Review: Cat Goes Fishing
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:Every action is quietly recorded, so you'll never lose progress. On the other hand, there's no way to pause the game; the best you can do is wait with your line uncast. Time needed per session:Each cast only takes a moment or two, so there's no need to plan your time around it. Just pick it up and play some more whenever you have some free time.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians There's a small amount of blood shown whenever something nibbles at the fish you've hooked, but this is pretty ignorable. |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/cat_goes_fishing_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/cat_goes_fishing_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/cat_goes_fishing_2.jpg)
Game Overview
Cat Goes Fishing is one of those games that explains themselves with just their title. You're playing as a cat that decided to go spend their time fishing. That's literally all you do in this game.
But, for a game with such a simple concept, there's a lot of things going on underwater. All of the marine life in this game is alive and behaves more or less realistically. Predators hunt and eat their prey, while many species avoid hanging around the shoreline. Depending on what game mode you've chosen, caught fish can even snap your fishing line if you're not careful when you reel them in.
Whenever you manage to catch something, you're given the option of either selling it or tossing your catch back into the water as bait. There are three sizes of bait, and you'll need to catch progressively larger fish in order to move to the next bait size. This makes catching the largest fish considerably more difficult, as you'll need to have successfully caught several smaller fish in a row first.
While you're fishing, you can accept quests. These act like bounties or challenges that test your skill as a fisherkitty. Most of them require you to catch a specific species a fixed number of times, but you may also be tasked with casting the line a certain length or sinking the hook to a given depth. Completing the quest is optional, but I'd recommend it. The money is usually worth it, and they give an indication of how well you should be doing.
Once you've earned enough cash, you can buy a number of things from the game's shop. These items include better rods, accessories that change the way your line behaves, boats that let you explore out into the ocean, and even tools like radar or a minimap.
Overall, this is a good game for playing on a coffee break or for people that want something different.
But, for a game with such a simple concept, there's a lot of things going on underwater. All of the marine life in this game is alive and behaves more or less realistically. Predators hunt and eat their prey, while many species avoid hanging around the shoreline. Depending on what game mode you've chosen, caught fish can even snap your fishing line if you're not careful when you reel them in.
Whenever you manage to catch something, you're given the option of either selling it or tossing your catch back into the water as bait. There are three sizes of bait, and you'll need to catch progressively larger fish in order to move to the next bait size. This makes catching the largest fish considerably more difficult, as you'll need to have successfully caught several smaller fish in a row first.
While you're fishing, you can accept quests. These act like bounties or challenges that test your skill as a fisherkitty. Most of them require you to catch a specific species a fixed number of times, but you may also be tasked with casting the line a certain length or sinking the hook to a given depth. Completing the quest is optional, but I'd recommend it. The money is usually worth it, and they give an indication of how well you should be doing.
Once you've earned enough cash, you can buy a number of things from the game's shop. These items include better rods, accessories that change the way your line behaves, boats that let you explore out into the ocean, and even tools like radar or a minimap.
Overall, this is a good game for playing on a coffee break or for people that want something different.
Points of Interest
Two game modes: Classic and Realism
You could argue that these are more like difficulty settings than game modes, but they have their place. Classic mode is more casual, with the main challenge being attracting the fish you're after. Realism on the other hand allows the fish to snap your line, making each catch require some strategy from the player. Personally, I prefer Realism.
Many rods, items and upgrades
The main reason to earn money in this game is so that you can afford the nicer perks and equipment. Each rod has optional attachments that control various things, such as how interested the fish are in your lure or how fast it sinks. More importantly, there are upgrades that prevent small fish from taking larger bait and other tools to help you find the best catch.
Occasionally you'll find hats floating in the water. If you can snag them with your hook, your kitty will be able to wear them for several benefits. Later on, you'll be able to access the Hat-alogue to repurchase any hat you've found and discarded.
Occasionally you'll find hats floating in the water. If you can snag them with your hook, your kitty will be able to wear them for several benefits. Later on, you'll be able to access the Hat-alogue to repurchase any hat you've found and discarded.
Large selection of fictional fish
Fishing games often hit a rut when it comes to what species are available. Catching the same thing over and over loses its charm once you become an expert at outsmarting its AI. Cat Goes Fishing on the other hand (paw?) has a lot of different species, each of which has their own behavior patterns. Each species also fights against being caught in different ways, making some of them an easy catch while others can turn it into a contest of wills.
Six save slots
Multiple save slots allow you to experiment or start over as much as you want without screwing up your main game. This is particularly important with the Classic and Realism mode option: if you're not sure which mode you'd like to play, start a game under each mode and keep the save you liked best.
Quests
As you wait for the fish to bite, you can accept quests. These offer decent payouts for different tasks, so it's a good idea to do them. Normally, a quest will have you catch a number of a certain fish species, but quests can also have you do something else, such as cast your line a certain distance or have the hook reach a specific depth.
Steam features
A lot of the achievements from this game are related to your progress. You'll get an achievement when you buy a new rod, or when you wear your first hat, for example. Most of the other achievements are for catching specific fish in the Realism mode, so if you want them, you'll need to break your line a few times.
Extremely simple
Cat Goes Fishing has been insultingly compared to flash games and $0.99 mobile apps, as it's pretty simple and doesn't seem to feature much depth. Ultimately though this is a solid casual game, but I can understand how someone that plays a lot of 60 hour epics would be bored by it.
Concerns and Issues
It's a fish eat fish world
In order to get bigger bait, you need to catch another fish. This makes it pretty obvious that the fish are willing to eat each other (including others of the same species). If that didn't, then there's the fact that larger fish will take bites out of smaller fish you've hooked. When they do this, the hooked fish immediately stops moving, blood appears in the water, and some of the fish's skeleton becomes visible. Eventually, all that's left is the skeleton, and your catch is worthless (although you could still use it for bait, and there is a hat that makes a meatless skeleton worth more than an intact fish!)