Webfishing is a little indie game about fishing. It’s as simple in gameplay as it is in visual style, allowing you to create a custom cat or dog avatar that you’ll control while exploring your little island campsite. With easy to grasp gameplay rules, you’ll buy bait, sit next to the water, and cast your line. The catch minigame is also just as simple; hold down your mouse until you reel in the fish, sometimes having to click your mouse to break through a little barrier, and that’s that.

It’s easy to just spend a few hours by yourself getting lost in the cozy vibes this game gives off, with its charming aesthetic, cute soundtrack, and satisfying fishing mechanics. However, Webfishing doesn’t stop there. Upon launching the game, you’re met with a classic server host/join screen, just like the old days. Public servers you can join, or make your own that perhaps somebody else will join you in your own camp. Other players can sit and fish with you, and you can use the in-game chat to interact, tell stories, or share your catches items.

That right there is where the biggest charm of Webfishing occurs.

The interactivity between users can not be understated. This game is fun and relaxing to play by yourself, but making connections with random players online is where Webfishing really shines. The simple task the game presents you with, paired with shooting the shit to people online is refreshing because… We’re all here for the same reasons. We’re here to relax. We’re playing this particular game to unwind, and to get lost in the sounds of the wind and splash of your lure hitting the water. We’re here doing this together.

Players online are generally very calm and laid back, which gives way to the most pleasant conversations. Small talk is commonplace here because it’s so easy to ask a stranger a simple “How are you?”. Show off your avatar, send letters to each other with attached items, sip a virtual beer. Did I mention there’s beer in this game?

Being in a lobby full of other little queer furry characters that are all 10 virtual beers in and seeing the chaotic, nigh unreadable chat box as slurred words, hiccups and outlandish gibberish fills the screen. You can practically hear the laughter through your computer monitor as the in-game alcohol effect causes players to randomly walk off on the dock and plop into the water below. 

Or maybe you’re more the type to sit by a campfire with friends and strum a few chords on the simple-yet-intuitive guitar items, writing new songs or playing some recognizable ones for the people around you. Or maybe drawing is more your style? There’s so many different types of chalk to choose from, so you can spend hours drawing with your new friends. 

The appeal of Webfishing comes down to the near-instant gratification of a conversation with a like-minded individual. Someone is always there to chat, to chill, to vent, to spend time in your company because… like I said before, we’re all here for the same reasons. We’re here to unwind. We’re here to let our cares drift away off the shore while we cast just a few more lines before logging off and going to bed. But maybe just one more. And one more. And another…

The ways people make their ways in and out of your life for a fleeting moment. Just a couple of hours. Just an evening. But for that moment you got to exist with each other and share a few kind words. That’s what Webfishing does for me. That’s why I keep opening it, night after night, despite the repetition and the seemingly mundane task it provides you with. Because it makes the idea of sitting down by the pond with a stranger seem comforting. 

The game’s progression is nothing to write home about, since it just kind of happens. You’ll catch fish, you’ll upgrade your equipment and your bait, you’ll level up your camp… But you’ll keep coming back for those moments you get to share with other players. I think I’ll go back to it right now actually. Just a couple more catches before bed… And maybe a couple more… And another…

Score: 8/10