REEL GOOD

WEBFISHING is a fantastic throwback to old-school chatroom games

- Mollie Taylor

The constant search for nostalgia often ends in disappointment, but Webfishing is different. It's managed to capture things I loved so dearly about the bizarre social chatroom games of the 2000s – Habbo Hotel, IMVU, Gaia Online – while cultivating the kind of community I never really found in those older romps.

Mere minutes into booting up Webfishing, and I knew I was stumbling into something special. It's crunchy-looking in all the right ways, sporting a pixelated, low-polygon art style reminiscent of earlier Animal Crossing games. But instead of being the sole human isekai'd into an animal world, I get to be the critter. I can choose from a cat or a sort of wolf-dog hybrid - I go for a cat, of course - before either jumping into an offline lobby or joining up to 11 other players, ready to rod and roll.

Playing alone is fun in its own right. It's good for when I feel like exploring Webfishing's small island with all its nooks and crannies, doodling on the floor with some chalk or simply needing a chat-free fish. But Webfishing's magic comes from throwing my hook out alongside other rod-wielding cats and dogs that are there