The best fishing horror games, ranked

Summary

• Fishing simulators are a great inspiration for horror games, blending quiet anticipation with intense horror.

• Fishing horror games leverage fear of the ocean, isolation, and mysterious aquatic life for a unique gaming experience.

• Dredge stands out as the best fishing horror game with simple gameplay, diverse biomes, inventory management, and a compelling horror narrative.

Conventional fishing games and fishing simulators have a very specific dedicated market that prioritizes precision and competition over creativity. The same can't be said about fishing-based horror games. Fishing simulators are great fodder for horror games. The silent anticipation of fishing contrasts beautifully with the intense horror of an ambush from the deep.

The fear of the ocean and the fear of what lies beneath the water's surface is just one element of horror that fishing horror games capitalize on. The isolation of fishing and the strangeness of aquatic life forms add to the mysterious terror that fishing can inspire. Whether players are looking for hours of dedicated fishing and an in-depth story or five minutes for a short, edgy shot of aquatic horror, there's something for everyone on this list.

8

Fish and chat

A citation is needed on these fish facts

Fish and chat it's an extremely short game with some truly disturbing moments. It's set inside a multiplayer fishing game that seems to hide something terrifying. The thick fog and strange confused voices of fellow fishermen do much to create a sense of unease in the early stages of the game.

The strange lack of boat noises, lack of direction, and the way the boat moves around the lake could be a problem for some players. Bs, but it definitely mimics the '90s PC chat game aesthetic the developer was going for. There is a gentle absurdist humor dispersed among the horror.

7

Tide of mourning

Stay in the circle

Without context, the player finds himself in first-person perspective on a rusty fishing boat. The atmosphere is dark, but there is little indication of what awaits us in this short horror experience. Navigation is quite calm for the first catches, then the fisherman begins to pull fish with human faces out of the water.

The noises coming from the “fish” are truly disturbing and the human faces embedded within them are heartbreaking. Unfortunately, sometimes fish don't spawn if too many opportunities are missed. The gameplay is simple but extremely challenging.

6

Generic fishing game

Have a nice and relaxing time

Do you have 10 minutes to spare and are looking for an unexpected challenge? Gamers who love reverse bullet-hell style games like a Undertale the pacifist race could do much worse than Generic fishing game. The initial rudimentary graphics and simplicity of the mechanics belie the strange game that literally hides beneath the surface.

Generic fishing game is a clever subversion of the simple in-browser titles of the Flash gaming era. This has been a common trope on itch.io for the past few years, and when executed well, it works as clever, metatextual humor. That said, this is just a relaxing generic fishing game. Don't worry.

5

Fishing holiday

You got a shoe!

Fishing holiday is a short horror game with 8-bit graphics that mimics the style of a budget Game Boy game. The player is invited on a fishing vacation with his friend, but when they arrive at the cabin they will be staying in, they find signs that something terrible may have happened to the previous occupants.

The fishing mechanic requires a fair amount of button mashing, which is appropriate for the style of play he's going for. It has multiple endings and it is entirely possible to end a game without finding out the truth about the cabin and the lake. One of the many fishing horror games released from Fishing Horror Jam 2020 on itch.io and a free demo is available.

4

Lake facade

Who do we worship?

Lake facade is a PS1-style horror game about a newcomer who arrives at an unknown lake and discovers the Eldritch mysteries that lie beneath its facade. When one of the “fish” responds, everything begins to unravel. It's very reminiscent of HP Lovecraft's story The shadow over Innsmouth.

Lake facade it's less scary than many of the games on this list. It has simple fishing mechanisms; the sound design is appropriately haunting and the environment is easy to navigate. Just don't press the Esc key at the wrong time, otherwise it will shut down completely and all your progress will be lost. It's “Name Your Price” on itch.io, and an expanded version will be released on Steam soon.

3

Miserable depths

Take a peak below the surface

In Miserable depths, the player character, Sam, is obviously attracted to this Twin Peaks-inspired town of Twin Pines to go fishing. Aside from the eerie atmosphere, things seem normal at first. The guy at the local bait shop seems friendly and will buy the fish and sell the tackle Sam needs to catch different fish.

The fishing mechanics are simple and easier to navigate than many others on this list. As Sam's fishing expeditions take her to the deepest depths, the sight of fishing underwater becomes increasingly terrifying. This is where the sound design really shines. It's worth playing just to experience the soundscape for yourself.

2

Normal fishing

Pixelated Lovecraftian vibes

In the tradition of horror fishing games, Normal fishing It claims to be just a relaxing fishing game, but it's unlike any other game of its kind. The game has a delightfully strange and disturbing aesthetic, and the dialogue is often deliberately contrived, particularly the dialogue of the “loving” fisherman mercenary and his increasingly strange wife.

It's a surprisingly expansive demo that introduces a tantalizing amount of world-building and mystery. The fishing minigames are diverse, extremely fast-paced and engaging, and the narrative is full of dark and offbeat humor. To discuss it further would be to reveal too much. Suffice it to say, it's a must-play game that goes in a very unexpected direction.

1

Dredge

Beware of anglerfish

Not only is it Dredge the best fishing horror game out there – it was also one of the best releases of 2023. Period. The fishing minigame is easy to master, and the inventory management element requires players to prioritize certain types of fishing spots. There are five distinct biomes on the map and a weird and wonderful variety of fish to record in the fisherman's encyclopedia.

Horror fiction is all about amnesia, isolation, and Eldritch horrors. The nameless fisherman arrives in Little Marrow with no memory of his past. Between games of fishing, his tragic past is gradually revealed and he must decide how far to go to recover his lost love.