Ultimate Fishing® Simulator

This is more realistic than other fishing simulator games I've played. You can actually see fish when they swim past if the water visibility is good enough. There are also mechanics outside of just what bait/rod you use, and there is actually some finesse to reeling it in, or your line could snap. This feels way more real than other games I've played.

An easy recommendation on sale for anyone even slightly curious, and if you're keen on virtual fishing probably a decent buy at full price. Controller users - see caveats below! This was my token Fishing genre purchase from 2025's Fishing Fest and it's surprisingly fascinating. UFS is a good mix of arcade realism where you pick up a bunch of real fishing techniques but (unlike real life) actually catch fish and don't lost a bunch of tackle on each attempt. Several nice maps and fishing modes available in the base game, with extra maps and species available as DLC if you can't get enough of it after that. The small dev team is currently working on a free "Remaster" to iron out a bunch of old technical issues. This is a great game to chill with while catching up on music. It's adequately pretty, has calming nature sounds and many moments of meditative contemplation while waiting for a bite (although, generally, less than you'd expect from real life fishing). I thought the game was overly easy to start, but after a bit of progress this is probably just the first (tutorial) trout lake. Fish become less cooperative as you more through maps. Bait prices and cash rewards for catches seem a bit unrealistic, but it works with the progression system well enough. Controller players note that you'll likely want a mouse available. The game is very poor at indicating what option is highlighted in menus and navigating them on controller is often frustrating. There are no on screen controller prompts - so look in the options menu for the layout. The main catching fish part is perfectly playable with controller though, and most of the menus are usable (with a little random flailing) if you don't want to grab a mouse each time. A couple of useful controls are missing from the gamepad bindings. With Steam controller profiles it's relatively easy to add Z (Zoom) and Flashlight (I forget the binding) as additional commands for controller buttons. I suggest setting B/Square (underwater view) to send Z on long press and double press to toggle flashlight. P.S. Look up fishing reel "Drag" settings, it's a critically useful feature that (I believe) is missing from the in-game help due to being added after launch. Makes fish fighting much more manageable.

Why buy a fishing game when there's so many free ones? I don't know... I got it because it was on sale and under $15 for the game and all DLC. Pretty good game so far and it was worth it. I didn't bother getting the UF2 in the DLC package since it seemed to not be as good as this one as some have said on the comments page.

I bought a $2 radio player and it has this really cool fishing mini game that comes with it.

Fun little fishing game. If you’ve played any other fishing sims, you’ll pick this one up quickly -- it’s pretty straightforward. Pros: 1. Solid variety of gear and fish, both freshwater and saltwater. 2. The aquarium trophy room is a nice touch. You can keep the fish you've caught in a display tank, complete with their size and catch location. Only gripe: you can’t feed them. I vaguely remember a game from my childhood that let you do that -- always thought it added something. 3. Built-in radio streaming. Being able to tune into real stations while you fish is a great ambient feature. Cons: 1. The graphics are a bit dated. Not terrible, just not current-gen. 2. Fish movement feels a little robotic -- not quite as fluid or lifelike as it could be. All in all, it’s a relaxing break from the usual action-heavy lineup. Sometimes it's nice to just kick back and cast a line.

Love this game. Best fishing game out there imo. Its dated but the devs are working on a remaster and the sneak peaks look great. Fishing lures can be odd because hook size doesn't match what the say you can catch with it. For instance some of the lures will only have a 6/0 hook but say its for catching perch. I have all the DLCs and the aquariums really tie you in and make you want to stock up your tanks. Just wish they had a few smaller ones for the smaller species of fish so you can see them better. Also the fish in the aquariums have very generic movements. Would love to see the smaller fish schooling together and the big cats hanging around the bottom. Overall I give it a 8/10 which is saying a lot for a fishing sim

Ultimate Fishing Simulator offers a surprisingly relaxing and realistic fishing experience. With its wide variety of locations, detailed fish species, and realistic mechanics, it captures the peaceful essence of the sport. The graphics are decent, the controls are smooth, and the game balances fun and simulation well. Whether you're a fishing enthusiast or just looking for a calm game to unwind, this is a solid choice.

Most realistic fishing game on steam by far. Its challenging & also user friendly I would recommend this game to any fishermen wanting a substitute from real life angling! Thumbs up!

Meh, good fishing game. I really liked how they did the trophy room. I picked it up when on a huge sale as this is the older version. Yet, I would recommend the game to anyone who likes fishing.

Very nice game, with plenty of fish species to catch, i recommend to buy this game especially on The 2,0€ sale. But dont buy all of The dlc, because you Dont need them, and Then you pay The full Price of The game, if of you buy all of The dlc.

Got this as a gift with some of the DLC. This combines realistic fishing with a bit of sega bass fishing and indie heart and soul. I think it's a great fishing game, it isn't as good as the angler or rdr2's fishing but few things are. Lots of customization, decent graphics and fish models/behaviors/fluid or water models, vehicles including boats! Great biomes, especially in the DLC. Devs are also working on remastering the entire game for this year, so honestly for $2 and some change you can't go wrong.

I would say this is a very accurate simulator in terms of fighting the fish and managing your tackle. Landing a 7lbs trout on 1.5lbs test can be done, this sim has the player actively engaging with drag management and tension in a way others dont. Kudos.

Game doesn't run well, super clunky and just not fun.

For people who don't know how to fish, this game is very difficult to play. If you are a beginner, it is recommended to look for another game.

It is kind of like fishing planet but not as "pretty". Also, no micro transactions that I can tell. Just buy the DLC and you are set. Has a built in internet radio feature and relaxing to play.

Bought a $2 metal detector radio, and I got a free fishing game with it!

this game is so horrible NEVER EVER THINK ABOUT BUYING THIS HORRIBLE GAME YOU CRASH EVERY 2 SECONDS AND CANT EVEN STAY IN THE GAME I wake up bored and i want to play a game i try load this game up and i kid you not not even 4 second in and the game crashes horrible game should get taken down

the shitty programming forces you to listen to even shittier music

Wyłowiłem maluszka z przeremblu i teraz ściga mnie ecpu

bought it on a -90% deal with all the DLCs during the steam fishing fest. This game is amazing. Way better than the angler call of the wild.

The game it's really good unfortunately it has a kinda bad optimization in some areas, the multiplayer it's kinda not that fun since you see other players as bubbles instead of a full human avatar with animations

Superb fishing feels like the real thing here. Strike and fight feel that fish through ya xbox controller. Water effects look fantastic and also coop is fun. Only negative is the shop pricing lol 3 dollar for a maggot when i can get half a pint of maggots here in real life for that lol.

Quite possibly the most humiliating experience of my life.

Nice game for spending extra hours

Edit / Update: I'd like to correct something I wrote in error in my original review. Previously, I said Ultimate Fishing Simulator had a working drag system. That's not quite right. A fishing reel drag can be described as a clutch (a friction clutch in most cases) that, lets say, couples the spool to the body assembly on a spinning reel. At a drag setting of zero, the spool is completely disconnected from the body and is allowed to spin freely, while at maximum drag setting, the spool will remain coupled with with the body if the line tension is below the drag's force rating. At or above the force rating, the drag (the plates sandwiched inside the spool) will start to slip. UFS' shortcomings in modeling reels is that the player can retrieve line even with the drag set to zero (no amount of handle-turning can wind a tensioned line around a spool spinning loose), and turning the handle seems to raise tension too much in general (tension generally stays constant around the force the drag is set to slip, regardless of the fish tugging or the handle turning). I'm sorry for making this mistake. I still stand by my verdict; even after having played other, more thoroughly modeled angling sim titles and finding those immersive, I still think Ultimate Fishing Simulator is a fun game that doesn't get in the way of its fun. If there are any other new criticisms I have, I wish the fish would fight two to four times longer and zip around more. Original Review: Going off what I've read, modern angling simulation games appear to be plagued by all manner of woes—frustrating bugs, half-baked mechanics and gameplay loops left behind in favor of some irrelevant hook, predatory monetization, publishers or managers axing all support to work on the next big project—looking for a title to try always felt dizzying. Ultimate Fishing® Simulator (2018) presently sits at the top of the Steam ratings for the angling sim genre and even boasts about it. While I don't think it's absolutely perfect, I'm glad to report it's a substantial pick that's fun and doesn't get in the way of that fun. Far and away the worst thing about the game is the menus. The menus suck. It's manageable, but the game would be remarkably close to being flawless if they didn't suck. Controller support would be better if there was native rebinding. The rest of my complaints are nitpicks: The art style isn't super tight for its level of visual fidelity and the environments either lack a certain sense of scale or sometimes forget a detail connecting the place to the rest of the planet. Lastly, I wish the fish swimming animations were a little more lifelike. The swim cycle could use more nuance and their movement feels like it's constrained to 3 or 4 degrees of motion. Ultimate Fishing Simulator absolutely nails its gameplay. The game lists force maximums for the rod, reel and line, as well as float buoyancy against a selected weighting. Hook or lure size must be chosen according to the size of the fish the player wants to land. There's a state machine that checks for which one of five modeled lure reeling techniques that affects attractiveness to surrounding fish. Line tension can be managed by a working drag system that fish can pull on at a low enough setting. There's plenty of detail in UFS that matters and keeps gameplay engaging. I'd rather not comment on realism because it feels silly to compare a video game to real life angling in any serious manner, but it certainly feels like an angling game should and even evokes memories of a simpler time in my life. Get the game with all its DLC on discount if you can.

relaxing, fun, realistic enough

Very fun and chill game to kill time to

Its a decent game, would buy on sale.

советую игру потому что вспомнил как в деревне ловил рыбу

buy and play this game or you will burn in hell

men sad men go fishing men see fish men excited men catch fish men happy

Relaxed play and enjoyment

Why do fish look so dry coming right out of the water?

fun

Gotta Catch Them All.

i love this game

Fishing period

amazing fishing with alot of neat fish to catch.

very fun :)

Takeho racka som chytil

Better than UFS2

It's better than modern Fishing Planet.

Amazing

I can't eat the fish

so boring

GREAT GAME

i catch big fish

catch fishj

man like fish big fish :O

good