GONE Fishing
"The lake wants a sacrifice. The engine wants your CPU."
About
GONE Fishing places one to eight players on the shore of a malevolent lake. By day, you fish to meet a steadily increasing quota, which must be offered to the water. By night, horrifying creatures emerge to hunt you. You must balance sacrificing fish to the lake against selling them for better gear and boat upgrades, all while trying to survive until the next sunrise.
Verdict
GONE Fishing hooks you with a brilliant premise: feed the lake or it feeds on you. The frantic loop of meeting quotas by day and fending off horrors by night makes for a great co-op session with friends, full of screams and laughter. But the novelty wears off as the shallow fishing mechanic and repetitive objectives set in. Worse, severe performance issues and frequent crashes can sink a run before the monsters even get a chance.
You'll like it if …
- +You're looking for a chaotic co-op game to laugh and scream through with friends.
- +You enjoy the procedural risk-reward loop of games like Lethal Company.
- +You appreciate supporting active developers during Early Access.
You'll dislike it if …
- −Repetitive gameplay loops bore you quickly.
- −Poor performance, frequent crashes, and high CPU usage are deal-breakers.
- −You prefer polished, finished experiences.
Breakdown
- +The core loop of fishing against a quota creates real tension.
- +Effectively blends moments of calm fishing with sudden horror.
- +Deciding whether to sell fish for upgrades or sacrifice them adds a strategic layer.
- −The fishing minigame is overly simplistic.
- −Gameplay becomes repetitive after the first few hours.
- −Monster AI is basic and easily exploitable.
- −Difficulty scaling feels unbalanced, leading to predictable failure points.
- +A good variety of fish, bait, items, and monsters to discover.
- +The co-op survival loop is compelling for short sessions with friends.
- −Lacks long-term replayability and systemic depth.
- −Maps are small and offer little reason to explore beyond resource gathering.
- −Core mechanics do not evolve significantly over the course of a run.
- +The atmosphere successfully mixes genuine scares with absurd humor.
- +Its simple premise of a hungry lake is effective and easy to grasp.
- −The story is a simple backdrop for the gameplay loop, with little development.
- +Sound design is a highlight, creating effective jumpscares and a tense atmosphere.
- −Severe performance issues, including high CPU usage, lag, and frame drops.
- −Graphical fidelity is low, even for an indie title.
- −Key audio elements, like monster screams, cannot be adjusted independently.
- +Developers are exceptionally active and responsive to player feedback.
- +The game receives frequent updates and new content.
- −Plagued by frequent crashes that can end a run prematurely.
- −Feels unpolished and unfinished, with numerous bugs and spelling errors.
- −The experience is often unstable, especially in larger co-op lobbies.
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