In Puff Puff, the first iPhone game from new indie devs 6th Mega, players take on the role of a spiny pufferfish  — that’s diodon holocanthus to you science types — as they navigate undersea dangers.

Pufferfish players use a special pinch-and-stretch mechanic to maintain buoyancy (and, ok, to watch your pufferfish expand) and float through the ocean, avoiding dangers like coral reefs and hungry tiger sharks, and eating tasty sea urchins for power-ups. Different play modes offer different challenges, and scores can be shared via OpenFeint leaderboards.

Here’s the supercute gameplay video:

The finances of an independent game are usually the least interesting part, a neccessary evil in making a game, but 6th Mega has an interesting story. Puff Puff was funded when 6th Mega put out a call for investors on Prosper.com, and then received small amounts of start-up capital from many individual lenders.

Now that the game’s complete, 10% of the profits from Puff Puff’s ingame coral reefs will be donated to organizations that help restore real coral reefs, and support 6th Mega’s social mission.

[Source: 6th Mega]