News
Two programmers in Sweden made a $5 fishing game. It just passed 340,000 concurrent players on Steam.
The studio is Dazed Games, and it consists of exactly two people: Carl-Vilhelm Johansson and Melvin Olsson. Their game, How to Fish, released on August 20, 2026 and has become one of the biggest indie surprises of the year.
The numbers keep climbing
When we first covered How to Fish, it had peaked at 142,000 concurrent players within three days. That figure has since more than doubled to over 340,000. For context, that is a concurrent player count most AAA publishers would consider a triumph, achieved by a two-person team charging less than five dollars.
Why fishing, and why guns
Fishing games are traditionally about patience, quiet lakes, and waiting for the right bite. How to Fish looked at that and added firearms, absurd physics, and up to four friends making poor decisions simultaneously.
The core loop: you crash a boat into an island while drinking, and to get home you have to learn to fish. You start with no gear. You catch fish, sell them, buy better equipment. Then you discover you can fling a caught fish into the air with your rod and shoot it mid-flight with a sniper rifle for bonus money.
That single mechanic is why the game exploded. It rewards showing off rather than fishing efficiently, and every successful trick shot is a clip.
The lesson other developers keep relearning
How to Fish is the third or fourth game this year to follow an identical pattern: cheap, physics-driven, 1-4 player co-op, built around one spectacular shareable verb. The game does not need a marketing budget because the clips do the marketing.
It is worth being precise about what this does and does not prove. It does not prove that fishing games sell. It proves that a familiar loop plus one genuinely watchable action is worth more than a longer feature list. Trick-shotting a fish out of the sky is watchable. That is the whole strategy.
How to play it
- Buy it on Steam — $4.95
- Read our full How to Fish breakdown
- More from Dazed Games
If chaotic co-op is your thing, see the best new multiplayer games on Steam.
Frequently asked questions
How many players does How to Fish have?
How to Fish has surpassed 340,000 concurrent players on Steam, up from a peak of 142,000 in its first three days after the August 20, 2026 launch.
Who made How to Fish?
Dazed Games, a two-person Swedish studio made up of programmers Carl-Vilhelm Johansson and Melvin Olsson.
How much does How to Fish cost?
$4.95 on Steam, with 1-4 player co-op included.
Why is How to Fish so popular?
The game combines fishing with firearms: you launch caught fish into the air and shoot them mid-flight for bonus money. The mechanic produces highly shareable clips, which spread rapidly across social media and streaming.
