To be honest, mobile games have become more and more important in the past two years, with open worlds, card development, and daily tasks all the time. Playing is like working. I am a 30-year-old veteran player who has been playing Snake and Arkanoid since the Symbian era. Sometimes I really miss the pure feeling of just opening the game and having a few fun games without having to use my brain to collect materials. Recently, I accidentally tried "Yao Ji Fishing" and it touched me a little bit.
Not to brag, but the fishing category is actually very old. There were various versions in the Java era. At that time, the screen was small and the special effects were rough, but everyone had a great time playing around Nokia. The graphics are of course much more refined now. "Yao Ji Fishing" has a rich variety of fish species, the special effects of cannonballs and the feedback of gold coin explosions are quite relaxing, and there is no threshold for getting started. The most important thing is that it does not charge a penny, has no forced advertising, and does not have the hidden pitfall of "scratching if you don't recharge" - at least that's how I've played it so far. You just need to aim, fire, watch the gold coins fall, and you're done.
Through this game, I would like to talk about a small trend in the mobile game industry: the resurgence of retro gameplay. In recent years, heavy-duty mobile games have become more and more popular, and the user churn rate is also high. On the contrary, classic gameplay such as fishing, entertainment, and parkour have gradually gained market share because they are lightweight, direct, and fragmented. Especially in the post-epidemic era, many people hope to relax in the shortest possible time and no longer have to worry about equipment and combat power. This version made by developer Shanghai Shuyu actually captures this point - packaging the old gameplay with a new engine, but without excessive commercial design, allowing players to return to the pleasure of "playing" itself.
Of course, fishing games are also controversial. For example, in the early years, some copycat versions had built-in ads to trick clicks or induce recharges. But "Yao Ji Fishing" seems to be quite conscientious so far. I have an old friend who is a planner in the game industry. He said that many small factories are now starting to do this kind of "subtraction game" because big factories are piling up materials, and small factories can survive by relying on cost-effectiveness and reputation. I just don't know how far this “retro trend” can go. After all, players' tastes are changing rapidly. Maybe metaverse fishing will become popular again tomorrow 😂
All in all, if you're looking for a mindless, pure entertainment once in a while, this game is worth a try. Android phones running on platform 5.0 can also run smoothly, which is quite friendly to low-end phones. I've been waiting for this "open and play" feeling since the Symbian days, and now I'm back. I hope there will be more works like this, and mobile games will not end up turning into financial management games. 🙏