the card pauses the arena.
3. Dismiss → the reef unpauses for a few seconds of golden celebration (rising gold bubbles, the crowned whale trailing gold).
4. A designed "🌊 YOU WON!" menu transitions in with NEW REEF / KEEP ADMIRING.

HUD & responsiveness

• Floating reef menu (Shop one-tap; ☰ fans out Codex + Achievements), a species ladder, pearls counter, tank bar, animated release-zone label, and a gear settings button above mute.
• The chrome compacts across all CrazyGames iframe ratios, with dedicated tiers for short/landscape embeds so nothing is oversized.