Ridiculous Fishing is afishing video game developed and published byVlambeer. In the game, players use motion and touch controls to catch fish and subsequently shoot them out of the sky for cash. The game was released foriOS on March 13, 2013, then later that year forAndroid.

Ridiculous Fishing
Developer(s)	Vlambeer
Publisher(s)	Vlambeer
Producer(s)	Rami Ismail
Designer(s)	Jan Willem Nijman
Programmer(s)	Zach Gage
Artist(s)	Greg Wohlwend
Composer(s)	Eirik Suhrke
Platform(s)	iOS,Android,Windows Phone[citation needed]
Release	iOS March 13, 2013 Android November 19, 2013 Windows Phone May 21, 2014[citation needed]
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player

Players cast a fishing line into the ocean and use motion controls to avoid fish as the hook sinks and to catch as many fish as possible as the reel retracts. Players then touch the screen to shoot fish out of the sky for money that can be spent on upgrades.

The game was first released as aFlash gameRadical Fishing with the same basicmechanics. A year after Vlambeer began their iOS development,Gamenauts releasedNinja Fishing, a clone of the game. The team worked on other games and spoke publicly about the situation to a standing ovation at the 2012Game Developers Conference before resolving to scrap the majority of their work and finish the game. ArtistGreg Wohlwend moved in with iOS developerZach Gage to work 14-hour days on the game.

Ridiculous Fishing received "near-universal perfect scores" at launch^[1]—what review score aggregatorMetacritic describes as "universal acclaim".^[2] It won an Apple's 2013 Design Award and was theiriPhone game of the year. Reviewers noted Vlambeer's struggle against the copy of their game and praised the game'sbalance and both visual and game design. A 3D remaster of the game developed byKO_OP, titledRidiculous Fishing EX, was released onApple Arcade in July 2023, 3 years after Vlambeer went defunct. As of June 11, 2024, the Android version is no longer downloadable from theGoogle Play store.

The playerfishes in pursuit of fame as afisherman named Billy.^[3] The game mechanics consist of threeminigames: casting thefishing line, catching fish, and shooting the fish in the air.^[3] The player casts the line and tilts the device to avoid the fish as the hook sinks. Upon hooking a fish, the hook ascends and the player tilts the device to catch as many fish as possible en route to the surface. Above water, the fish are launched into the air, and the player taps the screen to shoot the fish out of the sky to earn money before they fall into the water.^[4] The fish differ in characteristics including swim pattern and the number of shots required.^[5] Shootingjellyfish detracts from the total income.^[6] There are fourstages, each with its own visual and audio theme and rare fish,^[4] and an endless mode where players can work towards the highest score.^[7] Earnings can be spent in a store towards persistent upgrades such as longer fishing line length, invulnerable drills, frivolous hats, bigger guns,^[4]chainsaw lures, a hair dryer and toaster (to zap inadvertent catches),^[7] fuel for the chainsaw, and anecktie for greater income.^[8] There is also a Fish-o-pedia in Billy's smartphone that gives gameplay hints and tracks stats such as fish caught, which is the progress for unlocking new levels.^[5] There are noin-app purchases.^[7]

Vlambeer developedRadical Fishing, anAdobe Flash-based game where a fisherman sits in a boat and casts his line into the water, pulls up fish into the air, and shoots them with a gun.^[1] It was built to take "everything good" from habit-formingbrowser games without artificially extending its length just to hook players.^[9] The game was designed with afeedback loop, where performance in one minigame led to a more rewarding experience in the next minigame.^[9] Vlambeer designer Jan Willem ("JW") Nijman developed the idea based on a television show about tuna fishermen that led him to consider an intersection between catching big fish,slow-motion photography, andDuck Hunt's game mechanics.^[1] Nijman immediately drafted the design, which never changed.^[1] The company sold the Flash game to abrowser games website in 2010 but kept the rights to produce aniOS version, which they would callRidiculous Fishing.^[1] They began production on the iOS version on December 7, 2010, with the intention of a "2012/2013 equivalent" of the original.^[9]

About a year later,Gamenauts releasedNinja Fishing, a game with similargame mechanics but different art that became known as aclone ofRadical Fishing.^[1][9]Polygon reports that the game "became an overnight sensation".^[1] Since game mechanics were not eligible forcopyright protection, Vlambeer did not pursue legal action.^[1] Vlambeer's primary project had beenSerious Sam: The Random Encounter, which was sidelined to handle the new clone situation.^[9] At one point, Vlambeer revealed its multiple in-game fishing locations andNinja Fishing added a similar feature with a "coming soon" sign.^[9]

Vlambeer stoppedRidiculous Fishing development for several weeks, but later resolved to continue.^[1] Another concurrent project at the company,Super Crate Box, released in 2012 to industry praise.^[1]Super Crate Box was nominated for anIndependent Games Festival award at the 2011Game Developers Conference (GDC), where the team was largely unknown and the game did not win the award.^[1] By the next year,Ridiculous Fishing was nominated for the 2012 Independent Games Festival "Best Mobile Game" award at GDC, and Vlambeer had become known within the game development community for their two titles and struggle against Gamenauts'sNinja Fishing.^[1] Their 2012 GDC talk on game clones received standing ovations.^[1]Polygon referred to the speech as "a shot heard around the game industry".^[1]Ridiculous Fishing was shown at the 2012 Independent Games Festival GDC booth.^[1] The team also released a concurrent side project,Yeti Hunter, live from the GDC show floor.^[1] Nijman began development forLuftrausers on the plane home from the conference.^[1]

By now the team had four members: designer Jan Willem Nijman, marketer Rami Ismail, iOS developerZach Gage, and artistGreg Wohlwend.^[1][a] The team continued work separately and sporadically, making meager headway and disheartened by the project's obstacles.^[1] Upon return to theNetherlands from GDC, Nijman and Ismail, the co-founders of Vlambeer, began to plan a "really large game", but ultimately decided that the idea was a diversion from the realities of finishingRidiculous Fishing.^[1] In August 2012, after aroad trip home across theUnited States fromPenny Arcade Expo inSeattle toNew York City, the team set a deadline to finish the game.^[1][9] The game was in a "disjointed" state, with good fishing mechanics, but poor shooting and menu navigation.^[9] They scrapped the store, interface, and endgame along with "90 percent" of their work, which revealed a specific direction for the rest of the game's development.^[9] Wohlwend, the artist, moved in with Gage, the developer, inNew York City, working 14-hour days during the final weeks.^[1] The music was composed by Eirik Suhrke.^[1][10][b] The last parts of the game assembled smoothly, and Ismail submitted the game to theiOS App Store for approval from New York.^[1]

The game was released March 13, 2013.^[9] The companylive-streamedRidiculous Fishing's launch from theirUtrecht office.^[1] A July 2013 patch added custom soundtracks, new fish, and an item for exiting the game early.^[11] Vlambeer released anAndroid version with the November 19, 2013Humble Bundle.^[12]

The game was well received at launch with "near-universal perfect scores".^[1] Review score aggregatorMetacritic describes its reception as "universal acclaim".^[2] As of April 2013, the game was the highest-rated for iOS in 2013.^[1] It won the "featured" position in the App Store,^[1] and, later, anApple Design Award at the 2013Apple Worldwide Developers Conference^[13] and Apple'siPhone game of the year.^[14]Pocket Gamer awarded it their gold award.^[8] In August 2013, Vlambeer announced that the game was nearing one million dollars in sales.^[15]

Edge noted thatRidiculous Fishing did not carry the emotional baggage behind the company's tumultuous development.^[6] Oli Welsh ofEurogamer called thebalance beautiful and clever, an elaboration on their previous version's "idiot-savant design" without going too far.^[5]TouchArcade's Eli Hodapp commended the upgrade structure that combined obtainable incentives alongside gameplay as engaging asDoodle Jump's.^[7] IGN's Justin Davis praised the game's unpredictable and "poignant" ending at the bottom of the Arctic Floes.^[4] He added that the game could have been "even more ridiculous" and its levels more differentiated in theme and art style, though he found the "almost cubist design... absolutely gorgeous".^[4] Welsh ofEurogamer agreed that Wohlwend's art was "achingly cool" and reflected a "retro and minimalist" indie gaming trend without overpowering the gameplay.^[5] Welsh also praised the game's character by way of its fakeTwitter feed,^[5] andPocket Gamer's Rob Hearn compared its imaginative character to that ofWes Anderson'sThe Life Aquatic.^[8]

TouchArcade's Eli Hodapp calledRidiculous Fishing so well packaged as to make his recommendation "effortless" for both short few-minute play sessions as well as longer ones.^[7] Rob Hearn ofPocket Gamer lauded its "blossoming" progression and became more interested as he unlocked upgrades.^[8] But when there was nothing left to upgrade, Hearn wrote that "it's a shame that the innovation is confined to the first few hours".^[8] WhileRidiculous Fishing offered many hours of secrets and unlocks, IGN's Davis noted that the game was at its core a "simple arcade experience... ultimately a polished arcade time-killer".^[4]

During the17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominatedRidiculous Fishing for "Casual Game of the Year" and "Mobile Game of the Year".^[16]

• Official website

  Media related toRidiculous Fishing at Wikimedia Commons