Fishing Planet is a sportsfish simulator that places players at various locations across the United States. Cast your line and catch a huge variety of fish, using an assortment of equipment in a soothing, realistic experience.

Fishing planet is a realistic sport fishing simulator that places players on the muddy shores of locations scattered across America. Cast your line into gentle waters and reel in a variety of fish, using patience and practical knowledge to successfully bag them. A huge assortment of gear is available to purchase; customize your loadout to catch particular fish, using the right rods, bait, and line to make the catch. Earn experience from every fishing trip and level up, unlocking new areas of the map, and earning money to purchase more equipment. Catch trophy-sized fish and rise to the top of the leaderboards, showing off your dedication and perseverance.

Full Review

Fishing Planet Review

By, Sean Sullivan

I can’t say I have an affinity for fishing. Sitting under a baking sun, patiently awaiting a tug at the line only served as an excuse to drink low-quality beers before 10 AM. My stories typically ended with my fishing pole wrapped around a low-hanging branch. But, with the release of Fishing Planet I no longer have to worry about slicing my hand on taut wire, and ending my day as an oversized mosquito bite. I can drink from my desk, and catch a fish without every dirtying my hands with my bait’s viscera.

Casting 101

Fishing Planet may be the ultimate fishing simulator, presenting realistic environments, a huge selection of equipment, and calm waters to cast your line. After choosing a location to fish, I walked towards the flowing Mudwater River donned in a thick flannel. Drawing my rod I cast holding left-click and watched my float’s buoyancy become still. A float indicator in the center-right of your screen will jiggle to indicate a tug at the hook, prompting you to reel it in. Holding right-click straightens the pole to create tension, while left-click draws in the line. But strike too early and you’ll lose your catch. My float bouncing like a twerking clubber, I drew in a 1 lb White Crappie and it proved surprisingly satisfying.

Back To School

The game introduces you to its mechanics through a convoluted keyboard layout that fails to explain its intricacies.. While the tutorial does highlight some core elements, it leaves the question of proper equipment entirely up to players to investigate. While this may not frustrate sportfishing enthusiasts, it can be flustering for inexperienced city-dwellers such as myself. What I believed to be a simple cast and reel fishing game is a complex simulator with countless variables to monitor when pursuing a catch. But Fishing Planet expects its playerbase to be familiar with nuances prior to launching the game.

Not Cast And Reel

Fishing Planet is not a game of cast and reel, but one that heavily depends on your equipment loadout. There’s a huge amount of customization, from your vest to the bait you use. Some items don’t provide evident advantages, such as the difference between Mono .005” line and Mono 0.010” line. I had to head to the Wiki to grasp the equipment’s attributes, learning that choosing the right line is paramount to catching fish in particular environments.

All I knew upon launching the game is that bait matters. Bread’s going to attract smaller, non-filling fish, typically thrown away, and maybe a catfish if you’re lucky. Whereas worms seemed to pose a better chance of reeling in a fitting meal. But I didn’t understand the variety of rods, or how speed at which you reel fish determines a successful catch. But I did learn about negotiating shallow waters. Fishing near some reeds I had to adjust my leader setting from 60 inches to 18; the float was hitting the mud, causing it to rest horizontally. Adjusting, using O and P, I reset the line and went on a Bluegill catching spree.

Water Around The Rock

Catching fish allots experience, translating into levels. The more experience you gain the more areas of the world you’re able to travel to. It’s divided into 7 areas scattered across the United States. Starting off in Missouri you can then travel to Emerald Lake, New York at level 5. And within each area there are various locations. At Mudwater River you can choose between two spots on the river: Pike Challenge or Last Long Days of Summer. They’re within walking distance and while they don’t offer any advantage over the other, the option to change your immediate environment adds an immersive quality, placing you on the river bank.

And each area is divided into days, 1- 5. Each of the weekdays has its own weather pattern, whether it be cloudy or sunny, cold or humid. And weather conditions determine how active fish are at different times of day. Day 1 in Missouri is a bright, sunny day, so fish are most active in the early morning and late evening, before the Earth is cooked in the sun’s rays. Whereas the weather on Day 5 is cool and overcast, so the fish don’t become more active until the late afternoon. The time changes as you fish while locked into an area, so must be consciously aware of your watch if you plan to fill your Fish Keeper.

Zen Planet

Fishing Planet is a peaceful experience with a meditative quality, set to the music of chirping birds and the occasional buzzing mosquito. The opening song is a fantastically smooth strumming guitar with spanish overtones, gently guiding you into the game. It’s a calming atmosphere that is accentuated by the game’s crisp visuals.

You can see the tension in the line as ready to cast, before it gently rests in the water, swaying slightly with the ripples. If you move your rod, the line breaks the water tension, a subtle effect that adds an awesome immersive quality. And water effects themselves are beauteous, reflecting vegetation and in a constant station of motion like a lazy river. The occasional concentric break in the flow indicates life stirring just below the surface, with only your hook able to penetrate the hidden world. But the fantastic presentation comes at a cost.

Initial loading times are quite long, over a minute, and oftentimes I was afraid the game had crashed. Considering fishing is a test of patience perhaps the long loads foreshadow the experience; I was able to read through a good portion of Kafka’s The Trial waiting. While the soothing melody warded my impatience, the song eventually became incessant.

Hermit Crab

As for now “Multiplayer” only refers to a global chat box limited to each area of the world. There are future plans for Steam friends list support, but whether or not two players can stand next to each other and fish is a mystery. It doesn’t seem like a necessary feature. Gameplay is an isolated experience and competition is already relegated to leaderboards. There’s little incentive to place players together, unless new competition-oriented gameplay modes are introduced, such as an isolated timed-duel, where players catch a number of fish in a session and whoever catches the biggest fish wins.

For now, the chat log is full of helpful players explaining the game’s mechanics to bewildered beginners. It’s a solid community, because the people playing are enthusiastic about fishing. Fishing Planet is not a game designed for the masses, but targets a niche audience, creating a robust playerbase that’s passionate about the game.

Fishing Finances

Everything in-game is purchasable through earned currency. The main reason to spend money is to purchase an experience buff, as leveling up can be excruciatingly slow. You have to allow yourself to become absorbed into Fishing Planet’s world to advance. But by doing so, you earn money for each fishing excursion. It costs in-game money to travel to a fishing spot so you want to offset the cost of traveling with the fish you catch. Otherwise, you end up spending more money then you make and your bank account is quickly drained of funds, like a college student with their first credit card. It’s best to spend wisely or you’ll end with no bait, and forced to dig through muddy shores for worms.

Final Verdict - Great

Fishing Planet does exactly what it sets out to do, create a realistic fishing experience that is both serene and rewarding. It powers forward through anticipation for what scaled creature may be tugging on your line while, rewarding the intermittent downtime with a calming atmosphere. It is the type of game that could excel through virtual reality. If you’re a fan of sport fishing or have been waiting for the perfect fishing simulator, go cast a line in Fishing Planet.