Nethermere: Fishing Game

Nethermere is a fishing game on a quiet lake: you cast, wait for the float to dip and strike, then fish deeper into the dark. You start in a rowboat at dawn, catching small fish close to the surface. Line length is the only thing that decides how deep you can go, and depth is not a distance. It is how far you are willing to get from the light. This is a game about one lake and what is under it. A mere is an old word for a lake, and nether means below. CAST, WAIT, WATCH THE FLOAT Load the rod, throw, and let the lure sink. Then you wait, which is most of fishing and most of this game. When something takes it you get one moment to strike, and striking too early is as wrong as striking too late. THE FIGHT IS A REEL YOU FLICK A fish on the line is a tension gauge you have to keep out of the red. Swipe down on the reel to wind it in. The faster you swipe, the faster it turns, and it keeps spinning after you let go. Rest your thumb on it to stop it dead and let the rod carry the fish. Leave it alone and the fish takes line. Flick too hard and the line breaks, and you watch the gauge go red a moment before it does. LINE IS THE WHOLE PROGRESSION Everything you buy from the shed is in service of going deeper: more line, a motor to reach the far spots, a sounder so you can see what is beneath the boat. Better rods and reels give you longer in the red and more line per turn on the biggest fish. The lake does not get bigger. You get further into it. WHAT YOU KEEP Every catch goes into the box you carry, and the box is a puzzle. Each fish and find takes up cells in its own shape, so you drag it into place, turn it, and keep it. You start with a bucket and buy a cooler, then a livewell, from the shed. When the box is full, pick something you already hold and let it go to make room. A fish too big for the well can be weighed at the rail and let go for a bounty. The logbook, written by the keepers before you, remembers every species, the heaviest of each, and the deepest water you have ever had a line in. Sixteen achievements wait in it, and some of them are hidden. LISTEN Turn on the radio. Weather, forecasts and a voice that does not always say what it said yesterday. A note on the mood: the lake grows quietly wrong the deeper you go. There is no gore and nothing jumps at you, but some moments are unsettling, and it is rated 7+ for that. An old beer can sometimes comes up on the line. No timer, nothing chasing you, and no reason to hurry. Free to play. An ad can play when you put your head down to sleep, once an in-game day at most, and never while you fish. One purchase, Remove ads, stops them for good.