GONE Fishing Review Summary

Its spooky-silly co-op fun and active developer support are undermined by buggy, janky, repetitive gameplay plus poor performance and crashes.

Great with friends: Many players highlight that the game is best experienced with friends, offering a fun and social multiplayer experience.

Spooky and silly tone: Players enjoy the unique blend of horror and comedy, describing it as spooky yet silly, and both cozy and horrifying.

Overall great game: General positive sentiment describes the game as excellent, well-made, and fun despite minor issues.

Addictive gameplay: The game is often described as fun, addicting, and highly replayable, keeping players engaged for long sessions.

Active developer support: The developer is commended for frequent updates, community engagement, and responsiveness to player feedback.

Game is buggy and janky: Many players report the game is extremely buggy and looks janky, including a main menu bug that traps the player and forces a restart. Some describe it as full of major bugs or having weird glitches.

Boring and repetitive gameplay: Many find the game boring and monotonous, with repetitive gameplay and limited variety. Some note it becomes boring after only a few hours, even when played with friends.

Game feels unfinished and raw: Several reviewers state the game feels unfinished, unpolished, and raw with a low level of completion. They feel it still has a long way to go before being ready.

Fishing mechanic is flawed: The fishing mechanic is criticized as insufficient, oversimplified, inconsistent, and frustrating. Some say the new fishing mechanic is worse than the old one and has ruined the game for them.

Single player is less fun: Playing solo is considered uninteresting and harder, reducing enjoyment for those without friends. The game is not as much fun in single player mode.

Co-op fishing core: The game is fundamentally a fishing game, with cooperative play as a key feature. Players can fish together with friends in a shared multiplayer environment.

Horror fishing hybrid: The game blends fishing with horror elements, creating a suspenseful experience. Players encounter spooky atmospheres and hostile creatures while fishing.

Monster fish encounters: Monsters, including giant crabs, can steal catches or drag players underwater. These encounters add tension and challenge to fishing sessions.

Multiplayer with friends: The game supports co-op multiplayer for groups of friends, with options for 1-4 players or up to 8. It is designed to be played socially.

Fishing mechanics depth: Fishing is a major gameplay element with in-depth mechanics, including bait selection, upgrades, and various fish types. The system has been updated to offer more depth.

Bad or unoptimized performance: Many players report poor optimization, with severe frame drops even on high-end systems. The game is described as not super optimized and running poorly on various hardware.

Lag and framerate issues: The game is sometimes laggy, framerate is not smooth, and performance degrades over time. Rubber banding and teleporting due to bad connections also occur.

Frequent crashes: Players experience crashes every few minutes, during cutscenes, on laptops, and due to graphical device issues. Some crashes are tied to specific hardware configurations.

High GPU temperatures and usage: The game causes extremely high PC temperatures starting from the main menu and high GPU usage that grills the GPU. This issue affects multiple players on high-end rigs.

Long freezes and severe drops: Freezes last 10-15 seconds after interactions, and FPS drops to 2-4 for 20-40 seconds following freezes. These issues disrupt gameplay significantly.

Best played with friends: Many reviewers emphasize that the game is most enjoyable when played with friends or a group, often recommending it specifically for multiplayer sessions. This is the most frequently mentioned positive aspect across clusters.

Strong overall recommendation: Many reviewers give unequivocal recommendations, using phrases like '10/10 would recommend' or 'definitely recommend'. This indicates a high level of satisfaction among a significant portion of players.

Good value for the price: Multiple reviewers state the game is worth the money, offering good value for its price, especially when bought on sale or for a few bucks. Some mention it provides entertainment for a few evenings or up to ten hours.

Appeals to fishing and horror fans: Reviewers frequently recommend the game to players who enjoy fishing games, horror elements, or both, often noting the combination of fishing, scares, and co-op fun. Some mention it as a good fit for fans of Lethal Company or Far Cry 5 fishing.

Bugs and glitches hinder experience: Some players report game-breaking bugs, glitches, and an unfinished feel, leading to negative recommendations or refunds. An update reportedly broke the game for some groups.

Community fair range: $7.00 - $10.00.

Game completion: 30.0h.

Session length: 4.0h.

Endgame: 40.0h.

Players often find the co-op fishing and horror loop fun from the start, but a notable subset reports that repetition and worn-off scares make it less fun after the early hours. Quota pressure, forced tutorial structure, solo difficulty, and performance issues add friction.

Friction: forced tutorial lake map until the third day; early-game upgrade gating and line snaps that punish exploration; quota pressure leaving little time to explore, especially with small teams; solo play makes achievement hunting and progression extremely difficult; multiplayer bugs, lag, and FPS drops in some effects or larger groups; low-quality visuals initially deterring some players.

Unlock drivers: playing co-op with friends; tweaking performance settings for smoother play; post-launch patches reducing lag; spending fish on upgrades and totems to make future runs easier.

Co-op Friendslop Socialite: Group sessions with 2-8 players, fishing quotas, and reacting to friends' deaths and jump scares. Motivation: Shared laughter and horror/scare moments with friends. Stance: buy.

Chill Solo Angler: Solo peaceful-mode fishing, collecting fish, and chilling in the open world. Motivation: Relaxing fishing and peaceful exploration. Stance: buy.

Solo Player Without a Group: Solo attempts at co-op-balanced survival, quota management, and achievement hunting. Motivation: Experiencing the survival and quota loop without a regular friend group. Stance: no buy.

Across the cohorts, performance is mostly positive only on Windows systems with less than 8GB VRAM; the 8-11GB and 12-15GB VRAM cohorts show mixed results, with recurring optimization, frame-rate, and stability complaints.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Most reviewers report the game works well, though some mention lag, co-op frame drops, and optimization issues.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: mixed. Reports are split between playable-but-unoptimized experiences and serious complaints about frequent crashes and very high GPU usage.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: mixed. Some users report smooth play or patched performance, while others cite severe frame-rate drops, crashes, and poor optimization.

Steam Deck: The available Steam Deck feedback is mostly positive: users report that the game runs great or okay on the device and do not mention Proton toggles, external launchers, anti-cheat errors, crashes, or unreadable UI. The only noted issue is that the control scheme feels suboptimal, but this is described as likely to improve and does not prevent play.

Linux and Proton: The available feedback is limited but consistently positive for Linux-related playability. Users report the game running on Steam Deck, with no mention of Proton workarounds, launch problems, graphical glitches, or anti-cheat/DRM blockers. This supports a low-friction Linux/SteamOS compatibility assessment.

Monetization: The reviewed feedback contains no confirmed in-game purchases, paid currency, loot boxes, gacha, battle pass, or pay-to-win mechanics. Most monetization references are hypothetical cosmetic DLC requests or an achievement joke. One review uses real-money gambling language without identifying an in-game purchase system, so it is treated as ambiguous rather than confirmed predatory monetization.

Active and responsive developer: The developer is highly active, frequently updating the game and communicating with players. Many players highlight the constant attention and responsiveness to feedback.

Regular content and bug fix updates: The game receives frequent updates, including new content, features, and bug fixes. Updates are released regularly, sometimes multiple times a week or daily.

Game is in early access: The game is currently in early access or alpha stage, with limited content. Players note it is still in early stages of development.

Developed by two brothers: The game is made by two brothers who actively update the game. This small team is dedicated to improving the game.

Community praises developers: Players praise and encourage the developers to keep up the good work. The developers are actively involved with the community.