[h1]After 2,000+ Hours…[/h1]
After almost [b]two years and more than 2,000 hours (mobile)[/b], I have unlocked all [b]1,215 Steam achievements[/b] in Idle Fishing.
Yes, you read that correctly.
[b]Over two thousand hours. In a clicker. About fishing.[/b]
If you're thinking that you'd have to be a little crazy to spend two years of your life on something like this… [b]I won't tell you that you're wrong.[/b]
A lot of people make fun of games like this:
[i]“You just click on fish.”[/i]
[i]“There's no way this can keep you entertained for dozens of hours.”[/i]
[i]“Who would actually stick with this?”[/i]
[b]…2,000 hours.[/b]
And I did it all [b]fair and square.[/b]
No Steam Achievement Manager. No third-party achievement unlockers.
The rarest achievement currently sits at just [b]1.5% of players[/b] on Steam. However, I don't think that number tells the whole story. If I had to estimate the percentage of players who earned it legitimately, I'd put it somewhere around [b]0.3–0.7%[/b].
[hr][/hr]
[h2]…Enough drama.[/h2]
Let's talk about [b]how things actually are.[/b]
When you're playing competitively, it's very common for waiting for five other people to take longer than the actual game itself.
And that's exactly why clickers became the perfect [b]time filler while waiting[/b].
You give the game a few seconds of attention, make a few clicks, and then you can simply close it again.
[b]Perfect.[/b]
[hr][/hr]
[h2]And back to the drama…[/h2]
My feelings about Idle Fishing are [b]mixed.[/b]
At first, I felt very similarly to many of the reviewers. But after a while, I realized something important.
The developer made us a [b]free-to-play clicker[/b] that, before the Excavation update, required an [b]insane amount of time[/b] for any significant progress.
With the addition of Excavation, you're able to complete [b]roughly one rebirth per day.[/b]
And what exactly did you expect the game to do after that?
Every developer who manages to create a game with a community this dedicated doesn't want to simply let it die.
[b]It's his little baby.[/b]
And if we genuinely enjoy the game, I think we should be happy that we can come back to it after some time.
And believe me…
At first, the developer [b]went a little overboard with the amount of Excavation required[/b], but he listened to the negative reviews and [b]adjusted it.[/b]
That's a [b]big plus[/b] in my book.
The only thing I would personally criticize is that the newer mechanics [b]don't really stick to the game's original fishing theme.[/b]
[hr][/hr]
[h1]5 Things You Might Want to Know About the Game[/h1]
[h2]1/5 — If Idle Fishing Were a Paid Game, Would I Buy It?[/h2]
Unfortunately, [b]only if it was on sale for a good price.[/b]
But to be fair, no clicker has impressed me enough so far to make me want to pay full price for one.
Idle Fishing has a [b]relaxing atmosphere[/b], but it doesn't really offer anything “extra” compared to your typical clicker.
[h2]2/5 — How Truly “Idle” Is It?[/h2]
Before the Excavation update, the game was almost entirely idle, aside from [b]Fishing Contests, catching seagulls, and completing seasonal quests.[/b]
If you leave the game running, it will relatively quickly build up a stack for catching seagulls.
Before the update, the game didn't really require you to open it more than once a day.
[b]Now it's different.[/b]
You can find yourself coming back to the game every [b]33 minutes and 20 seconds.[/b]
That's exactly how long it takes to build up [b]800/800 for Excavation.[/b]
[h2]3/5 — Monetization[/h2]
In this regard, the game is similar to Tap Ninja. I'd even say it's [b]more player-friendly.[/b]
Almost everything can be purchased with [b]diamonds[/b], which you can earn through various activities in the game.
There is also a reward system for [b]watching ads.[/b]
The only thing you can buy with real money is a [b]unique skin[/b], which has no effect on gameplay.
[b]2× W.[/b]
The game also doesn't constantly push you toward microtransactions, which only adds to its [b]relaxing atmosphere.[/b]
[h2]4/5 — The Developer & Communication[/h2]
I've already mentioned this above.
This is the developer's [b]first clicker[/b], and considering that, I think he did a pretty good job.
The developer [b]doesn't ignore his community.[/b]
The game is also [b]very easy on your PC.[/b]
As a player, I get the feeling that the developer [b]actually listens to his community.[/b]
[b]W.[/b]
[h2]5/5 — The Negative Side[/h2]
[h3]“If I could remove a few things from Idle Fishing, what would they be?”[/h3]
[b]The shift away from the fishing activity.[/b]
[b]Rebirth,[/b] although that's something that bothers me in practically every clicker.
And unfortunately, I'm an [b]achievement hunter.[/b] Once you've unlocked the final Steam achievement, there isn't really anything keeping me motivated to continue playing.
Yes, this is also why the update included some [b]ridiculously grindy achievements[/b], which players simply unlocked through third-party tools.
At first, I was also annoyed by the update.
Not because it was too complicated.
But because it arrived when I already had [b]1,000+ hours[/b] in the game.
Someone who had, say, 200 hours in the game could suddenly [b]catch up with my fishing progress within a few hours.[/b]
And that's probably what bothered me [b]the most about the update.[/b]
