WORLD OF FISH
The Tale
Every water has its stories. The ones the old boys tell when the float hasn't moved in an hour and the flask has gone cold.
They'll tell you about the cane. A split-cane rod, the sort they stopped making before you were born, lost over the side one winter and never brought up. Still down there in the weed somewhere, they reckon, waiting on a hand that knows what it is.
They'll tell you about the mere. Lily Mere, behind Old Bill's chain, where the carp grow old and die of age and not of hooks. There's one in there nobody has ever landed. Clarissa, the old boys call her. Bigger than sense, and twice as canny.
You start where everyone starts. A short pole, a tub of maggots, and the Park Pond on a quiet morning. What you make of it after that is yours. Fill your net. Learn the water. Tell a fish that's running from a fish that's only sulking. Work your way up through the school, one bank at a time, until the morning Bill looks at the board, sees every set against your name, and lifts the chain.
Then it's only you, the old fish, and the next story to tell.
Getting Started
World of Fish runs in any web browser, on a phone, tablet or computer. There's nothing to download and no account to make. It saves as you go.
On a phone or tablet, use the pad and buttons on the screen. On a computer, use the keyboard.
- ← ↑ → ↓ / WASDMove around the world, or use the pad on screen.
- A the do-it buttonCast, talk to people, and choose from a menu.
- BBack, and cancel.
- STARTOpen your log. Press it again for the map.
- < >Page through menus and your log.
Face the water and press A to fish.
How to Fish
Stand at the water's edge, face it, and press A. Pick your spot and your bait, then wait. A quiet float is a normal float. Give it time.
When a fish takes, the rod goes over and the fight is on. Now you play it. Reel when it rests. Give slack when it runs. Net it when it tires. Haul too hard against a running fish and the line goes; sit too long and it throws the hook. Watch what the fish is doing and answer it.
Every fish you land goes in your log with its weight and where you caught it. Beat your own best and the game keeps the record.
What You Can Do
- Fill your logForty species swim these waters, from a thumb-sized minnow to a pike longer than your arm. Land them all and you're Master of Forty-Five: the forty, plus five you'll earn the hard way.
- Earn the DiplomaWork through five sets, First Cast to Master Angler, the way a real angler learns. Each one you finish opens up more of the world.
- Match the localsCasey will race you for fifteen quid a time, best of three. Ringo turns up on a different bank every few days for a timed match. Beat them both.
- Chase the rare onesGold fish that show once in a few hundred, and Clarissa, the mere carp nobody has landed.
- Find the caneThe old split-cane rod is still out in the water. Land enough fish and one day it comes up on your line.
- Earn the mereBecome Master Angler and Old Bill takes the chain off Lily Mere, where the big old fish live.
The Waters
- Park PondFree fishing, barbless hooks only. Where everyone starts. Small fish and fast bites.
- The CutThe canal. Club water, fished off the towpath. Needs a Club Book.
- The SwiftThe river. Club water, closed 15 March to 15 June for the close season. Needs a Club Book.
- Lily MereDay-ticket water, no nuts. Needs a Lake Ticket. Big lake fish, and Old Bill's chain until you've earned the key.
- The SaltThe sea, fished from the shore. Free, but mind the tide.
- The EstuaryWhere salt meets fresh. Syndicate water, a Syndicate Ticket only.
The waters are spread out, and you get between them on the ferry. It's three quid a trip, so if you're short, win the fare off Casey or Ringo at the matches.
Sort your permits at any computer, the HQ in town or the one at your house.
- Club Book FREEFree junior membership. Opens The Cut and The Swift.
- Lake Ticket £20A ticket for Lily Mere.
- Syndicate Ticket £75A syndicate rod for The Estuary. Limited.
Tackle
- Short Pole GIFTYour first rod. Quick bites close in, small fish, up to 4lb. Pick it in Club Green, Harbour Blue or Postbox Red.
- Float Rod £30The all-rounder. Trot a river, lift a waggler. Up to 15lb.
- Feeder Rod £55Bottom fishing. Bream, tench and carp country. Up to 25lb.
- Lure Rod £70Casts a lure all day. The predator tool, for pike, perch and zander.
- Specimen Rod £120Big fish find you. Heavy line, steady nerve, no limit.
- The Split Cane FOUNDNot bought. Bigger fish, fewer blanks, and it fears nothing.
Bait
- MaggotEverything eats a maggot.
- BreadRoach and chub love it.
- CornTench, bream and carp.
- WormBig perch, and barbel too.
- LureFor the predators.
- BoiliesCarp can't leave them alone.
- MeatLuncheon meat. Barbel, chub and carp.
- Golden Grain FOUNDA grain of gold every fish wants.
The Fish
Forty species, smallest to largest. The weight is the range you might land, and the waters are where they hold.
Rare & Legendary
Four golden fish swim among the ordinary ones, a gold one for every few hundred of its kind. Keep at it and one will glint on your line.
Clarissa
One carp in Lily Mere, bigger than any of them, that nobody has ever landed. One cast in a thousand on the mere, and you'll need the key first. The whole game in a single fish.
The Split Cane
An old rod lost to the water years ago, the kind they stopped making. Every fish you land is a chance it comes up instead, and the rarer the fish, the better the odds. Once it's yours, it's yours for good.
People You'll Meet
Old Bill
Keeps the key to Lily Mere. Master Anglers only, the whole board, every set. He looks after the old fish, and means to keep it that way.
Ava
Lives on the fast water, here every day she's allowed. Knows where the grayling and bullheads sit. Chasing Clarissa, same as you. Loves fishing, K-pop and the Amazing Digital Circus.
Casey
A rival who'll race you for fifteen quid, best of three. Practice first, then find them. Win, and they'll admit you can actually fish.
Ringo
A roving match angler who turns up on a different bank every few days for a quick match. Catch him while he's about.
Ulvis
The coach at the School of Fish. Pull up a desk, read, then go and play a fish for real.
Saving Your Game
The game saves itself as you play. To be sure, open the map and press A for Save & Load.
On a shared phone or tablet a save can be cleared by someone else, so back it up. You can save to a code or a file you can keep. Swap to a new device, load your code, and you're back exactly where you left off.
There's also a cloud backup. Tap Back up to cloud and the game gives you a short code like WOF-XXXXX-XXXXXX. Write it down. On any other device, tap Load from a code, type it in, and your progress comes across. It's the surest way through a new phone or a reinstall, and there's more on what it stores below.
Bank Safety
!FISHING IS BRILLIANT. WATER ISN'T SOFT.
Know two ways out of the water before your first cast. That's Ava's dad's rule, and a good one.
Cold water steals your breath and your strength in seconds. If you go in, don't fight it. Lean back, float, and let the panic pass. Then shout, and get out. That's Float to Live, and it has saved lives.
Tell someone where you're fishing and when you'll be back. Watch the tide on the sea. And never go in after someone who's in trouble, you'll only make it two. Get help instead.
Cloud Backup & Privacy
The cloud backup is optional. Nothing leaves your device unless you tap Back up to cloud, and your everyday save always stays on the device you're playing on.
When you back up, the game stores an encrypted copy of your progress under your code. That copy holds your fishing progress and nothing else. No name, no email, no account, nothing about who you are.
Your code is the key to it. We don't store the code, only a scrambled fingerprint of it, and the copy is locked on your device before it's sent. So nobody can read what's inside without your code, and that includes us. Lose the code and the backup can't be opened or brought back, so keep it somewhere safe.
The backup is held on Google's Firebase service, on servers in the UK. When you use it, Google runs a quiet anti-abuse check called reCAPTCHA to stop the service being misused. That check is Google's and runs under Google's terms.
A backup is kept for up to two years after you last use it, then it's deleted automatically. You can delete it yourself any time from Save & Load, with Delete my cloud backup. To ask a question or have a backup removed for you, email info@schooloffish.co.uk.
This is a game. The fish, the rivers and the chain on the mere are made up. The fishing is real enough that when you fancy doing it properly, there's somewhere to go.
School of Fish teaches people to fish for real, on real banks, with real coaches. Same idea as the game: start where you are, learn the water, work your way up. If you've enjoyed this, that's where it carries on.