The History of PVZ: The game before Plants VS Zombies

[@nullkazune2025]

Man, Insaniquarium was part of my childhood

[@Jaxv3r]

Same, I remember getting scared the shit out of the monsters that spawned from it

[@quvuergatulyai980]

No it wasn't

[@UlyssesK402]

​@@quvuergatulyai980 Based on...? A lot of us were young enough for it. Myself included. Maybe it's more obscure today, but it wasn't quite as unknown back then.

[@theotv5522]

Dinner Dash, Wedding Dash, Dino & Aliens, Zuma... God I miss my childhood

[@thexwhats2989]

I still got my disc so it's part of my life

[@PearangeProductions]

I'd reccomend taking a look at the other games PopCap has made as well. The PvZ achievements screen actually features a few of them, being Bejeweled, Peggle, Chuzzle, Bookworm, and Zuma. I'd especially reccomend Chuzzle, as it's not talked about as much as other PopCap games, despite being a really solid puzzle game.

[@zukratzandljoe]

I played Zuma with my mother as a toddler

[@TaxiBot]

Chuzzle was developed by Raptisoft and Popcap published it

[@PearangeProductions]

@@TaxiBot I didn't know that, thanks for the fun fact. Still, Chuzzle is SEVERELY underrated and I'd lovs to see it be recognized by more people.

[@Kamirasu]

bookworm was great, fond, fond memories

[@Grane1234]

I LOVED chuzzle, especially its picture match mode

[@acupoflatte8594]

I LOVED Insaniquarium deluxe ver. One of the first games I've ever played, it was so interesting. It still lives rent free in my head.

[@Tyranid_HiveMind]

Insaniquarium tank 2 theme

[@NeoBing]

Honestly, it’s interesting learning about Insaniquarium (holy crap it’s way more unhinged than I thought it was) and how it led into PvZ. A little (big) part of me wants to get a video on Popcap before PvZ as a whole but that’s kind of outside the scope of this series. I can only hope.

[@UlyssesK402]

Looks like Creeps is better at finding fridge logic than many of us. In this case, fridge *horror.* One could say, his ability to find fridge logic is... Creepy. I am not sorry.

[@LUCAS420BLZ]

Pvz was originally going to be plants vs Aliens as seen in insaniquarium The thing I miss about old popcap Is the fun and soul it had before being bought out and destroyed by out of touch morons

[@cheesy713]

Something I love about PopCap's earlier games (aside from their incredible charm and classic 2000s graphics and UI) is how there's always something to look forward to. Even if you're mainly doing the same thing for each level, in games like PvZ, Insaniquarium, and Bookworm Adventures, every level unlocks something new for you to use, and you're constantly greeted with new enemies and gameplay gimmicks. I wish more games played like old PC games like these. We need more of that 2000s vibe.

[@revimfadli4666]

They also have solid postgames

[@crimsonzone8984]

You know, PvZ1 has a mini game called "zombiquarium". It plays almost exactly like insaniquarium where you feed the snorkel zombies with brains. There's even a scuba helmet at the background just like insaniquarium.

[@Chuusuisetsujojutsu]

There’s footage of zombiquarium at the end of the video

[@DreamingNightmares]

I used to enjoy filling the screen with millions of zombies and then after a few minutes of spamming the buy button, I watch them all die one after the other in a chain reaction before buying the trophy before the last one dies.

[@GNVS300]

If only there was a pet like Gold Magnet on this game, then it'd be one of the best ones

[@SyRose901]

Stinky the Snail makes its first appearance as a coin collector here. But yes, Gold Magnet would be godlike. Stinky also does not have its Chocolate powerup state at all in Insaniquarium, he's not a strong money collector, sadly.

[@sebastiankulche]

15:19 Fortunately, like most Popcap games, there is an HD port of the game. Unfortunately, like most Popcap games, even the developers probably forget about it. Its only on IOS and is so hard to find.

[@freezasama5802]

I grew up with insaniquariam deluxe it's my childhood game and was very special to me I loved the game soo much I purchased it and it truly captured the magic of what pvz was before EA purchased the company and how they changed their games and the love and effort they put into them

[@helpkirbyhasagun_2047]

THE ORIGIN OF STINKY THE SNAIL?!? I had no clue he originated from somewhere else

[@TonyTechnic]

As a long time Insaniquarium fan, you have no idea how happy this video made me.

[@sako2239]

I still remember grinding Insaniquarium when My chair started wobbling alot, at that time my dumb kid brain juat thought my Dad's shacking my chair so I ignored it but then suddenly my Mom came in my room and literally yank me out of there to an open space outside our house. I still remember that I never realized it was actually an earthquake that happen after like 3 years later when I learned it from class, Kids ignorance sometimes make it look like they have balls of steel ngl.

[@Gone_Rogue_was_taken]

My dad had insanaquarium on his computer, and I loved it.

[@_pines4414]

I played Insaniquarium when I discover the existence of this game in 2018 and I really enjoyed. I don't think it has a replayability like PvZ, but it was fun. The problem I remember is that the levels get really longer after a while and your hand starts asking for a break.

[@herren1809]

I remember playing on notebook with my sisters When alien come out every one will go crazy to kill it, One got the mouse One got the touch pad One got the mouse remote 😂

[@Felasonic12]

Hearing that fan-projects take long is one of the hard to swallow pills.

[@fundimension1511]

Howdy Thanks for the fun video, I was horribly burned to death and now my skeleton is typing this for me. Your videos are great, and your the best!

[@PopatoYT]

I do like how insaniquarium is referenced in pvz 1 like stinky and zombiquarium

[@matthaisstupidus]

Honestly the topic of "games and products studios/devs made before what they becam popular for" is so interesting to me, like PvZ with Insaniquarium, Gamefreak (the guys behind goddamn POKEMON) and Pulseman & Yoshi (the game, not the character) or all of Toby Fox' old shenanigans that clearly influenced Undertale and Deltarune

[@democracydemocracy8026]

Id reccomend looking at "The game klei entertainment doesn't want you to play", or Eets then by OrangeE. Its very interesting for me since i played Eets when it came out.

[@matalinoe4059]

Wow! I loved the video. It made me seriously consider playing Insaniquarium (Even if it looks outdated). I think you should consider expanding to other games too; I'm sure your viewer base would absolutely love it.

[@voxpop9]

Fun Fact: Zen tank can actually be used as your screen saver so u get to see ur fish swimming around as a screen saver.

[@maximilianosalvador9559]

And if you place pets that feed your guppies and collect the shells you can even be farming currency. The true OG idle game

[@verysadcatc7897]

Man, my fingers hurts alot when playing this game.

[@Seafoam2]

I was actually born four years after deluxe came out, so I literally have no nostalgia for this. Still, it’s very interesting and I love seeing the parallels to pvz.

[@tessenary_]

i would love if you started expanding and making videos of other popcap games!

[@ruiigrit]

PVZ had aliens as a concept design too

[@TweedleDeem]

I love Insaniquarium, I wish a sequel would be made. the last time I replayed it I just used cheat engine to play with every pet fish simultaneously lol.

[@ketertube]

There should more videos about Popcap games that aren't PVZ, there's soo many gems good as the original plant vs zombies like Feed Frenzy, Zumba, Peggle, Iggle Pop, Heavy Weapons etc.

[@TheKoobik1]

I remember I have a disk for pc with a lot of PopCap games,and among all those games I remember playing A LOT of Peggle, Insaniquarium, Adventure of Bookworm(and that game was so hard for me due to English not being my first language) and Pizza Frenzy. God,these childhood memories are so good

[@mystrallsnowlight]

You forgot to mention that gummy can be promoted to king after extended period of drug addiction which poops diamond

[@JohnSmith-me4ik]

My introduction to PC gaming was Insaniquarium Deluxe ❤❤❤

[@Noiwillnot2222]

wow you unlocked a childhood memory i remembreed playing this game at somepoint as a kid but not what it was called for years and now i know

[@mushboi6965]

I love this game! I thought it was more well known..

[@zuzukuzu5427]

I love Creeps' content, this guy's amazing.

[@mysteryl5598]

An extremely nostalgic and childhood game for me, I played this way before I played PvZ and when I saw that PvZ referenced this game in one of the minigames, it blew my mind at the time. Still holds a special place in my heart. Also the shell grind was definitely annoying but I eventually found out that if you go to the fish tank and set up a lot of fish that earns you lots of shells added with your shells collectors then turn on screensaver mode, the shells collected from the fish tank during the screensaver would add to your shell counter. It was by and far the easiest/best way to farm for shells as you basically don't have to do anything in order to get it. Just leave your CPU on, let the screensaver run then comeback to loads of shells. That's the best way to get the bonus pets :P Also if you do unlock all 4 pets, you then can buy an upgrade that allows you to have even more than 3 pets in the tank at one time. Very useful post game reward for unlocking all the pets cx

[@PencilKing21]

I absolutely love insaniquarium delux. I spent so many hours in that game on my little dell laptop, giving myself carpel tunnel clicking like a maniac. I had an aversion to using anything but guppies for some reason. Certainly made it a bit harder, but I was a very patient kid.

[@dragonsswarm1987]

Is this going to be part of a "pvz history" playlist?

[@reubzzz7227]

love how Fan is still making whacky games about animals. like rn he's making one revolving around wombat square poop

[@GM-reaper]

this is my childhood here. I forgot this games name and never found it until now. thanks

[@v.i.pflame7607]

Insaniquarium, JPOG, and zoo tycoon was like 60% of my entire childhood.

[@ItsPForPea]

You should've mentioned at least that Plants vs. Zombies used to have Aliens from Insaniquarium as enemies before decided on having zombies as the enemies. Maybe you'll put this in the next video idk

[@raptor3406]

Bomb fish? You want it?

[@ultimapower6950]

It’s yours my friend, as long as you have enough rubies.

[@ThePikminCaptain]

Isaniquarium is a good game, I will go back to it from time to time Also the alien music is a bop

[@digojez]

Common Old Popcap W

[@hauntedastolfobeanplushie1956]

Fun Fact: In some early prototype images of pvz 1, you can see Sylvester (the tank 1 ghoul-like boss) appears as a placeholder for the zombies and on some concept art as a main enemy (before zombies were introduced).

[@MKG_]

İ think everyone has some memories of playing insaniquarium in their childhood

[@mihf772]

Are we ever getting more of the History of PVZ? I really enjoyed this video when it first came out and really want a continuation.

[@ryanwagner3890]

I remember seeing a video about this game like a long time ago, but I remember literally nothing about it lol.

[@DaKingBread]

The history of Popcap is so amazing, thanks to them I had a childhood.

[@shtj6761]

I played it a lot in my childhood. I love this carpal tunnel syndrome simulator ❤

[@StoMoComedoPro]

Cool, seems quite interesting. I am a fan of you; your humour and that. PVZ is the goat.

[@eightteentwo]

Man, I remember playing Insaneiquarium on my grandmother's old Windows 2000 desktop. That desktop doesn't work anymore (and I think has finally been junked), but the power button my grandfather made when its power button died never stopped working.

[@knuxchux]

Wow! I was actually interested in making a pvz informational series akin to Chris McFeely’s Transformers: The Basics (I even wrote a few scripts). I guess you had the same idea! That’s pretty neat

[@javxion6576]

This game was a HUGE part of my childhood and a Huge source of trauma. The first level scared the shit out of me because you don't have any pets and it scared me it the aliens appeared and I was alone (even though they don't). And Cyrax battle would trigger the shit out of me and my mother had to play it. I remember when I beated him once when I was 10 after preparing myself mentally for hours. It was the most epic moment of my short life at the time. And im so sad I never got Walter, the last pet.

[@Yipper64]

this game was my childhood, so the fact that plants vs zombies is related to it is interesting since I never really had much interest in it.

[@3LDINO]

Big bob Just the greates fish name of all time

[@victorleppas3067]

I remember this game, as PvZ1 I loved those games so much. PvZ1 is always a game I can go into

[@customsffny]

I remember captain sauce playing Insta aquarium, like 5 or 6 years ago.

[@markludwiglabadan6161]

I was obsessed with Insaniquarium.. That It literally break my mouse on clicking those coin just to get the final creature that can turn into anything!🤣

[@seansmith6255]

I like the idea of a retrospective series

[@sinachiniforoosh]

This is kinda random but I was just thinking that pvz could’ve benefited by adding a new mechanic, specifically breeding the plants to unlock new ones, in the garden. The plants’ appearances and similarities already lend themselves to such a mechanic, and it fits in… REALLY well with the lore of the game, thin as it is.

[@EpikBirb]

...Breeding? Please don't put that image in my head

[@sinachiniforoosh]

@@EpikBirb bestie they're plants 🥲

[@EpikBirb]

@@sinachiniforoosh You're mother

[@sinachiniforoosh]

@@EpikBirb was trying to dunk on you then I realized some jokes write themselves and you've done a good job

[@revimfadli4666]

​@@EpikBirb you're child of a mother

[@teo2175]

I love Blip, he's the best!

[@bread-ur3sv]

Watch next video being just about zombiquarium

[@ultimapower6950]

How will this affect Neptuna’s Legacy?

[@BoxxylovesU]

OMFG I LOVE THIS GAME! I MISS HAVING CARPAL TUNNEL!!!!!!!! I used to play this game so much alongside PVZ 1 and Bookworm Adventures Deluxe!

[@tuxedobird]

Insaniquarium goes hard, PVZ history aside

[@valier_3437]

I remember losing to the double headed alien so many times when i was like 6. I got so mad i deleted the game... Well the shortcut of course cause i thought it was the application

[@kwasm2801]

Insaniquarium is one of of my favorite games, been thinking of making a fan game if anyone wants it

[@YoLouis]

I don't like how insaniquarium is more not popular than pvz. Insaniquarium is very well designed than pvz. 3d designs and you know. ALIENS! It's actually very better than some zombies. I know pvz is very good but would you want a fish simulator to not get popular? I mean like. Some kids who know pvz dont even know insaniquarium but if i was they're parent i would tell them about insaniquarium and let them play it on my hard work laptop that has games. I actually also played this on my tablet with a apk. Clearly this game is very good.

[@hansaakurasa4377]

Its because of the genre

[@YoLouis]

@@hansaakurasa4377 i always forgot about game genres. some people don't even talk about them anymore. [Sometimes.]

[@bweeeeniee1131]

The amount of nostalgia I got from this video is astonishing

[@Memokeeper]

Mannnn i missed Insaniquarium and Iggle Pop and Talismania...they shape my childhood and if can i would to see all Popcap's old generation games come back to life😌😌

[@Captinalt-q7e]

6:26 Funnily enough I beat the challenge levels by using only guppies just because they were easier to protect AND can be spammed

[@aaleven4728]

Insaniquarium my beloved

[@wulvenr4290]

I remember insaniquarium being install in my dinosaur of a pc. But only a trial version. So I only had 1 hour to play the game, before it would reset

[@user-rx6zi4ui9y]

I made a game inspired by Insaniquarium on scratch. It turned out very nice. I used to play Insaniquarium all the time in a kid camp on a cruise ship lol

[@aditkumar4644]

i remember once i misread a zzero at the end of the egg that you buy in the game to win and that too at the last level. so i proseeded to play that last level for hours only to realise that now i have a billion money and i can buy the egg shell1. i misclicked twice only to realise that i have a billion more money than required

[@jaredgovender6864]

this was my favourite pc game growing up

[@mkks4559]

Insaniquarium is actually insane: Here's why

[@soappoolstick6970]

my childhood game

[@yashbhavaraju5511]

I actually remember an asset mod for Insaniquarium Deluxe that replaces fish with aliens and vice versa.

[@joemama-bl1zz]

Guppies IRL have sex constantly and give birth a lot

[@BoiiSalisius]

Bruh, I remembered broking my mouse back then from spamming to kill those aliens, good old days.

[@RueTheVee]

I remember insaniquarium deluxe i used to play it a lot in the past since it was a part of a gamehouse collection already in the computer i had in the past fun times

[@theprinceofawesomeness]

Man, i remember playing both the insaniquarium

[@tempestindustries9446]

Insaniquarium was so massive to my childhood 🤣

[@amilavxilmen5632]

Ah Ibsaniquarium, have fond memories of that shit

[@Bayoll]

I love insaniquarium, this game is my childhood

[@LoueyThePerson]

BRO I JUST STARTED BINGING YOUR CHANNEL HELL YEAH

[@LiterallyAlive]

Plants versus Zombies is, how obvious, the game with plants… is it?

[@donanilao7724]

How dare you forget the Zombies.

[@mystrallsnowlight]

Wait, it about just plant? I thought it was farming-rpg genre, like Rune Factory

[@LiterallyAlive]

@@mystrallsnowlight it’s joke about creeps 1st april video

[@UlyssesK402]

Whaaaaat? Noooooo! I thought it was about bacteria and asteroids! Siiiilly meeeeeeeeee!

[@mystrallsnowlight]

@@LiterallyAlive oh wait, somebody did created that? Dang I'm late

[@silverdashhd644]

you forgot Bookworm Adventures NEEEEEEEEERD :v

[@joshualeespiny7172]

You can't forget the most important thing of all: this is where Stinky the Snail originated

[@maxtube1952]

Y'know, it's kinda funny how you mentioned Stinky the Snail a couple times but never brought up that that was straight-up ripped from Insaniquarium and put into PvZ as the Auto-collector in the Zen Garden. Regardless - all of Popcap's games *before EA* have this...amazing charm to them that I can't quite describe. So it's pretty nice to see them gettin' some coverage. PvZ is sensational, but all of George Fan's work deserves praise.

[@wasquash]

i remember insaniquarium

[@nwchef]

i don't even know why i had it i just kinda did and it was so cool dude

[@hatsunemikufortnite]

chuzzle review when

[@Valome_Virtual_Gravedigger]

If the topic of the history your on about is before the actual topic, does it make it a prequel history?

[@aishawitchi]

This game somehow scared me when I was younger lmao. I think it was the "aliens."

[@RoboMuskVsLizardZuckerberg]

You forgot the royal guppies. It's carnivore with extra step and without eating other guppies.

[@scribblecreations9733]

I watched this video and downloaded insaniquarium and it is seriously fun

[@zedbee2736]

Seeing this gameplay really just reminds me of Feeding Frenzy and Feeding Frenzy 2

[@Evil_Incorporate]

5:27 ant eaters in the corner like:😶

[@Lizardqoo200]

i loved the feeding frenzing game it made my child hood man

[@thealpacaofsupport258]

Revisitated Insaniquarium a few months ago. It was a really fun experience! But i had to give myself rests from that game because the amount of clicking made my hand tense and hurt, so i just played a level or two a day It was a really grest experience revisiting a game i enjoyed so much when i was little, but yeah, it destroys your hand jgnsnfns I didn't even wanna attempt any of the post game content from fear that playing it any longer would do real damage to my hand lol