Unless you are going for some special fish in the middle of Amazon rain forest or trying to get a huge sailfish from a speedboat in the middle of the sea, real fishing is a relaxing time where not much is actually happening. Unfortunately this doesn't work well with games in general, so let's see how Pocket Fishing deals with the lack of action.
Most of the fishing sim games are quite complex and offer a plethora of options and settings to compensate the fact that there's not much happening in the game itself. Pocket Fishing has to deal with another caveat and that is the small screen and limited resources of mobile phones.
Fortunately it does quite a nice job by utilising the phone controls, especially the accelerometer and touchscreen. You can cast with the phone as if it was part of the rod and I really liked how you can battle with the fish by tilting and reeling on the touchscreen. The only thing missing here are vibrations which would make the feel even better.
The graphics are neat and the cartoonish feel along with nicely drawn backgrounds and relaxing music make the game an ideal time waster while waiting for a bus or train. Given that you don't care about being seen casting in public with your phone.
Pocket fishing also offers global leader boards and achievements, ideal for earning virtual bragging rights after catching virtual fish. And there are plenty to catch, that's for sure. There are several places to fish in the game set in a beautiful Russian countryside and a series of quests that will keep you coming back to the game. To make it a bit more interesting, a shop with lures and upgraded equipment is available as well.
Summary
Overall Pocket Fishing makes a nice and simple fishing sim for a quick fishing experience. The beautiful visuals, relaxing music and plenty of fish in beautiful settings makes it a nice addition to the collection of games you would keep in your phone for a quick play here and there. The game is free and is supported by in-app purchases and TapJoy service that allows you to earn in-game currency by doing small tasks or installing software.Google Play store
