"Fishing Showdown" is created by Jilin Province Zhongshun Network Technology. The charging model is: 0. Yes, it's free, but the words “daily benefits” and “luxury gift packs” are louder than the promotional horn of the supermarket downstairs in my house. Film and television quality? 3D special effects? Journey to the West IP? Tang Monk Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie jumped into the fishing ground to fish with you? What kind of fucking interdimensional turd sea shark is this?
who I am? Where am I? Why should I see this in the indie games section?
Friends, I understand that you may take this as a negative lesson, but I must make it clear: fishing games are never games, they are gambling simulators with cartoon skins. Its "explosion rate upgrade" means that the probability of exploding gold coins when you charge money has been upgraded, not that the fish will explode something good. "Continuous benefits" means that the system is afraid that you will run away, so it will feed you some binding coins every day, and wait for you to get ahead and then recycle the capital with profits. Does this thing have anything to do with indie games? It can't even bring out the excitement of arcade fishing, and will only fill your screen with recharge pop-ups.
The true journey of discovery of independent games is your dream of finding a developer in a nook and cranny. It may be that every playing card in "Balatro" can be stacked into decks you can't imagine, it may be that "Stardew Valley" allows you to grow real healing in the pixel farm, or it may even be a free mini-game, but people dare to write "do it because of love" in the list of producers. The producer list of "Fishing Showdown" reads "KPI achievement" and "ROI optimization".
I know some people in the forum will post this just to complain, but I still want to say it seriously: If you really want to play fishing, go to the old version of "Deep Sea Fishing". There is no VIP15, no double first charge, and gold coins are dropped when the fish dies. That's called a game. Put on the "Journey to the West" skin and invite a few Bodhisattvas to be NPCs. In essence, it will induce you to buy "Buddha's Light Barrage" to fight the BOSS. What is this called? This is called the Internet magic trick to make money.
Don't talk about "passing time." If you use this time to watch a level in "Celeste" or chew on the plot of "Undertale", it is better than being clearly arranged by the "auto-aim" and "free collection" of this game. Stand-alone players are not opposed to spending money, but they are opposed to spending money to buy virtual security. This game doesn't even give you a sense of security, it only gives you the illusion that you can catch that golden shark with just one more recharge.
Finally, if someone really wants to engage in "indie game discovery", it is recommended to start at itch.io's Crazy Game Festival, or go to Steam's "Below the Bestsellers" corner. There are experiments that dare to be released before they are completed, narrative stories that are pixelated but full of emotions, and three-hour experiences that a person has been holding back for three years. They are not called "Fishing Showdown", they are called "Tunic", "Little Green Dot in Outer Space", "Hymn of Babel"... They will not give you a "luxury gift package", but they will give you the surprise of "it turns out that the game can still be like this".
As for "Fishing Showdown"? I just want to say to it: Tang Monk with the Buddha's light cannot save your reputation, and Sun Wukong's golden cudgel cannot open my wallet. Please send this game and its "bosses" back to the foot of Five Elements Mountain to suppress them. 🧨