History Main / FishingMinigame

* Fishing rods are used for two purposes in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''. One is to pull mobs; the other is to fish. All bodies of water, even ones you make yourself, contain fish; you fish by throwing out your line and waiting for the bobber to go down. Once you have fishing rods, water, and a suitable supply of sticks and string to replace your rods, your food problems are solved. Version 1.7.2 ("The Update that Changed the World", released October 25, 2013) greatly expanded fishing by adding in multiple types of fish as well as making it so that the player can fish up treasures (such as enchanted items) or junk (like a pair of leather boots).

[[caption-width-right:300:[[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer Good job on catching that fish]]. [[SavingTheWorld Now get back to work!]]]]

Many video games are made in Japan, and one of Japan's leading food industries is fishing. This is a culture where squid and octopus are seen as delicious daily treats on a level with UsefulNotes/McDonalds, so fishing is pretty ingrained into the culture. So if the video game you are playing is SideQuest-ish and MiniGame-ish enough, it ''will'' have a fishing minigame. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Fishing Games]] on the other hand have this as the major goal.

Fishing minigames are often {{luck based mission}}s, much to players' annoyance. Especially when fish [[FishingForSole aren't the only thing you can catch]].

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has one too, and is even more elaborate than the one in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]].'' You also get a regular fishing rod without a reel as an item that you can use at any time, which eventually comes in handy in order to complete a certain quest.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' allows you to go fishing with a rod in order to initiate wild Pokemon battles and capture Water Pokemon. In early installments you have no real control; the process is "use fishing rod, wait a few seconds, game randomly decides whether you caught a Pokemon or not, repeat." Later games do, however, introduce timing as a measure of whether you'll be successful.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheSims2 The Sims 2: Seasons]]'' includes Fishing as an activity your sims can perform, along with a skill badge that (somehow) affects the quality of fish you catch. The Sims 3 is supposed to have fishing in it as well. This is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-level high level]], so no mini-game.

* This is the entire point of the ''VideoGame/LegendOfTheRiverKing'' series, which is the sister series to ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon''.

* This is the entire point of the ''River King'' series, which is the sister series to ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon''.

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', all versions. Some people on the AXA board would go so far as to say that fishing for coelacanths on rainy nights, along with [[VendorTrash selling the fish]] and spending the money on furniture, is the main game in AC and everything else is the side-quest. One member there claims to have bought a 1.4 million bell mansion after five to seven nights of fishing, compared to the more typical two months of growing fruit. Of course, there are NoCartoonFish, but there are cartoon frogs and octopodes. Along with regular frogs and octopodes. One can be your friendly neighbors, and the other you feed alive to a fat walrus for wallpaper. Frog and Octopus neighbors may ask you to catch a fish for them (to eat), to which you can respond by giving them a frog or octopus you fished out of the water. They have no problem eating it.

* All ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' games feature this trope as a fairly enjoyable but not particularly essential side activity. Occasionally fishing may trigger rewards or bonuses in the game. In ''The Island that Grows with You'' (a.k.a. ''Island of Happiness''), catching and shipping 50 fish is the only way to get a certain character to move in.
* This is the entire point of the ''River King'' series, which is the sister series to ''Harvest Moon''.

* ''The Sims: Castaway'' for the [=PS2=], PSP and DS all have fishing "mini-games". On the [=PS2=] your sim stands next to a school of fish with a spear, then has to wait for a fish to jump into the air in order to stab a fish. On the DS the scene actually changes to a mini-game where you stab the fish with your stylus. Not sure about the PSP version.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' allows you to go fishing with a rod in order to initiate wild Pokemon battles and capture Water Pokemon. Later games do, however, introduce timing as a measure of whether you'll be successful.

** UltimaOnline has a full regular skill for fishing.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheSims The Sims 2: Seasons]]'' includes Fishing as an activity your sims can perform, along with a skill badge that (somehow) affects the quality of fish you catch. The Sims 3 is supposed to have fishing in it as well. This is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-level high level]], so no mini-game.

* The Diablo-clone ''{{FATE}}'', and its successor ''VideoGame/{{Torchlight}}'', allows you to fish for fish that transform your pet, plus the occasional magical boots and some other nice items.

Many video games are made in Japan, and one of Japan's leading food industries is fishing. This is a culture where squid and octopus are seen as delicious daily treats on a level with a McDonald's, so fishing is pretty ingrained into the culture. So if the video game you are playing is SideQuest-ish and MiniGame-ish enough, it ''will'' have a fishing minigame. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Fishing Games]] on the other hand have this as the major goal.

Many video games are made in Japan, and one of Japan's leading food industries is fishing. This is a culture where squid and octopus are seen as viable daily snacks, so fishing is pretty ingrained into the culture. So if the video game you are playing is SideQuest-ish and MiniGame-ish enough, it ''will'' have a fishing minigame. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Fishing Games]] on the other hand have this as the major goal.

* ''SummonNight: Swordcraft Story 2'' has this as minigame. You can gain points which can be traded for hard to find items.

* This is heavily present in both ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' and its sequel, though the general mechanic works exactly the same in both. You're introduced to it through Kenneth Lakelord of the noble Lakelord family, and through it the game's protagonist, Rean Schwarzer, is an honorary member of the Fishing Club. There's a Trophy in both games for catching all fish and various other rewards besides.

*
''VideoGame/ToontownOnline'' and the private servers have fishing ponds in every street and playground. Some players try to [[SelfImposedChallenge max their fishing by getting all 70 species of fish]].

** EverQuest lets you fish, but tries its hardest to avoid letting to make money off it.

Many video games are made in Japan, and one of Japan's leading food industries is fishing. This is a culture where squid and octopus are seen as viable daily snacks, so fishing is pretty ingrained into the culture. So if the video game you are playing is SideQuest-ish and MiniGame-ish enough, it ''will'' have a fishing minigame.

* ''VideoGame/{{TheElderScrollsOnline}}'': It's possible to fish, and achievements can be unlocked for catching all the rare fish in a particular area. The achievements for catching all the fish in a faction actually earn you a dye color for your armor, as well.
* ''{{FATE}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Torchlight}}'' have fishing games based on reaction time. The fish can be used to temporarily or permanently turn your pet into a [[PetMonstrosity more powerful creature]], or they contain [[RandomDrops artifacts]] or [[SocketedEquipment gems]] (sometimes [[FridgeLogic much larger than the fish]]).

* The ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series has fishing minigames, that double as ways to collect special items and armor (or worthless junk like old shoes.) Of particular note is ''SuikodenV'', where it takes the form of a competition between [[TheHero the Prince]], Subala, [[BumblingDad Logg]] and Lun. Notably, it doesn't really matter if you win or lose the contest; you keep everything you caught regardless.

* In the GBA port of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'', Funky Kong gives you a choice between his jet barrel and a fishing minigame. This is also present in the GameBoyColor port, except it's only accessed through the bonus menu and not through the main game.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' required the player to catch and feed fish to the game's Cid. Feeding him slow fish would kill him rapidly. Moderately speedy fish would also kill him, just more slowly. The only way to save Cid is by a steady diet of fast fish. However, whether he lives or dies makes no difference to the plot, except for character development for Celes. If he dies, however, Celes is DrivenToSuicide via a LeapOfFaith over Cid's death.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' had a fishing minigame, notable because its completion was one of the conditions needed to obtain the Wrymhero Blade, arguably one of the [[InfinityPlusOneSword most powerful weapons in the game]].

* Most ''VideoGame/BreathOfFire'' games have a fishing minigame. In the third one, the game [[BrokenBridge requires you to actually fish for a plot-related event]] and the [=PSP=] port unlocks special content using the fishing minigame; the fourth actually got its fishing minigame turned into a Japanese smartphone game spinoff.

* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie: Grunty's Revenge'' has a fishing minigame. The mini-game pops up several times with several different "skins," and while it is indeed about fishing in some of them, in its first version, it's about catching ''sheep.''

* ''The Sims: Castaway'' for the PS2, PSP and DS all have fishing "mini-games". On the PS2 your sim stands next to a school of fish with a spear, then has to wait for a fish to jump into the air in order to stab a fish. On the DS the scene actually changes to a mini-game where you stab the fish with your stylus. Not sure about the PSP version.

* In ''VideoGame/StardewValley'', the player is introduced to a fairly expansive fishing minigame on their third day on the farm. Cast your road into any body of water and wait for the tug. When you respond, you have to play a sort of MissileLockOn[=/=]tug-of-war game where you have to keep on target to build a progression meter - when it fills, you catch the fish, and when it runs out, the fish escapes. There are different varieties of fish which depend on what time of day you're fishing and whether it's ocean-going or freshwater fish, you can also catch random treasure (but only if the fish is successfully caught as well) and later on you can even buy high quality customisable rods. Fishing is DifficultButAwesome; if you get the hang of it early on, it will provide a lot of the income you will need to get the farm up and running.