GONE FISH INC.

Inspiration

We all love incremental games in our team and pairing this mechanic with a fishing theme seemed like the way to go! We aimed to have short but engaging gameplay, that's fun when you play and creates anticipation for when you come back.

What it does

GONE FISH INC. is a relaxing yet rewarding fishing game where players start catching fish instantly, earn money, upgrade their boat, hire crew, and expand their fishing empire, both while playing and while idle.

When designing the game we based our development on:

Immediate Engagement - Players start fishing and earning within seconds of launching the game.
Simple, Satisfying Interaction - One-finger swipe controls designed for mobile accessibility.
Instant Feedback - Visual and audio effects trigger with every catch (splashes, pops). Users are guided in their first session with contextual instructions.
Visible Progression - Frequent upgrades, rewards, and milestones that reinforce a sense of progression.
Balanced Active & Idle Play - Players feel rewarded whether they’re actively playing or away.

Core Gameplay Loop

Step 1: Swipe across the water to catch fish.
Step 2: Earn money from each catch.
Step 3: Spend earnings on upgrade: better boats, items, crew, or automation.
Step 4: Unlock new areas and rare fish for higher rewards.

Upgrades & Automation

Crew Members automate fishing and increase efficiency.
New boats can be unlocked better specs and new items.
Gear items like rods and bait improve catch rates.
Automation Systems like item and crew specs gradually reduce the need for active play while keeping engagement rewarding.

Progression Systems

You can upgrade: boat items, crew, the boat, items granted when catching the goldfish.
Each upgrade significantly multiplies earnings, maintaining satisfying acceleration.
New fishing areas can be unlocked when earning enough currency. Each zone introduces new unique fish and earning caps.
Achievements get triggered quickly in the beginning and help users.
Soft Cap ensure balance to avoid overwhelming players during longer sessions.

Idle vs. Active Balance

Active Play: Swiping and catching yields fast, interactive income bursts.
Idle Play: Crew and automated systems continue generating money while the app is closed.
Offline Rewards: Players collect accumulated income when returning, encouraging frequent check-ins.

GenAI

We used Meta's GenAI Tool from the desktop editor to create 10 different species of fish and several sounds
We used other GenAI Tools to create the icons for all the items and upgrades

Challenges we ran into

There was a lot of instability with de Desktop Editor in the final days of the competition. One bug that popped up out of nowhere was that default and custom animations didn't work on the avatar as usual. The default sitting down pose which we use in the boat now has the player twisted to the side. This hindered our plans to make the moment of catching an Epic Fish be more fun. The bug has been identified by more creators and has been reported, but not fixed yet.