Hooked

this game is so so sweet. Love it deeply :)

I've had so much fun playing this game, the pixel art is amazing and the gameplay was very easy to understand, the only problem was to determine weither the bubbles meant I had to use the mask or the radioactive item at the start of the game, otherwise it was amazing ! Maybe an encyclopedia with all the fishes in the game would be cool ! 

Almost finished playing this cute game, really promising, just a couple small thoughts about how to tell players what's going on. I experimented for like 20 minutes to make sure just loosing health does not actually cost you any money, also I just found out thru another coment that releasing the line doesn't make u lose the fish and is required to get the bigger ones which I wasn't aware of. also with both these things in mind, it's actually pretty easy to beat most of the game by just fishing a bit, only buing upgrades and just going back whenever the poisoned gas starts (or even later) to avoid loosing so much health that you die. also from what I've experienced every pattern of what dangers happen is the same with it raining, then being poisonous then raining again, I never made it further than that and am very close to unlocking the third lock. to maybe make the game a bit more challenging over time you could make it mandatory to open the locks before being able to get the next level of upgrades and vice versa and then also make the game be harder/mix up the cycle of dangerous events with each unlocked element, that way the game keeps casual players as me from just grinding on the lower levels without any action happening. still thanks a lot for making this sweet and fun little game, 9.5/10 already recommended to some friends

I love the mood of this, and the pixel art is very very nice :DD (Sidenote: t's so good to see actual pixel art in a game, I've seen so many lately with ai generated 'pixel' assets, so good god is it refreshing <3) Great audio too, love the little squeaks <3 Also like the audio cue of the ~danger music~ when things start to get real bad, it was fun to realise and learn, I love it when progression in a game is a mixture of in-game upgrades and the player actually learning and getting better, it's so much fun!! :D

Did get frustrated a couple times when losing all my fish cuz I died, but in all honestly that's probably on me for being too risky >:] 

It also took me a hot minute to realise I could let go to give the fishing line some slack- in hindsight it makes sense with the colour of the bar turning to red, but it hadn't clicked! I thought I had to keep holding it cuz the instructions just said 'hold' with no mention of letting go (despite me having played other fishing games/minigames where you let go...once again that may just be on me ._.)

But yeah! I enjoyed the variety of mechanics for the fish, really made you think about the best time to call it, e.g. with the dark trickster making it beneficial to stop sooner rather than later! It was also fun that some adjacent fish bonuses were per-tile-in-contact, and others (like same-species bonus) just needed a single point of contact, it helped limit any repetitiveness in the bonuses, having those different rulesets which of course also affects layout! I also loved the variety of shapes the fish had, and how especially the eely ones had such strange shapes, it makes fitting them together pretty fun :D Also neat how the ourobourus is a perfect circle with a little gap for fitting a little fish in! (I was delighted when I got the ourobourus + goldfish in the middle, just like the background art :D). I just love all the shapes and the ways they fit together!! Not just up against each other but also working around the edges of empty spaces for the empty cell bonus! I also of course like the way the fish increased in strangeness as the game went on, it may be a common fishing game trope but by god it's a good one! 

I also really appreciated the fact that you can left-click and let go to pick up a fish rather than having to hold it down- it meant it was actually possible to right-click rotate using a trackpad, it makes all the difference and I always notice when games have that so thank you! :D Also means less finger strain :3

Overall very fun, visually wonderful, sweet and succinct story/premise, and the end animation was really cute :D (Also appreciated that it repeats in case you miss some of it, which I did the first time!) It could honestly be extended if you ever so felt like it, with higher prices for the locks and maybe an extra page of inventory, hooks on the side of the boat for holding spare fish while sorting, maybe a weather machine to check the likelihood % of each weather event next session, etc! But of course only if you want, it definitely feels complete like this, no sense of anything missing! 

Edit:!! Oh and also before I forget, I encountered a bug where I frantically was sorting just before the fish sold, and I tossed a snail shell for an empty slot bonus, and the money calculation stopped and the fish weren't removed from my inventory. I went out, came back, and it counted everything and yoinked the fish as normal (probably giving me a duplicate score on a fish or two that were counted before I chucked the snail overboard). Far from gamebreaking, just thought I should mention it!
((Also-
It'd be neat if there was a 'sell' button so you could sort fish before they're totalled up and removed, since it's often a scramble to finish sorting as you're being extracted! Unless, of course, that's entirely intentional, in which case I respect that you conniving little bastard >:P /silly))

I love it, you nailed it well. good job. 👍

Wow, so atmospheric!

I noticed that after some time the skybox changes, and the music changes as well, and you can hear a siren in the background. I wonder if it means anything. Anyway, it added to the atmosphere of mystery.

Loved the game. By the way, was Sam a nod to Old Sam from The Andy Griffith Show?

This is such a cool game! I love fishing and survival games. And the pixel art looks amazing. It's got great style.

Very cute ending. I enjoyed how the cutscene acknowledges game mechanics without being campy or painfully meta about it.

Good pacing, mechanics, power curve, art, sound use, thematic consistency... just a great job all around!

This really was an awesome game with a very original concept. The art style is also perfect, the way the controls work. And then all the different elements, the time management, the scary nuclear stuff, inventory management, the fishing technique, upgrades, the ending.

You struck gold with this concept man! Would love to see an extended version of this game, more powerups, more mechanics, merging of fish in inventory for instance, more things to do in the shop area, stuff to unlock, man, the possibilities are endless!

If I sound overly enthusiastic, I DON'T CARE! This really is a cool concept.

rechpekt bro

I instantly got "Hooked" by this game! It's quite addicting and in the end you get a great ending! Awesome job!

This game is cute but, if you're playing in the browser version of itch.io the game is laggy. It doesn't respond to your mouse all the time and therefore is relatively finecky :(

loved this one! the graphics are so charming! my only wish is that the final lock was more expensive, so I'd have a good excuse to upgrade my rod some more to see all of the fish designs.

I tried the post-ludum dare version and it froze right at the end haha (Maybe because of OBS Studio...)

But, good game! :)

i want to try this game but when i cannot launch it without crashing (post-LD)

What a wonderful little game ! 

Love the atmosphere, the music, the grahics ...

The only bad point that it is too short ...

Thanks for sharing !

Nice little game, loved it!

I absolutely loved this game! Woke up earlier than usual today before work and was able to complete it before heading out.

I totally want more of this gameplay - just as it was getting good, it was over :P

I hope you do well in LD59!

Edit: Now to go back and buy all the upgrades before rescuing my sugar-glider wife. I'm sory 🥀

Amazing game! Would definitely love to play a full game around these mechanics

Such an incredible experience! Aesthetics and polish feels great, and even though the mechanics feel simple they work so well together deep into a run. I only wish the latter hazards weren't instakills without the proper protection, but that's the greed talking.

Managed to get 9000 in one haul!

This was so cute! Loved the cool fish, and the ending was very sweet. You really nailed the eerie, dark atmosphere while also making it slightly comical. Keep up the good work! Can't wait to play more of your games.

loved this game so much, i came back and played more than 3 times  because the visuals and gameplay are so addictive. even accumulated 12k+ coins :P

truly wish i could play this on mobile in my free time, its just so good!!

This honestly was a surprise hit. I was really impressed with the addictive features in such a small timeframe.

I hope you keep pushing it into more territory.

Can't believe you managed to make me experience Escape from Tarkov (extraction shooters in general) through a fishing game! 10/10

Really well done!! I loved the hazards in the game and the fact that you can buy items to avoid them in the shop, and the art is impeccable.

This was fantastic!!! I love games where you earn money from your bag management like this, and you did a good job with spacing out upgrades and revealing new surprises (the fish you can’t catch at first). I played the heck out of this and saw it through, and had an awesome time with it. This is one of my favorite Ludum Dare games this time!

- ✨Beth

great work . specially the artwork !

I thoroughly enjoyed what I played in this video—loved the art style and the simple game mechanics. I highly recommend

i. am. so. RICH.

from 650 to 6305 (also i placed the bottom left fish to be two spaces under that flounder just before the transaction thingy happened)

LOVE THIS SO MUCHHH so so so well done, props to u guys!!

Absolutely love this game. Sound design and art was so cute and amazing. Great atmosphere and simple puzzle design that felt just right and relaxing. Just realized there is an ending, so I can't wait to play through and see that! Super fun game!

this game was so fun and well crafted! I wish there was an update or a second part after we saved our beloved. 

I'm always a sucker for fishing horror games. Really enjoyed this one, and love the art style.

экстракшн-рыбалка, годно :D