All it took was seeing the words ‘Dread XP’ in the publisher section to get me to buy Fishing Vacation on the Switch. Well, that and it only cost $2. The $2 part is probably what stopped me dead in my tracks because, if you’ve read anything else I’ve written, I consistently buy strange games that make no sense. If your game is under $5 and looks batshit, there’s a good chance I’m going to regret buying it.
Fortunately, Fishing Vacation is my favorite horror game of the year. And, again, I want to emphasize that it only costs $2. For less than the cup of coffee, you can buy a short horror game that will go well with a cup of coffee. In fact, if you just bought a small coffee rather than a large one, there’s a 50-50 chance the difference in cost is enough to get Fishing Vacation. Which, as I should remind you, is a whole ass video game.
Here’s the premise without spoiling much: A friend has invited you to go fishing at his uncle’s cabin. Things get weird. There’s also a bit of a minor mystery involved. This is all wrapped in the ever-popular retro Game Boy aesthetic made to look like a combination of Earthbound and Legend of River King. In fact, the game presents itself in a very Super Game Boy-style border that can be switched to a brandless, logoless Game Boy border.
While I know some people are tired of retro-styled horror games, I don’t care and I’m not here to tell you how to live your life. All I know is that Fishing Vacation plays and sounds like an old Game Boy game. Fortunately, it doesn’t try to lean into the trope that the game itself is haunted or some shit. It tips you off early something fucked up is happening. The cheerful energy of the Game Boy music and pixel art is just there to throw you even more off balance.
And that’s what I love about this game: it throws you off balance. Little touches and changes to the environment and the music as the game goes on make it creepier and creepier. Things seem to appear in the corner of your eye and then disappear when you go to look. There’s one particular minigame (well, the only minigame) that broadcasts where it’s going, but it is still so satisfying when it happens.
Unfortunately, the fishing portion - you know, the actual game - is kind of annoying. But it feels like it’s designed to be. You have to roll the D-Pad (or analog stick) to reel in a ‘fish’ while hitting controller buttons to keep it from getting away. It’s frustrating and thumb-breaking, but true to old Game Boy games. And as the game gets weirder, the stupidity of the gameplay itself helps keep focus on the creepy.
It’s a creepy, weird game that tells a tiny spooky story. And it’s only $2. We need more games like this. Please. For the love of God. Give me some short games with short stories that only cost a few bucks and a few hours of my time. Wait, let me back up. We have a lot of games like this. But for the love of God, please make more good ones like Fishing Vacation. There’s a difference between a cheap shit money grab and a tiny indie game - just like there’s a difference between a low budget, still-somehow-straight-to-DVD Transformers knock off and small independent film.
Dread XP specializes in games like this - its library of horror games is gorgeous. Not all of the experiences work, but those that do (like Fishing Vacation) really work. But when you’re only paying a few dollars to try a game - or a little more for one of their collections - it’s okay if something doesn’t work. It’s okay for a game to be short, weird, experimental, frustrating when it’s this cheap.
Obviously, the game industry can't subsist on short indie games made by a team of a few people. I know that the triple-A games are the tent poles. I get that open world games with teams of three hundred people working across ten countries are what keep the machine going. And I still enjoy those games. I really liked Far Cry 6. I can admit that now. But Far Cry 6 still doesn’t cost $2. Fishing Vacation does.