How to Fish Review

A Fishing Game That Forgot It Was a Fishing Game

How to Fish promises exactly what the title says, and then spends the rest of its runtime finding ways to break that promise in the funniest way possible. You start with a boat and a rod, and for a few minutes it genuinely plays like a fishing game: cast a line, reel in a catch, sell it for coins. Then the seagulls start stealing bodies out of the water, a boss made of pure aquatic nonsense shows up demanding to be shot with a shotgun you found in a crate, and the game reveals its actual identity as a co-op chaos sandbox wearing a tackle box as a costume. It's the same "friendslop" lineage as Content Warning and Peak: cheap, absurd, built to be screamed at while sitting next to (or voice-chatting with) other people, and largely indifferent to whether any of it makes sense.

That indifference to sense is the whole appeal. Boats crash into rocks for no discernible reason, fish occasionally aren't fish so much as vaguely fish-shaped projectiles to be flung at friends, and the ragdoll physics governing every character model turn simple tasks like docking a boat into slapstick set pieces. None of it would work without a genuinely game-y skeleton underneath, and to the developer's credit, that skeleton holds up: casting and reeling feel tactile enough to be satisfying on their own, and the later islands bolt on gunplay, bait tiers, and gear upgrades that give the loop just enough structure to avoid collapsing into pure chaos for chaos's sake.

Islands, Bosses, and a Content Ceiling That Arrives Fast

Structurally, How to Fish is built around a handful of islands, each escalating in absurdity and gating progress behind a boss fight that demands you've actually engaged with the fishing and gunplay systems rather than just goofing around. The bosses land as a genuine highlight for a lot of players: they're gimmicky in ways that reward learning their patterns, and beating one feels like a real payoff rather than a formality. The friendly fire, the flinging of caught fish at teammates, and the general slapstick of trying to coordinate a boat with three other people screaming different directions all do a lot of heavy lifting to keep sessions memorable.

The catch, so to speak, is how quickly you run out of island. Most players report finishing a full run in three to four hours, occasionally stretching a little longer chasing the full fish collection or a 100% completion pass, and there's a widely echoed sense that five islands, however inventive, simply isn't a lot of game for repeat visits once the achievements are cleared. Boss fights that felt fresh on the first island can start to feel like the same repetitive attack pattern by the fourth or fifth, and a handful of players flag physics and collision issues, like caught fish clipping through the floor near lava islands, that undercut the polish elsewhere. None of this sinks the experience, but it does mean How to Fish is built for one great weekend rather than a long-term hangout spot.

Built for Friends, Noticeably Thinner Alone

How to Fish wears its "better with friends" design on its sleeve, and the reviews back that up almost unanimously. Played solo, the game still functions, the fishing and gunplay hold together, the progression still ticks over, but a meaningful chunk of the personality drains out when there's nobody around to scream at when a boat crashes or a fish turns out to be a shoe. A smaller but consistent complaint is the lack of any public server browser or built-in matchmaking, which means the multiplayer experience is effectively limited to people you already know; solo players hoping to find a random crew of fellow fishermen have no in-game way to do so, and a few reviews specifically note being unable to get friends into their session at all.

The presentation matches the tone throughout: low-poly, cartoonish, and unpretentious in a way that suits the absurdist humor rather than working against it. It won't win any graphical showcases, and it isn't trying to. The soundtrack and sound design lean into the goofiness, and the writing (what little there is) knows exactly what kind of game it's in.

A Cheap, Chaotic Weekend Rather Than a Long-Term Game

At eight dollars, How to Fish is priced squarely for what it delivers: a short, loud, genuinely funny co-op romp best experienced in a single sitting or two with friends already committed to the bit. It isn't trying to be a deep fishing sim or a long-term live-service hangout, and reviewers who go in with that expectation set correctly tend to come away thoroughly satisfied, several explicitly calling it some of the best money they've spent on a game all year despite (or because of) its short runtime. Where it stumbles is longevity: the content ceiling arrives within a handful of hours, the lack of a server browser limits who you can actually play with, and a few lingering physics bugs occasionally puncture the chaos in the wrong way. Grab it with a group already planning a session, treat it as a one-and-done weekend rather than an ongoing game, and it's very hard not to have a good time.

Verdict

How to Fish figured out that the fastest way to make a memorable fishing game is to barely make it about fishing at all. The absurdist chaos, boat crashes, seagull kidnappings, and boss fights fought with shotguns land more often than they miss, and for eight dollars with a full group of friends, it's an easy recommendation for one loud, memorable weekend. A short runtime, boss fights that repeat their patterns a little too readily, some physics jank, and the absence of a server browser for solo players keep it from being more than that, but for what it sets out to do, it does it with more heart and personality than its low-poly presentation lets on.

Pros:

• Genuinely funny, chaotic co-op loop built around fishing, gunplay, and boat-based mayhem
• Boss fights on later islands are a real highlight with satisfying payoff
• Cheap asking price that matches the size and scope of the experience
• Distinct, unpretentious low-poly presentation that suits the absurdist tone

Cons:

• Content ceiling hits within three to four hours, with limited reason to return after
• No public server browser or matchmaking, effectively limiting multiplayer to existing friends
• Noticeably thinner and less memorable when played solo
• Boss fight patterns and some physics bugs (clipping, collision issues) wear thin on repeat islands