In Bubble Safari Ocean, you're still clearing a path, but this time it's on the water and allows the passage not of trucks, but of sailing ships. Similarities to the original game - Bubble Safari also abound in the match-three/bubble-popping levels, but your motivation for clearing bubbles is, admittedly, more personal this go-round. Instead of a manic monkey, you control a crazed crab. This unfortunate crustacean has lost its babies to bands of roving bubbles and your job is to pop them and free the little angels.

Bubble Safari Ocean makes use of many of Bubble Safari's mechanics, including various purchasable power-ups and the ability to spin for a Boost Bubble. Power-ups are bought with coins earned by clearing levels and consist of things like more accurate aim or extra bubbles. Boost Bubbles can't be bought outright, but are earned as you play the game. The Boost meter builds up the more bubbles you fire, and when it's full, you're given the option to spin for a Bubble. Boost Bubble come in different types, like Paint Bubbles (that turn every bubble they hit into the same color for easier matching), Trident Bubbles (that shoot lightning), and a range of other highly powerful varietals.

Another difference is that the game's difficulty ramps up more quickly than Bubble Safari, and that means you need to either get really good, really fast at strategic bubble popping, or be ready to pull your wallet out. Power-ups are available "on demand" and cost "pearls," which is the game's term for real-world currency. Five dollars will buy you 40 pearls (the cost is cheaper the more you buy at once) and the average power-up is 12 pearls or around $1.40. At that rate, it's likely that Bubble Safari Ocean will cost the less-patient or less-skilled players a good chunk more money to play than the original Bubble Safari.