Fishing has a storied history in the gaming space. Sometimes as a frustrating minigame, like in Stardew Valley and other “cozy” life simulators, and other times as the game itself, like In-Fisherman Bass Hunter 64. No matter the game, players of all stripes have been fishing up bass and salmon and comparing rod loadouts for generations.

Enter Sip Fisher, which is less Bass Hunter and more WiiPlay fishing minigame. Most of the assets are smoothed PS1-era polygons, including trees, fish, and water. Beginning behind a literal locked door in the middle of the woods, players are instructed to grab a straw and get fishing.

As weird as that sounds, it’s apparently not uncommon in the absurd reality Syphon Software has created in Sip Fisher. Once through the door, a friendly, mustachioed shopkeeper tells you of his days as a champion sip fisher and offers you great prices on anything you can fish up and bring to him. He also sells upgrades for your sipping capacity, lungs, straw length, and more.

The controls are responsive and easy to figure out, with floaty jumps and quick turns. Climbing around on the map can get frustrating because of the many invisible walls, but if players are tenacious, they may be rewarded with a flat jpeg of an animal or a pair of catfish in shoes for their troubles.

But the fishing is really the main event.

There’s almost a rhythm to the fishing in Sip Fisher, as each sip drains your lung capacity. Jamming on the space bar to sip infinitely will do you no good, nor will it help you get struggling fish all the way up your straw, a pleasingly diegetic representation of the genre’s requisite “fishing bar.”

Instead, stunning fish by trapping them in bands of air with a quick sip, then “reeling” them up your straw with a more drawn-out press yielded the best results during my playthrough. Everything from massive catfish to tiny goldfish made their way into my bucket and eventually into the arms of the shopkeeper.

However, the loop is a little repetitive, and once you get every type of fish through your straw, there’s not much reason to keep sipping.

Another genre staple is present here as well: fishing up boots. In fact, at the time of writing, the only “fish” I haven’t caught is the “Jumbo Boot.” Some littering degenerate with a size 16 shoe is preventing me from getting my well-earned achievement, and I’ll just have to make peace with that.

Jumping around and spitting live fish into a bucket are all well and good, but every time you take a mouthful of water, the water level in the lake drains. Lacking a straw of infinite length, you must adapt through my favorite mechanic in the game: dock building.

The shopkeep sells “dock packs” full of trading cards used to meet the ever-shrinking lake. Cards extend your dock forward and down, split it, and turn it 90 degrees. As the lake bed comes into view, players will twist and turn their dock, abandoning branches and creating massive spiral staircases of wood and supports.

Insane, labyrinthine structures are easy to build, but hard to traverse. Sip Fisher addresses that issue by providing the player with jump and boost pads, necessary for finding hidden chests and making the trip back up to the shop for upgrades and to sell your catches more bearable.

Overall, the gameplay loop is satisfying enough to fill a few hours — maybe more for those especially pleased by it. I spent about six hours completing the “campaign” – draining the lake, plus a surprise boss fight against an evil fish. I’m not sure I’ll go back to it, but not for lack of enjoyment or charm.

The one thing that Sip Fisher does better than many other fishing games is atmosphere. Not to harp too strongly on nostalgia, as that varies for every person, but this game reminds me of something I would have played as a kid. Like Chulip or Seaman, it has a slightly bewildering quality that asks the player to roll with the punches, give up logic, and have a good time.

Sip Fisher is a well-crafted, highly contained experience that lends itself well to multiple playthroughs – a space whale will refill the lake for you on request – and never felt like a chore to play. It’s not particularly difficult, but for casual fishers and those trained by the Stardew Valley fishing minigame, it’s a great experience.

I’m not someone who would ever willingly spend six hours fishing in real life, let alone drain an entire lake by drinking it, but this game asked me to do both and I happily obliged.

Sip Fisher: 7.8

Sip Fisher is an absurd experience that fits fairly well into the realm of casual fishing simulators. Players are free to sip at their own pace in a charming, polygonal world, but the gameplay loop is a little repetitive and probably won’t please more hardcore fishing game fans.

Gameplay: 6

Atmosphere: 9.5

Story: 8