Reef Rush

About Reef Rush

Reef Rush starts you as a tadpole in a coral reef where everything is hungry and most of it is bigger than you. Eat, grow, dodge, and by the end the reef is swimming away from you. It runs in a shared ocean: other real players are in the water with you, and the day, week and all-time boards are the same ones everybody else is climbing.

What separates it from the usual version of this game is that growing isn't purely good. Spitting mass at a rival damages them but costs you size, big fish bleed points over time so nobody runs away with a match, and the sprint that saves you from an ambush is the same sprint you needed to close a chase. Alongside the endless Reef mode there are five-minute Arena matches, team play, and a tank of your own to fit out.

How to play Reef Rush

Your fish follows the cursor, so steering is the whole of the movement — there is nothing to press to swim. Anything visibly smaller than you can be eaten by touching it; anything visibly larger ends the run on contact. The size comparison is done on the fish, not the name, so a long thin fish and a short fat one at the same score look different and behave the same.

Space sprints. It drains a meter that refills slowly, which makes it the one genuinely scarce resource in a run: the same burst that closes a chase is the burst you need to escape an ambush. Click or press F to spit mass — it damages a rival but costs you size, so it is a trade rather than a free attack. Q or right-click drops a net for crossing open water.

How to play Reef Rush

1. Open the page on a computer, phone or tablet. On a phone you steer by touch. On a computer the mouse steers, and Space, F and Q cover sprint, spit and net.
2. Pick the endless Reef mode, a five-minute Arena match or team play. If the live server cannot be reached, the game carries on in single player with AI fish.
3. Start as a tadpole and keep your fish moving towards the cursor. Pick off plankton and the smallest fish first to build up size.
4. Compare shapes before you commit. Anything visibly smaller is food and anything visibly larger ends the run, so judge each fish by its body, not its name.
5. Use Space to sprint in short bursts, click or press F to spit mass at a rival, and press Q or right-click to drop a net when you need to cross open water.
6. When something larger catches you, the run ends straight away. Your pearls are kept, and you start again as a fry.

Reef Rush tips and strategy

• Players are worth more than plankton. Plankton is safe but adds only a little. Once you are big enough, a smaller player is the fastest way to grow, so watch for them among the AI fish.
• Do not get comfortable at the top. Large fish bleed points over time, so a lead melts away if you stop eating. Keep hunting even after you have become the biggest thing on screen.
• Read shape, not labels. A long, thin fish and a short, fat one with the same score behave the same. Judge danger by how big something looks next to you.
• Let the sprint meter refill. It recovers slowly. Cruising for a while after a burst means the next ambush finds you with something left in reserve.
• Net before the open water. The net is there for crossing open water, so drop it with Q or a right-click as you set off rather than once you are already exposed halfway across.
• Spit to finish, not to start. Spitting costs you size, so save it for a rival that is already within reach of being eaten rather than opening a fight with it.

Modes and progression

The endless Reef mode is the classic version: you grow for as long as you survive, in an ocean that always has something bigger in it. Arena compresses that into five-minute matches, which suits a quick session when you only have a few spare minutes. Team play shifts the focus from pure survival to working with others in the same shared ocean.

Between runs, the pearls you earn stay with you, and there is a tank of your own to fit out. The day, week and all-time boards are shared with everyone else in the reef, so the time you put in sits on the same rankings other players are climbing.