The latest cooperative craze is a physics-based fishing simulator where you can launch your catch into the air and no-scope it with a sniper rifle

As someone who grew up in the ’90s and early ’00s when cooperative games were scarce, I’m a big fan of this current era of cheap and cheerful experiences designed to play with your pals. I enjoy the knockabout vibe of games like Peak and R.E.P.O, which acknowledge their disposable nature and focus on being daft fun, rather than trying to engage you for weeks and months at a time as more traditional live service games do.

As such, I’m always interested to see what coop nonsense bubbles up to the surface of Steam’s algorithm next, and it appears the catch of the day is How to Fish, a 1-4 player, physics- based fishing simulator where you subdue marine life in the most preposterous ways possible.

The premise sees you and your pals stranded on a barren, rocky islet after drunkenly crashing onto its shores. You start out surviving by picking clams off the rock, which offer meagre sustenance. But you can also sell the clams for cash (which you do in the traditional manner of shoving them into an old seadog’s mouth) thus enabling you to buy a fishing rod and begin learning how to fish.

The fishing element of How to Fish is relatively simple. You cast your line, wait for something to take the bait, and reel it in. Where things get more interesting is in what happens after you’ve landed a catch. Fish and other sea-life don’t just appear in your inventory: they will flop, scuttle or crawl around land until you’ve subdued them. Initially, you’ll have naught but your fists to do this with, but over time, you can purchase knives, brass knuckles and even guns you can use to exact bloody vengeance on the ocean.

Needless to say, How to Fish is an extremely silly game. Not only can you launch fish into the air and then blast them with firearms Ridiculous Fishing-style, but you can also barbecue seagulls and gamble your catch on slot machines and roulette wheels for a chance to gain even more cash. That said, How to Fish isn’t wholly devoid of structure. There are NPCs dotted about who will assign you quests, and there’s a chain of islands to explore that yield bigger, more dangerous catches like sharks and king crabs.

Although How to Fish is clearly built for cooperative shenanigans, it can also be played single player. It may be worth bearing this in mind for the moment, as while most Steam reviews are positive, some players are reporting lax security at the backend, with random players able to drop into the game and cause a ruckus.

Nonetheless, if sniping fish from the sky sounds like your idea of a good time, you can currently pick up How to Fish at an introductory discount that brings the price down from $8 (£6.40) to $5 (£4). That discount ends on August 27.

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