Rank The Fishing Mini-Games

[Ionathus]

Fishing in video games! Why is it so weirdly commonplace, and who did it best?

Below are all the ones I can think of, in no particular order. Add your own if you don’t see it.

LoZ: Link’s Awakening
My first ever game with fishing. Thusly, I was a clueless little kid and completely failed at it. But the 2D-style sidescroller visuals were fun! And the need to actually get close to a fish and lure it gradually with little taps on the line made it feel pretty unique.

LoZ: Ocarina of Time
Never liked this one much. But I do love how cinematic they made it with the new, flashy 3D graphics. A decent time waster but it never got me…hooked

LoZ: Wind Waker
Somehow this is the Zelda game with the least amount of fishing. Basically relegated to a mapmaking task for each section of ocean. Oh also you could do acupuncture target practice on the cartographer fish with your bow & arrows? A weird entry for sure.

LoZ: Breath of the Wild
Not so much a “fishing” minigame as a “dynamite fishing” minigame, but there’s something incredibly satisfying about watching eight Mighty Porgies float to the surface after a single sheikah bomb.

RuneScape
Like everything else in the game, you click a thing and watch your person do an activity until your inventory is full of fish. Riveting.

Spiritfarer
I really like this one! Don’t get me wrong, it’s challenging…maybe the hardest one on this list. But it was unique and the animations were very smooth. The focus is less on twitchy reaction times and more on pulling for as long as you can -- if you pulled too long, the line would snap. If you didn't pull for long enough, you'd never make progress. Pretty challenging to strike the right balance. Also, very cinematic to fish off the back of your massive ship as it sails across the world.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Extremely straightforward. Press the button when the bobber truly sinks, but don't get faked out by an early nibble. Still consumed my attention very, very easily. Simple and aesthetically pleasing.

Hades
Also extremely straightforward, even more so. Nice that you can watch for the giant flash, and also nice that you can press the button at the exact right timing for a "perfect catch." Other than that, it was largely extraneous. The fish just give you extra upgrade materials, and it feels very disconnected from the rest of the game, probably the most disconnected one on my list. Zagreus is in a hurry to escape the underworld -- why is he pausing to fish? He doesn't really get anything out of it.

Minecraft
Aside from some truly exquisite exploits that you could set up with the fishing mechanics for awhile there, this one's also pretty straightforward. A far greater wealth of options and potential rewards, which is nice, and the fish themselves were always useful.

Stardew Valley
Holy cow, is the fishing in this game frustrating. Especially at the start, but it never REALLY goes away. Sometimes it feels like the game's fishing mechanics are deliberately trolling you. Unfortunately fishing is one of the core pillars of the gameplay so you can't really get away from it. Possibly the one that feels most like a chore, which is a shame because the rest of the game is so cozy and rewarding.

Subnautica
Weirdly unintuitive. Possibly the hardest thing to do in this game, controls-wise, is to chase down and capture a single small-sized fish. Your movement just isn't designed for it, and it can make the early game a little aggravating until you're no longer reliant on Bladderfish for water supply. Later in the game, you can get a stasis rifle or an "attract-o-matic" that trivializes the capturing of small fish, but taking a bad gameplay experience and trivializing it just isn't the same as making an actually-fun-to-use mechanic in the first place.

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That's my list. I considered giving them rankings in different categories but ultimately chose to keep it open-ended for sake of discussion. Fishing minigames are everywhere in gaming and that's funny to me, for some reason. What do you think about these games, or other fishing minigames that I didn't mention?

[JNAProductions]

What about when it's not a mini-game, but just the game?

*Gives Big The Cat the side-eye*

[Rynjin]

My ranking is usually that any game with a mandatory (either truly mandatory or "necessary to get an important upgrade item") fishing minigame gets an instant letter grade deducted from its base score lol.

[Ionathus]

My ranking is usually that any game with a mandatory (either truly mandatory or "necessary to get an important upgrade item") fishing minigame gets an instant letter grade deducted from its base score lol.

Any particular offenders you want to call out?

[Zevox]

My ranking is usually that any game with a mandatory (either truly mandatory or "necessary to get an important upgrade item") fishing minigame gets an instant letter grade deducted from its base score lol.

Yeah, something like that. Mini-games in general need to be handled with care, and fishing mini-games more than most are prone to being boring or frustrating - because of course they are, they're based on fishing. I have no idea why they pop up so much, it seems like a bizarre thing to want to include in most games to my me personally.

The best-case scenario I can think of for them is me coming away from them feeling "that was fine, I don't mind it;" the example that comes to mind for me being Fire Emblem: Three Houses. That one's quick, mostly easy, there's no danger of just sitting there for a while and hooking nothing, it's very optional but can get you some moderately useful stuff; just totally inoffensive.

I honestly hard pressed think of an example of a worst-case scenario that I hated, probably because I just didn't play those much, or they're from old games I've generally forgotten about. One that may be an example that comes to mind is Tales of Arise - I vaguely remembered a recent-ish Tales game having a bad fishing mini-game, and some googling tells me that one had one at least. I know I did not play it much, no more than once or twice, so it must have been bad to me, but I couldn't explain why to you now, because I barely remember it exists.

For ones Ionathus listed that I do remember:
- Ocarina of Time: Not great, but at least manageable once you learn that the big fish is always in the same spot. It can definitely be extremely frustrating though, as the execution is clunky.
- Hades: Mostly fine, though I do dislike how tacked-on it is and how easy it is to miss entirely on the rare occasions that a fish is even available to try and catch. I really don't understand why they put it in at all.

Don't remember the Link's Awakening and Wind Waker fishing games, and haven't played the other games on your list.

[Wookieetank]

FFXIV: Has the only fishing mini-game (more side activity) I actually enjoy, and has a decent amount of variety to it. If it's a liquid (or the void of space), you can fish in it. Lakes, rivers, oceans, chemical spills, lava, waterfalls, cloud seas, undersea fishing, spearfishing, and probably a couple more I can't conjure at the moment. Also has some delightfully off the wall names for the marine life.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Fishing (Salvaging) was okay, if mostly boring.

Stardew Valley & Core Keeper: Very similar (near identical to me) fishing, and more annoying than fun.

Breath of Fire Series: My brother for some unfathomable reason quite enjoyed the fishing in these, they were the single worst parts of the games for me.

[Batcathat]

The only ones I've played on the list are Minecraft and Stardew Valley (and I can't think of any others either). Despite playing a ton of Minecraft I've never fished much in it, the fishing is just kinda... there. The one in Stardew Valley was super frustrating to begin with but once I got the hang of it, I did find it oddly satisfying (keeping track of what fish you can catch when and where is just annoying though).

[Rynjin]

Any particular offenders you want to call out?

FF XIV is one that pissed me off because I was enjoying the process of leveling Culinarian right up to the point I was forced to start fishing my own fish to progress the class quests and then I just gave up because it was so dull and tedious.

Ocarina needing it for one of the bottles is also something I'm not a fan of.

[Zevox]

Ocarina needing it for one of the bottles is also something I'm not a fan of.

You didn't need it for one of the bottles. It was for getting a piece of heart as a kid, and the gold scale (only needed for another piece of heart, IIRC) as an adult. You're probably thinking of the bottle in Lake Hylia, but that only needed the Silver Scale, which you get from the Zoras' diving minigame.

[Rynjin]

You didn't need it for one of the bottles. It was for getting a piece of heart as a kid, and the gold scale (only needed for another piece of heart, IIRC) as an adult. You're probably thinking of the bottle in Lake Hylia, but that only needed the Silver Scale, which you get from the Zoras' diving minigame.

Coulda sworn you needed to fish for a bottle but it's been a really long time since I played Ocarina. I'll defer to your more recent knowledge.

[Zevox]

Coulda sworn you needed to fish for a bottle but it's been a really long time since I played Ocarina. I'll defer to your more recent knowledge.

Maybe you're just thinking of another Zelda game, then? That sounds vaguely familiar, but I know that wasn't the case in Ocarina. In Ocarina the four bottles were at Lon Lon Ranch, Kakariko Village, Lake Hylia, and the last was a reward for Gold Poe hunting.

Edit: Ah, found it, thank you Google. Looks like fishing to get a bottle was in Twilight Princess, and the Switch remake of Link's Awakening.

[Spacewolf]

FF15s fishing minigame was pretty fun. Fit with that games theme of the side stuff being better than the main adventure.

[OracleofWuffing]

The gameplay behind fishing in Terraria is straightforward like Minecraft, but Terraria offers many more reward options. I'm... Not too fond of fishing games, so I'm happy that it's optional. Well, okay, depending on how you define "Playing Terraria," it's arguably optional. The fishing NPC deserves all the hate he has coming, though.

[ShadowShinobi]

Breath of Fire Series: My brother for some unfathomable reason quite enjoyed the fishing in these, they were the single worst parts of the games for me.

Regarding the BoF series: The 1st game had no fishing. You just used the pole to get treasure from wells. I did like the hunting aspect, though. In the 2nd game, there was actual fishing, but it was rather simplistic. The hunting improved greatly, though (I was annoyed that I lost my party's archer so early, and for so long). In the 3rd game, hunting was done away with, but the fishing got much better. The fish acted as a variety of healing items and, could also be traded with the merchants of the fish people (I forget what they're called), for weapons & armor that couldn't be normally attained, or wouldn't show up in shops, until later.

[Bohandas]

The fishing in Dredge is very good, although that's a game that's about fishing as its primary focus

[veti]

Surprised no-one has mentioned Pokemon yet... Granted, it's not much of a mini-game, but it's "fishing".

I enjoy most mini-games, and most incarnations of fishing are no exception. I appreciate that the devs took time to embed a whole other game within their main work. But I would make an exception for Skyrim's "fishing" game, which is annoying on multiple levels, not least the fact that it's now embedded into the blasted game and nothing short of high-grade, time-intensive modding can get rid of it.

[Razade]

Surprised no-one has mentioned Pokemon yet... Granted, it's not much of a mini-game, but it's "fishing".

I wouldn't call it a mini-game at all honestly. It's just a random encounter with a % chance of happening.

[Psyren]

My ranking is usually that any game with a mandatory (either truly mandatory or "necessary to get an important upgrade item") fishing minigame gets an instant letter grade deducted from its base score lol.

Agreed, I hate mandatory fishing. Hades gets a pass because it's truly optional (well, right up until you need Poseidon approval for the story anyway) and it only takes a few seconds.

Hades
Also extremely straightforward, even more so. Nice that you can watch for the giant flash, and also nice that you can press the button at the exact right timing for a "perfect catch." Other than that, it was largely extraneous. The fish just give you extra upgrade materials, and it feels very disconnected from the rest of the game, probably the most disconnected one on my list. Zagreus is in a hurry to escape the underworld -- why is he pausing to fish? He doesn't really get anything out of it.

Couple of reasons, two of which are quite spoilery:

1) Zagreus knows in-universe that his greatest hope of breaking out lies in increasing the power of his Infernal Arms, his Keepsakes, and his Mirror of Night. He doesn't mind pausing for a few seconds in the short term if it means far greater power in the long run.

Spoiler: Major Spoiler, Post-Game #1

Show

2) After you rescue Persephone from the surface, she and Hades both ask you to keep up appearances and pretend to keep trying to break out to fool the Olympians as well as gathering as much Nectar and Ambrosia as you can for her plan. Fishing directly ties into both objectives.

Spoiler: Even More Major Spoiler, Post-Game #2

Show

3) After you execute Persephone's plan and throw a party for the Olympians, Zagreus assumes his new job as Underworld Security Consultant. He's instructed to use all means possible to overcome the Pacts of Punishment and win his way to the surface. That includes any and all resources he's able to scavenge throughout his father's domain, including resources found in the Styx itself, thus continuing to fish has a story justification.

[veti]

I wouldn't call it a mini-game at all honestly. It's just a random encounter with a % chance of happening.

Not sure what you're thinking of, but as I recall it - there are rods, there are fishing spots, there are secret locations where you can catch rare fish, there's even a limited time window to press A before the "fish" escapes. It's a minigame all right.

[137beth]

I remember strongly disliking the fishing mini-game that was added in the remakes of Donkey Kong Country. It seems like it was added because in the original, the only way to go back to a previous world was to reach Funky's place. The remake added a QoL feature that allows you to "call Funky" from anywhere on the overworld, making the actual Funky's Flight location redundant, so they put a mini-game there. I appreciated the QoL change but disliked the resulting mini-game.

Fortunately it is skippable if you aren't aiming to get 101%.

[Mordar]

Does WoW count? I loved fishing in WoW. The Stranglethorn contest was fine and all, but fishing in all the different zones was enjoyable (especially right under the Horde's collective noses).

- M

[OracleofWuffing]

Not sure what you're thinking of, but as I recall it - there are rods, there are fishing spots, there are secret locations where you can catch rare fish,

Aaaand I just got Feebas flashbacks. Thanks.

Sonic Frontiers has fishing, optional but provides easy upgrades for regular gameplay and some of the best "story" bits are gated behind it. Not much to choose from for actual fishing, though, just press a button when the circle lines up.

[oxybe]

Does WoW count? I loved fishing in WoW. The Stranglethorn contest was fine and all, but fishing in all the different zones was enjoyable (especially right under the Horde's collective noses).

- M

WoW fishing puts me in a zen state that few other games are capable of, for some reason. Drinking lager and just vibing out on a pond on a raft, reeling up digital fish so I can later cook up a dungeon buffing food... big fan.

As for why fishing, this video I found a while ago explains my thoughts on it pretty well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoL5hSt9IyQ

TLDR: it breaks up your regular gameplay so you don't get exhausted of it during longer gaming sessions, but it's not supposed to be something you hyperfocus on.

[Toastkart]

No love for Warframe? Spear fishing was a nice change of pace from most games, and it was executed pretty well.

[Bohandas]

Do underwater levels where the enemies happen to be fish count?

[Kardwill]

Stardew Valley
Holy cow, is the fishing in this game frustrating. Especially at the start, but it never REALLY goes away. Sometimes it feels like the game's fishing mechanics are deliberately trolling you. Unfortunately fishing is one of the core pillars of the gameplay so you can't really get away from it. Possibly the one that feels most like a chore, which is a shame because the rest of the game is so cozy and rewarding.

Funny, that's the only game where I actually enjoyed the fishing gameplay.
Usually, fishing minigames are mostly "look bored at the screen, then press A", but in Stardew, it feels like a proper game. You have to learn the patterns of the fish (every species has different moves, to the point I could tell which fish I was after just looking at the line), you have to feel the momentum of your pulls, you have to know when and where to go, and it felt really satisfying (and nt just dumb luck) when I finally got a legendary one.
Far better than the dungeoneering, at least. Now, THAT was random and unsatisfying.

Another game where I enjoyed fishing is Trails in the Sky. Not because of the game itself (very basic), but because of Estelle's sheer enthusiasm for the activity. But I really connected with the MC in those games, so that biases me heavily about anything in them. :)

[Ionathus]

Funny, that's the only game where I actually enjoyed the fishing gameplay.
Usually, fishing minigames are mostly "look bored at the screen, then press A", but in Stardew, it feels like a proper game. You have to learn the patterns of the fish (every species has different moves, to the point I could tell which fish I was after just looking at the line), you have to feel the momentum of your pulls, you have to know when and where to go, and it felt really satisfying (and nt just dumb luck) when I finally got a legendary one.
Far better than the dungeoneering, at least. Now, THAT was random and unsatisfying.

I'll give it this: it's probably the second-best of my list to make fishing feel interesting and believable. It does feel like how you'd imagine fishing would feel. And you're right: it gets points for not being "stare at screen and do a single-button reflex test." The mechanics get more depth with extra bobbers and bait, fish behavior styles, location tracking, and the ability to level up and get fishing buffs from food. All of that makes your choices feel very impactful. You've convinced me that I've rated it too harshly.

But I also chose to make my list very subjective so a mechanic's depth isn't as important as how it makes me feel. And Stardew Valley fishing pisses me off. Probably a personal thing, but the way the bounce around is so intensely frustrating at times that it weighs down my experience playing it. Just not the minigame for me, I guess.

[Quizatzhaderac]

The reason so many games have fishing is for pacing reasons.

It's essentially psychologically impossible for a piece of media to make a person feel excited continuously for a long time; and trying causing sharply diminishing returns. So good media will try to make you feel one emotion, then move on to a second, then goes back to the first after your brain chemicals have had a chance to recharge.

This is also why action movies have comedy sketches in them.

[Erloas]

I think it's more than fishing has had a pretty big impact on a lot of different cultures, and it still has a draw to a lot of people even if they wouldn't do it in real life.
It's also done pretty blindly, even IRL, so it's an easy way to randomize things a but. Even if it's pretty simple, it's pretty much always a more interesting way to collect things than just having them laying on the ground, like most resources are.

I like Stardew Valley fishing. It's hard at first, but once you get a few levels and some practice, it's mostly easy. It's enough to stay engaged

[WritersBlock]

My time at Portia's fishing minigame is quite relaxing and inoffensive, with a little patience I am able to catch high end fish while still using the starter fishing rod. Have yet to try Sandrock yet to see if that one's fishing is similar.

And the fishing in all the trails games (sky, and cold steel) are fine. From the same dev's Tokyo' Xanadu's fishing minigame is an arcade game you can play (not bad but not that good either) Demon King Rean fishing (Don't ask) Eh, I prefer the Magical Girl Alyssa whack a mole minigame in that anyway.

Ultrakill's hidden fishing minigame level was pretty good too.