Where’s My Water?

Swampy, a sewer alligator who just wants a bath, was Disney’s first original character made for its mobile games. Creature Feep, a small team inside Disney Mobile led by Tim FitzRandolph, built Where’s My Water? around him, and it launched on iOS in September 2011 before reaching Android in North America on November 23, 2011.

What Is Where’s My Water?

Each level shows a cross section of underground dirt, with a supply of water near the top and a broken pipe leading to Swampy’s bathtub somewhere below. Touching the dirt digs it away, so you carve channels that guide the water down to the pipe. Water flows realistically, pooling in dips and spilling over edges, and once enough of it reaches the pipe the level is complete. Three rubber ducks sit along the way, and filling each one with water collects it, which unlocks new groups of levels.

How Water, Ooze And Steam Behave In Where’s My Water?

The game keeps adding fluids that interact with each other:

• Water is the basic fluid that Swampy needs
• Purple poison kills algae but ruins water it touches
• Ooze erodes dirt, destroys water on contact, turns algae to stone and explodes with poison
• Steam rises instead of falling and can be turned back into water

A good rule is to dig slowly and leave dirt walls in place until the water is moving, because one careless swipe can send it the wrong way. The Boiling Point chapter makes the steam puzzles the focus, and switches, balloons and conveyor belts add moving parts in later levels.

Swampy, Cranky, Allie And The Mystery Duck

The game launched with four chapters of 20 levels each and grew through free updates such as Change is Good in October 2011, Caution to the Wind in March 2012 and Out to Dry in June 2012. Cranky’s Story flips the goal, asking you to route purple poison to clear algae covering the grumpy alligator’s food. Mystery Duck, added in June 2012, replays earlier levels with Mega Ducks, Ducklings and a hidden Mystery Duck. Allie’s Story arrived on May 25, 2013, with Swampy’s girlfriend using steam to power her pipe organ.

The game won a 2012 Apple Design Award, and in March 2012 Apple announced that a download of the free version had been the 25 billionth app downloaded from its store. Disney built a small series around it, with Where’s My Perry? in June 2012, Where’s My Mickey? in June 2013 and Where’s My Water? 2 in September 2013, along with a 12-episode web series about Swampy.

Disney Still Sells Where’s My Water? On Google Play

The paid version is still listed on Google Play under Disney for $1.99, with optional in-app purchases from $0.99 to $4.99. The listing describes more than 500 puzzles across Swampy’s, Allie’s, Cranky’s and Mystery Duck stories. Its last update, though, came in July 2023, and some recent reviews describe physics problems on specific levels, such as water catching on a seesaw so that all three ducks cannot be collected, or switches and balloons not responding. Most players still rate it highly, at around 4.3 stars.

Who Should Try Where’s My Water? Now

Children and parents tend to get the most from it, since the puzzles are visual and there is no time pressure in most levels. Puzzle fans who enjoyed Cut the Rope will find similar care in the level design, with a stronger focus on fluid physics. Anyone installing it on a new phone should know that it has not been updated for a while, so a level that behaves oddly may be a known glitch rather than a mistake on your part.