itch.io

Your fishing minigame is really unique! Essentially what you're doing is forcing the player to imagine a square where the treasure and fishing hook are randomly placed, and then in their mind move the fishing hook around based on cues from the bobber. It's sort of like playing "Hotter and Colder" with a blindfolded person. I'll pitch some ideas below, but I think leaning into that idea really brings out the uniqueness.

So I think I would try and expand the game in two ways:

1. Make the imaginary space more complicated. Maybe there could be a coral maze that you have to move the fish hook through without seeing. Or maybe there are hazards in the imaginary space like unexploded mines. Or maybe the player has to reel the treasure back to the surface dodging the hazards or fish that try and take the treasure back once the player has hooked it.

2. To counteract the increasing difficulty, give the player different and stronger bobbers. Maybe one that flashes red if you're too close to a hazard, one that disarms certain hazards, or catches fish. Maybe an upgrade for the sonar bobber you start with that displays a minuscule subsection of the hook's surroundings letting you navigate mazes more effectively.

You could then mix and match these in different locations that would make different strategies better or worse. Maybe Mr. Frog lost his treasure in the swamp which is full of hungry catfish and muck that slows you down. For the swamp then, it'd be more effective to use the bobber that glows red near enemies or maybe that lets you clear out the catfish first. But maybe Mr. Cat loves the high seas, and he lost his treasure in a part of the ocean with mines and strong currents.

These are just my first ideas. I just like the minigame. I don't think I've seen a fishing minigame like it before. (I wonder if the minigame is harder for aphantasiacs.)