How to Fish: a four-player fishing simulator where you kill the fish, sell it and gamble the takings

The premise is refreshingly honest: you were drinking on a boat, you crashed into a small island, and to get home you are going to have to learn how to fish.

The whole game is in that sentence. This is not a contemplative simulation, it is a physics comedy where you make money by any means available.

The loop, stated without ceremony

The studio sums up the programme itself in a way that is hard to improve on: fish fish, kill fish, sell fish.

You start with no gear and no weapons. You earn money to buy better gear, better weapons and the rest. You complete quests and fight bosses to unlock new islands, where the creatures are more dangerous and the gear is better.

That is a very classic progression structure applied to a far less classic subject. Unlocking islands through bosses gives a rhythm and a reason to upgrade, which many fishing games lack as you circle the same lake.

What lifts it

The physics. This is a physics-based fishing game, and that is what makes the actions interesting. The difference between a good cast and a bad one is not a power bar, it is a trajectory.

Trick shots. Landing a trick shot pays more. That mechanic changes your whole relationship with the game: you are not only trying to catch, you are trying to catch with style, because style pays. It is the kind of rule that turns a repetitive activity into a playground.

Gambling. You can wager your takings for more. It fits the general tone, that of a game where things went off the rails and kept going.

Collecting. There is a rare variant of every fish to hunt, giving a long-term objective to anyone who wants to stay past the story.

Multiplayer. The game plays one to four. That is clearly where it shows its worth: a physics comedy is best shared, and trick shots have far more flavour when somebody is watching you miss.

The reservations

The first risk is the one every game in this format carries: repetition. Fish, sell, upgrade, repeat holds up as long as the islands genuinely bring something new. If the next creatures are just tougher versions of the last, interest drops.

The second is the balance between humour and game. A title resting this much on tone needs a solid foundation beneath it, or the joke burns out in two hours.

The third is numbers. Like every small co-op game, this one will be far better with three friends than alone, and its lifespan will depend on those friends' availability more than on its content.

The game launches today, developed by Dazed Games, with no community reviews yet.

What sets the score

It rewards a simple idea well held, physics that make the action interesting, and above all the trick shot rule that turns fishing into a playground rather than a profitable chore. Progression through islands and bosses gives a direction the genre often neglects.

It accounts for a repetition risk inherent to the format, humour that will have to go the distance, and an experience clearly designed for a group.

For an evening with four people, it is a very good pick. Solo, it is more debatable.

Do you fish for the catch or for the cast? Tell us on the InsertCoins Discord.