Sometimes you hear a concept for a game and you think to yourself: “Yeah okay, that makes sense,” but then other times you’re presented with something that’s so ridiculous and seemingly out of nowhere that you can’t help but laugh and give it a try out of sheer curiosity. That’s exactly what happened with Crazy Fishing by Offpeak Games.
If that name sounds familiar it’s because the developer isn’t new to the VR space, as horseback medieval combat game Valiant, their debut effort, is still actively being worked on. But in the case of Crazy Fishing they’ve gone a very different route. This time you don’t need to rely on other people logging on to play with you and they’ve swapped a drab realistic art style for something bright, colorful, and bursting with personality.
The premise behind Crazy Fishing is that you’ll set out on an innocent fishing trip that takes a turn for the absolutely ridiculous very quickly. In addition to an assortment of relatively standard rods, lures, and fish to catch, there are also an assortment of ludicrous concoctions as well such as exploding fish, rocket fish, basketball fish, and more.
The act of pulling the rod back, flinging it forward, and releasing the trigger button on the HTC Vive controller feels great and incredibly accurate to what releasing a real rod is like. The visuals are crisp and clean and the scenic lake is a great sight to behold. Since it just came out in Early Access there is still a limited amount of content available, but more is planned to come soon.
Every four weeks a major update is planned, in addition to minor updates in between with any needed bug fixes. The roadmap includes at least 2 more worlds to visit, more hooks, rods, and secret Easter Eggs, and up to four or fives times as many fish that are already in the game. It’s a silly game that will likely continue to get even sillier as time goes on.
We’ve played other fishing games like Bait!, but it’s mobile VR only and the mechanics are a bit too simple and casual to really offer much depth and Ice Lakes really lacks the gameplay depth to scratch that VR fishing itch. Pro Fishing Challenge is fine for Rift with Touch owners, but even then is a bit bland. Crazy Fishing isn’t quite a simulation experience if you’re looking for that, but it makes up for it with plenty of humor and personality.
Fishing games aren’t for everyone, but when they’re this silly and fun it’s hard not to recommend giving it a try. Crazy Fishing is now available on Steam Early Access for HTC Vive at the price of $19.99 with a 20% launch discount.
David Jagneaux is the Games Editor at UploadVR and once considered himself a professional fisherman at the Lake Hylia Fishing Pond in Ocarina of Time. Follow him on Twitter for more.
