Fish Tales

Fish Tales is a quiet winter fishing game about patience, depth and a line that can only take so much. You walk out onto a frozen lake, choose where to drill, and drop a lure into dark water. What happens next depends entirely on how well you read the depth.

The lake is a vertical world. Every species lives in its own band of water. Roach and ruffe hang near the ice, perch patrol the middle, bream hold over the flats, and pike, zander and burbot wait far below. Drag your line up and down to hunt for the level where fish are actually feeding, or tap Drop Deeper to work your way down a metre at a time. Jig the lure to wake up anything nearby, and watch for a fish that turns toward you and starts to close in.

When a fish takes the lure you have a moment and a half to strike. Miss it and the fish lets go. Hit it and the real fight begins. Reeling is a single control with two opposing pressures. Holding the reel brings the fish up, but it loads the line, and the fish surges without warning. Let go and the tension bleeds away, but the fish takes back a little of what you gained. Land it before the line reaches breaking point or it is gone.

Five holes open up across the lake, from the shallow reed edge down to the twenty metre Black Pit, and the deeper water is where the rare fish live. The auger in the tackle shop decides how deep you are allowed to go. A stiffer rod reels faster, stronger line survives the surges, and better bait tempts the fish you have not seen yet.

Each day gives you a set amount of energy, spent one drop at a time. When the light goes, you pack up and the day is counted, with a report of everything you landed. A hot thermos buys you more time on the ice.

Every species you land is written into the journal with its best weight, and eight species wait to be recorded, including the taimen that most anglers never see. Eleven achievements follow your season, and a local ice league ranks your points against nine other regulars.

Portrait only, entirely offline, no purchases of any kind and no advertising. Settings contain a single option to clear your saved data.