Introduction
Traverse an impressionistic sea, listening for predator and prey. Cast a lure and feel their cues to reel them in. The reaper slowly tracks your movements, who you must outmaneuver to survive.
Fishyphus is a fishing horror game made for Games for Blind Gamers 2.
System Requirements
Fishyphus is best experienced with headphones and a gamepad.
Real-time synthesis is an extremely CPU-intensive process. It will attempt to run on any machine that meets its minimum requirements; however, you may experience stuttering or drop-outs when running below the recommended requirements.
Minimum System Requirements
| CPU | SSE2 capable (64-bit) |
|---|---|
| RAM | 2 GB |
Recommended System Requirements
| CPU | 3.5 GHz Quad-Core (64-bit) |
|---|---|
| RAM | 4 GB |
| GPU | WebGL2 compatible |
Browser Support
The HTML5 build of Fishyphus is intended to be played in a recent version of a Chromium-based browser, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Opera. Browser extensions that alter page behavior are not recommended. Other browsers must support modern JavaScript features and the current Web Audio API specification.
How to Play
Sail the waves, catch every fish, and avoid the reaper.
Sailing
Fishyphus uses tank-like controls where the sailor may face independently from the direction their boat is traveling. Use this to your advantage.
The Turn controls will face the sailor in any direction.
The boat operates with Accelerate and Brake controls. Thrust is applied in the direction the sailor is facing. Once accelerated, it continues in that direction until changed.
Fishing
The ocean is bountiful with musical fish. Collect them to achieve the highest score before death arrives.
Hint: A fish is always spawned where the sailor begins.
Once the boat has been maneuvered into a fishing spot, press the Action control to begin. The fishing minigame is intended to be impossible to lose, yet hard to master.
It has three stages. React quickly to earn bonuses for the next stage:
- Casting. React to a cue to set the lure depth.
- Waiting. React to a cue to start reeling in the fish.
- Reeling. Optionally, mash Action to reel slightly faster.
Death
The reaper has awakened deep beneath the sea with a vengeance. It will kill sailors at its first chance. Avoid it to avoid certain death.
Not much is known about the reaper, but here are some speculations:
- It is never far behind the ship.
- It moves faster while fishing and far away.
- It gets stunned and angrier when fish are caught.
Upon death the sailor becomes stronger against the reaper. Higher scores influence a variety of behaviors such as how long the reaper sleeps or remains stunned.
Autosaving
Fishyphus autosaves whenever fish are caught, the game is paused, or the reaper wins. Sailors may pause and resume at any time outside the fishing minigame. Their high score is saved only upon death.
Controls
Fishyphus supports keyboard, mouse, and gamepad controls in multiple simple layouts.
Keyboard Controls
| Accelerate | W | Up Arrow | Numpad 8 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brake | S | Down Arrow | Numpad 5 | ||
| Turn Left | A | Q | Left Arrow | Numpad 4 | Numpad 7 |
| Turn Right | D | E | Right Arrow | Numpad 6 | Numpad 9 |
| Action | F | Space | Enter | Numpad Enter | |
| Pause Game | Escape | Backspace | |||
Mouse Controls
| Accelerate | Mouse 5 (Forward) | |
|---|---|---|
| Brake | Mouse 4 (Back) | |
| Turning | Mouse X-Axis | |
| Action | Mouse 1 (Primary) | Mouse 3 (Secondary) |
Gamepad Controls
| Accelerate | Any Stick | Right Trigger | D-Pad Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake | Any Stick | Left Trigger | D-Pad Down |
| Turn Left | Any Stick | Left Bumper | D-Pad Left |
| Turn Right | Any Stick | Right Bumper | D-Pad Right |
| Action | Any Face Button | Press Any Stick | |
| Pause Game | Start | Select | |
| Confirm | A | ||
| Back | B | ||
Accessibility
Fishyphus is developed in accordance with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1 at Level AA conformance. Its menus are fully operable with a keyboard and screen readers such as NVDA.
Audio Description
Fishyphus can be played entirely without graphics.
The game opens with dark ambient music that plays on all of its screens. Once in-game a plethora of synthesized sounds give Fishyphus a retro feel. The fish sing unique melodies which drone and repeat and phase in hypnotic ways. Beneath their music is the grainy and abstract texture of wind and waves. The haptics of the fishing minigame are complemented with delightful cues. The dark ambient music from the title screens returns with more urgency as the reaper nears.
A graphics toggle has been provided in the settings screen to experience Fishyphus as an audio game.
Graphical Description
Fishyphus can be played entirely without audio.
On the screen are minimalist vector graphics from a first-person perspective. The motion of the ocean is represented by many small particles on its surface, with fish leaving trails behind as they swim. The color scheme oscillates through complementary colors, ranging from soft pastels when safe, to more deeply saturated hues as the reaper nears.
Credits
The following typefaces belong to their respective owners:
- Chomsky by Fredrick R. Brennan
- Fira Code by Nikita Prokopov
- Roboto by Google
Thanks for playing!