So I'm in the process of developing a fishing game. I started by asking a question in yahoo answers on what makes fishing fun, and also asked whether putting in some imaginary fish species would be ok to them. They weren't so warm to the idea, but I guess that's to be expected. Maybe I'll just sneak in some non-existent species that sounds real, or put in oarfish as a fishable species.. I haven't fished a lot in real life, but after looking up various fishing games, it seems that the kind of fun fishing games give you is similar to the kind of fun catching pokemons give you. What do you think is the most important thing for a fun fishing game?

If i were you i would build a list of past and present fishing games, look them up on metacritic and see what the reviewers had to say about them. Sega Bass Fishing was fun for party gaming and that was mainly because there was a controller for it.

Most people playing fishing games play them not as a pokemon-style addictive video game, but because they like fishing in real life and want to have the most similar experience when it's raining and they can't go for real. Putting fake fish remove the fun, they want to be proud because they cough a big salmon or something, not a Green BoubelyFish.

Make fake fish an option, I think (like the previous poster) many will prefer to play with real species.

While at fake species, how about putting in some prehistoric? ;)

Personally I like fish breeding games - where you catch the wild stock then breed them to get more rare variants. In that case all fish are the same species, usually imaginary, although they may be metaphorically named after real species. For example the common fishable variants might be names things like carp, bass, trout, while the breedable versions might include beta, zebrafish, angelfish, etc. With this kind of game the overall goal might be to breed one of every variety, much like pokemon's "catch em all".

A different type of fishing game I've played and liked rewards you with being able to exchange quantities of one type of fish for prize items such as fish-themed fantasy armor for your avatar to wear.

BTW try searching for fish-related threads in gamedev's archives, we've had 2 or 3 good discussions of fishing and fish-breeding games.

I don't know much about fishing, fishing games, or what makes either of them popular. But I have to imagine tracking and hunting might be a big part of the enjoyment.

You have a relatively huge lake and a few tiny fish, now go find the one specific type of fish that you're looking for.
- Are you even in the right lake?
- Does the boat you're in make too much noise? Can you fish from the shore?
- If you're using a radar system, how do you tell the weeds from the fish?
- How do you tell one school of fish from another?
- Is a fish inclined to move around a lot or stay in an area? Any particular reason for that?
- What's the best time to try and catch it?
- And of course, there's the whole bait question.

I think the way the player answers the above questions and tests those answers is what makes it fun for them.

Also probably discussing and bragging about their experiences with other people is another big thing. And I think this might be a key reason why people would want to go after non-fictional fish. They have a way to gauge their accomplishments as well as find out information on how to catch other fish. If you can effectively enable that sort of thing in catching fictional or fantastical fish then it might be something that catches on.

I suppose it comes down to how realistic or complex you want to go. I remember having fun playing some little cartoonish flash based fishing game (don't remember the name) where you just move your boat left and right or raise & lower the line trying to avoid garbage floating in the water and try to get the hook to touch a fish before time runs out.

kseh is pretty close: the fun part of fishing is the strategy. Where to cast, what bait/lure to use based on the location/conditions/target species, how to work the lure, playing the fish, etc. Then there's the actual accomplishment of catching the thing.

Regarding the original question, the addition of fictional species totally changes the feel of the game. If you admit any fictional creatures, it pushes the game in the direction of a fantasy game. Some people might like that, but I wouldn't. Fishing is just not a fantasy-type activity*.

*Ok, fishermen do a lot of fantasizing, but not like that...