Village Gamer

It’s a Scum-Eat-Scum pond down here. NotSoft, an Oshawa-based independent game studio, has released its “frenetic eat-’em-up” game Pond Scum for Android phones and devices that puts players in control of a cannibalistic Scum Bubble attempting to become the dominant life form in a pond.

“We prototyped this game at TOJam #4 in 2009” said NotSoft’s Steven ‘bignobody’ Hill, referring to the three day game development jam held annually in Toronto since 2005, “but shelved it after the jam to finish another project.”

The game’s website details how the prototype went through various incarnations with different technologies and platforms before finally coming to Play on Google’s Android operating system.

“When I got my first Android phone in 2011 I started thinking about what a good fit PondScum would be for mobile devices because it’s fast paced and games are usually over in less than a minute or two – ideal for killing time on the commute without missing your stop” Hill explained.

The Free and Paid versions are available now from Google Play, with the Paid version including various “Pond Modes” that the player can select to modify the game play such as slower speeds and extra power-ups. Both versions feature an original soundtrack by Oshawa musician and composer Zach Smith.