Zen Koi‘s got everything a relaxation gamer needs to chill out and play at their own pace. Relaxing music, gorgeous fish, a lax sense of progression.. it’s a treat if you want a game to wind down with.
While Zen Koi is fairly straightforward, there are a few things to bear in mind to make your time with the game more fruitful. Unlocking more koi patterns, learning strategies for nabbing particular prey, and making the most of your stats can all make your koi pond experience even more relaxing.
Here are some tips for you to have an even better time with developer LandShark’s fish-raising relaxation game. It’s a big pond out there!
Tip #1 – Breed and hatch multiple koi in one pattern to unlock the next
You receive a Sutato pattern koi at the start of the game, which is the first progression-based pattern of many. Sutato is a splotchy spotted pattern.
If you hatch four Sutato koi, you should start occasionally seeing Bux koi around your pond.
If you hatch four Bux koi, you’ll unlock the Linea pattern. Linea koi should start visiting your pond once you’ve met this requirement.
There are even more to unlock after the Linea, under the same requirements.
This is only one of the game’s methods of progression, and is often the most overlooked by new players for the more shiny features.
Most of the more flashy patterns are Collector’s Koi, which can be purchased for Dragon Points in the Koi Shop. Dragon Points are obtained by ascending your fish into dragons.
Tip #2 – Ascend your fish into dragons to receive Pearls and Dragon Points
If you want to get into Collector’s patterns, you need to put some effort into your koi raising.
Each fish ascends into a dragon once you reach its maximum pond size. This nets you one Pearl and one Dragon Point, both having their own uses.
Pearls are used to increase koi and egg slots, as well as purchase boosts and random fish in patterns you have unlocked.
Dragon Points are used to purchase Collector’s Koi. Some Collector’s Koi are available for long periods of time, while others are available for only a few days. Keep an eye on the Zen Koi Facebook to know when truly limited availability fish are in the shop.
Tip #3 – Know how to hunt each of your prey to optimize your koi’s growth
Each prey you come across in Zen Koi is needed to expand your pond at one point or another. Some prey is more difficult to catch than others, the biggest example being the ever-loathsome puffer fish.
Knowing each prey’s movement and strengths makes them easier to catch, which in turn makes it easier for you to ascend your koi into dragons. Efficiency is key to farming Dragon Points.
There isn’t anything special to catching these small green fish. They don’t try to run and don’t have any gimmicks.
These small tailed blue fish resemble tadpoles and are harder to catch when your speed is low. They are fastest when you are chasing them in a straight line. Try to come at them from the side while your speed is lower than 6 to avoid a long chase.
Amoeba are some of the easiest prey to catch but can be the most cumbersome if you let them attach to you. These will attach to any nearby fish they can catch, effectively slowing them down. That includes you. You can stay still until they fall off or try to remove them by swimming into some plants.
Jellyfish are also easy prey to lock your jaws into. Though they occasionally have short bursts of speed, their maximum speed is never very high. You need a lot of these for pond expansions and luckily hunting them is fairly easy.
Water bugs are also easy to catch, though they do make sharp turns that can be hard to deal with if your agility is low. These and amoeba tend to hang out in plants more than most other prey.
These luminous almost leaf-shaped fish are some of the faster prey you will come across and they have a secret weapon: they’re impossible to catch in plants. These will run away once you’ve targeted and are close enough to them and their speed is on the higher side. Target once close and don’t bother chasing them into plants.
The puffer fish is the only prey with a real defense mechanism: it puffs up when you’re coming. The only way to get around this is to approach the puffer fish directly from the back — approaching from the front and side just make it puff up. It’s easiest to grab these by holding your finger on the screen and manually guiding your koi to the back of the puffer fish instead of just tapping on it and hoping for the best.
These winged fish come up later during your expansions and prove to be one of the few tricky prey to catch. They can turn quickly and get a short burst of speed, which makes them hard to catch when you don’t have much agility. Just come at them from the side or after they turn and you have an easy catch.
These armored fish are actually the hardest to eat. Not because they’re fast or can turn quickly, but because you have to bite them multiple times before you can eat them. Some have more armor than others and can take more bites. It’s easiest to eat these by manually controlling your fish to quickly turn after you bite it, to get another bite quickly.
These double-ended prey are the last ones the game throws at you and they just happen to be the biggest source of EXP. They’re also very easy to catch. These are good for boosting your levels before you ascend.
Tip #4 – Know when to manually control your fish
It’s definitely more relaxing to tap on prey to catch them, but there are times when it’s better to manually control your koi via repeatedly tapping or dragging your finger along the direction you want to go.
Steering your koi yourself gives you more control over its route. This is great when you’re going after slippery prey or potential mates because you can try to predict where your target will turn and adjust your route accordingly. If your target makes a sharp turn after you tapped on it to follow, your fish will stop moving.
You almost always want to manually control your fish when you’re going after puffer or armored fish, and often when you’re going for the small blue fish when your speed is low. And of course, you need to if you want to catch up with or avoid other koi.
Tip #5 – Speed, Agility, or Rarity? Which stat should you focus on?
Rarity isn’t worth investing points in until you’ve already met your koi’s maximum Speed and Agility values.
Most people think Speed is the more worthy stat, but Agility’s effects are so helpful you need to invest in it. I’d recommend leveling them both mostly equally, with one point at level 1 going to Speed, one at level 2 going into Agility, and so on.
You may want to go one or two over the other during the first few levels if you’re having trouble, but generally it’s best to keep them mostly even until they’re maxed out.
Tip #6 – Auto-pilot to avoid having to look for runes
I don’t know if they’re called runes, but the spots you have to take your gems to look enough like runes.
You don’t have to search for a rune once you’ve gotten all the gems you need to expand your pond. Normally the game will auto-pilot you to the rune — but if you’re like me when I started and a bit hasty, you might not notice this time-saving feature.
If you’re not on auto-pilot, you can tap the icon at the bottom left side of the screen and tap “Expand pond” to make your way there with no further input. This was a huge relief when I noticed, and will be to you too if you’ve never noticed the auto-pilot.
Zen Koi isn’t difficult, but it can be trying if you’re trying to rack up those Dragon Points. Hopefully these tips will help make ascending your koi faster and easier to start your Collector’s koi collection.
