Ultimate FishermanThe most underrated game of 2024 reminds me of Animal Crossing, but it's all about fishing - and nothing elseFish, gamble, and parkour. What more could you want?Image credit: lamedeveloper Article by Kelsey Raynor Guides Writer Published on Dec. 21, 2024 When your game(s) of the year largely consist of psychological horror and back-to-back, brutal boss fights as mine did youll almost definitely need something mindlessly relaxing to kick back with. Sure enough, as I wrapped up my time wandering around the streets of Silent Hill 2, an adorable, unsuspecting game began doing the rounds on social media: Webfishing.Webfishing is simple. You fish. Thats it. After hours of deciphering Silent Hill 2s ending conditions, fishing is all I wanted to do.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Sure, Webfishing does have a little more to it than just fishing. Theres a chat function, and ultimately, the idea is that you make friends or hang with your existing friends and chat while waiting for a fish to bite. Theres cosmetics, upgrades, and even gambling, but not the predatory type; Webfishing, fortunately, doesnt require you to spend a penny beyond the 4.29 that the game actually costs.Sure enough, myself and a close friend got to work catching fish and quickly spent most of our profits on scratchcards. Our newfound profits, which werent really profits at all, were quickly spent on cosmetics and better bait. Better bait means bigger fish, and the fish in Webfishing get really bigAnd what happens when you catch those big fish? More often than not, youll find other folk who all look like Animal Crossing characters, by the way cheering for you in chat. Ive had some of my nicest, most innocent of online interactions all year in Webfishing. Cast off! | Image credit: lamedeveloperAn incredibly simple premise with, for the most part, a lovely playerbase and community. In one random lobby that I joined, hoping to quietly fish while watching YouTube, I joined a group of people fishing from a toilet. One of the many things you can do in Webfishing that I didnt know existed at the time. Another player brought out a guitar and began taking requests from others, while we all continued to fish from the same, small toilet.On another occasion, myself and my friend decided to spend our Saturday evening having some in-game (and real!) beers while playing Webfishing and catching up on each others lives. Our server quickly went from just the two of us to multiple pixelated cats and dogs gathering on the pier to chat about anything and everything, get drunk on in-game wine, and of course, fish.There were a few casualties to the wine, but all in all, logging into a game to fish with your friend and then finding yourself chatting to a whole array of like-minded, LGBTQIA+ people while doing so isnt something I necessarily expected from Webfishing when I first installed it. I was pleasantly surprised, and its what keeps me coming back. That, and fishing, of course. Theres a real kick from catching a fish so big that it clips through the map. Though, not so much of a kick from then spending all of your profits from it on scratchcards, and losing most of them. That's bait. | Image credit: lamedeveloperWebfishing is bizarre and surreal at the best of times, especially when you witness your friend parkour from one side of the map to the other meowing frantically the entire time, because thats a thing you can do but theres something just so lovely about it all. Webfishing is a small corner of the internet where when hackers arent trying to ruin the fun you can truly switch off and relax for a while. Fish, gamble, parkour. Push people into the ocean. Get wine drunk on the pier. Webfishing is an underrated gem and a rare place of respite for gamers who need a break from it all.