A Deep Dive Into Mystery-Themed Fishing Games
And why the biggest fishing games already use mystery to their advantage.
The Steam Fishing Fest begins today, and naturally the question rose to my mind:
Are there any mystery-themed fishing games?
The answer is, unsurprisingly: not really. There’s a handful of fishing games with some air of mystery about them, but I couldn’t find any on Steam where mystery-solving and fishing were explicitly the core game loop. (If you can find one, let me know!)
Actually, there aren’t too many fishing games in the first place, with less than 200 fishing games featured in the fest and less than 900 games on Steam tagged “Fishing” at all. For comparison, “Mystery” has over 10,000 games tagged, and “Detective” has over 3,000. So fishing games are a pretty small (or underserved) niche!
But what might really surprise you is the fact that the two most popular (and non-free) fishing games — at least in this fest — are explicitly advertised with mystery elements.
At over 116,000 reviews and 97% positive, Dave the Diver states on its store page:
“DAVE THE DIVER is a casual, singleplayer adventure RPG featuring deep-sea exploration and fishing during the day and sushi restaurant management at night. Join Dave and his quirky friends as they seek to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Blue Hole.”
Meanwhile at over 37,000 reviews and 95% positive, Dredge has the following summary:
“DREDGE is a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent. Sell your catch, upgrade your boat, and dredge the depths for long-buried secrets. Explore a mysterious archipelago and discover why some things are best left forgotten.”
When actually looking at how the game plays, calling Dave the Diver a “mystery game” in the traditional sense is probably a stretch. The game has you finding secrets underwater, not piecing clues together to form deductions. But the game uses the overall allure of mystery — “what lies in the depths of the ocean?” — to get people motivated to go for “just one more dive.”
Dredge elicits a similar feeling, though with a much darker tone. There’s an unnerving atmosphere throughout, as you fish out strange creatures and mysterious objects, ending with a shocking twist that makes sense of everything you found.
When thinking about fishing games this way, it’s actually kind of surprising there aren’t more mystery-fishing hybrids. Detectives by nature seek to “dig up what lies beneath the surface”, which is literally the core mechanic of any fishing game. And the dark, unexplored depths of the ocean (even in our real world) conjure up nothing but mystery in our imaginations.
So, let’s begin our investigation: how can we make a mystery-themed fishing game?
Why do people play fishing games?
Common sense would tell us that people play fishing games for the same reason people go fishing in real life: to take a break and relax. It’s a calming activity — the controls are simple, the stakes are low, and most of the skill lies in patiently waiting for a bite. People play fishing games to get away from the stress of real-life, and people play fishing minigames to get away from the stress of whatever game they’re currently playing.
In real life, fishing is also carried out in order to acquire food. So it’s not just a leisure activity, but also a means of survival. If you were suddenly stranded on a mysterious island, one of the best ways to acquire food would be to go fishing (there’s a lot more water than land).
That’s probably why catching a fish feels so special. We know our catch is an important source of vitality, and the bigger is, the better. And by that same logic, fishing competitions are about proving who can provide the most food to the tribe.
But fishing can be surprisingly addictive. Repetition followed by unpredictable reward is the same psychological formula used by slot machines and lootboxes. This reward mechanism makes sense in real life, encouraging us to hunt for food — but our desire to go fishing in a video game context (like all lootbox-like mechanics) can unfortunately go too far, so be careful.
Why are fishing games a natural fit for mystery?
Both genres are often slow-paced and methodical, rewarding observation and pattern recognition. and culminating in an “aha” moment. They prioritize mental engagement over adrenaline.
Both genres make use of immersive, atmospheric environments that subtly reveal secrets as you explore them. Finding a rare species, or a new fishing spot, is like finding a clue or investigative lead.
Both genres utilize uncertainty to create tension. Gameplay mechanics reduce this uncertainty, either by catching fish or uncovering clues.
And, as previously mentioned, both genres are about discovering what lies under the surface, both literally and figuratively. Suspects will act fishy, having cast a wide net to find them, and some might even be red herrings. Detectives will often bait the culprit into revealing incriminating information, or otherwise catch them in the act.
(I know, the puns are out of control! But maybe there’s some truth to it.)
My point is that there’s a lot of overlapping appeal to both audiences. And when you look at the data for games like Dave the Diver and Dredge, it indicates people do want that level of depth (if not more) in their fishing games.
But even those games limited their use of mystery to atmospheric traits, rather than integrating deduction mechanics into a core game loop.
So, what would that look like?
Ideas for mystery-themed fishing mechanics
Simply put, fishing (or diving) for clues is the most obvious way to go about it. Rather than fishing for the sake of it, or to make a certain amount of money, the clues you find have an important context for the story.
Identifying, categorizing, and making inferences based on the clues you find is the real game loop, with clues gated by fishing level or ability. Hook that up with your favorite deduction system, and we’re good to go.
Here are some ideas for integrating mechanics from both genres:
Cast your fishing rod to search for clues, whether it’s a discarded murder weapon, a confession in a bottle, or a fish that witnessed the crime.
Perform forensic analysis on the fish or other objects you catch.
Gate character dialogue behind catching specific fish, levelling up your fishing skills, or building a relationship through fishing.
Unlock new gear like better fishing rods, bigger oxygen tanks, and brighter lights to dive deeper and uncover new evidence underwater.
Explore underwater wreckage to find out what happened to a missing crew.
Utilize a day/night cycle to fish in the right spots for evidence.
Chart out the ocean and navigate to search for treasure (and clues).
Fishing mechanics as a symbolic metaphor during interrogations.
Collecting or keeping fish as pets, gradually revealing information.
Don’t forget that fishing games offer a wide variety of characters and settings that aren’t often explored in mystery games. Fishermen, deep-sea divers, marine biologists, and maybe even pirates could factor into your mystery!
7 ideas for mystery-themed fishing games
Finally, here are some ideas for mystery-fishing hybrids:
You're a retired homicide detective living alone on a lakeside cabin.
Each morning you fish. Each afternoon, people from the nearby village stop by with strange requests or old secrets. You solve cold cases in your own time, using found objects from the lake and conversations at the dock.A murder occurs during a local fishing competition. You must blend in, gather clues while casting lines, and deduce the truth without spooking the other competitors. Catching rare fish becomes a form of social leverage and access.
You fish for a living in polluted waters outside a megacity. A detective by necessity, you start noticing patterns in the trash and bodies turning up in your nets. You quietly build a case against a criminal network while navigating fishing licenses, debt, and hostile authorities.
You wake up shipwrecked on an island after investigating a lead. Now you must fish to survive, while also solving the mystery of your missing informant, strange artifacts on shore, and sabotage on the boat. The game is a blend of survival, fishing sim, and piecing together who didn’t want you to finish the case.
You're a detective in a flooded city. Instead of evidence bags, you use a fishing rod to retrieve submerged clues: cell phones, wallets, weapons. Clues are scattered across canals, lakes, and underwater ruins.
A lake once swallowed an entire crime scene. You’re brought in to finally dredge it up. Each dive, cast, and recovery slowly uncovers a decades-old conspiracy.
You fish across a chain of lakes, each with its own mystery. Most fish are just fish, but some contain items, messages, or DNA samples. Others you choose to keep in a fish tank, revealing subtle behaviors that slowly expose a buried crime. With no direct dialogue, the truth must be uncovered by observing your fish, interpreting their patterns, and carefully curating your fish tank.
If you liked any of those ideas, feel free to use them or modify them as you see fit! Along with my many ideas for cooking games and farming games, I’d love to see these ideas brought to life and play them myself!
Final thoughts
Fishing mechanics aren’t just for distractions or side-quests — they can easily be transformed into core mystery gameplay mechanics. They can also be powerful tools for storytelling, exploration, and depth that align perfectly with what people already love about mystery games.
By designing for both mystery and fishing fans, you can leverage two underserved niches, with the potential for an incredibly unique and successful game.
Thanks for reading!
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