Just Keep Fishing Review
Who it is for, the two-hour ramp, launch-week Steam sentiment, and the fair complaints.
Just Keep Fishing launched on Steam on 27 August 2026 as a short incremental about a fox angler who catches too many fish on purpose. It is developed by Set Sail Games (Thomas Stewart) and published by Aarimous and Thornity. Launch-week Steam sentiment is Positive: about 91% of roughly 23 reviews. That is a small sample the day after release, not a year of scores, but the written notes already cluster around the same praise and the same gripes.
This page is a buying and tone guide, not a patch recap. For the first-hour loop use getting started. For the island path use the walkthrough. For what changed at launch use the launch notes. For the free taste that came out on 10 June 2026, use the demo notes.
Who it is for
It is for people who like cozy presentation that mutates into a stupid HUD. You start with a tiny backpack, a barrel that sells with E, and a skill tree behind Space or GO FISH!. You end with lava fishing, 2X water labels, yellow delivery crates, drones, and multiplier bars stacked high enough that $34.21T does not look like a joke. Kids latch onto the turtle pet and the penguin slapstick. Incremental fans latch onto the spend order. People who wanted a long fishing RPG will bounce.
It is also for players who already liked Thomas Stewart’s other small games and wanted a fishing loop instead of another autobattler. The devlog below is him saying that out loud: leave the slots fantasy, keep the humor, make the bobber janky on purpose. If that sentence sounds fun, you are the audience. If you need a 40-hour collection checklist, look elsewhere without treating this game as a failed version of those checklists.
Compared with other cozy incrementals, Just Keep Fishing is shorter and more physical. The fox walks, casts, and dumps. It is not a pure idle ticker, and it is not a deep sim. A Game About Feeding A Black Hole sits in the same publisher neighborhood and is more manic; this one lets you breathe, then spikes. Neither comparison is a dunk. They scratch adjacent itches.
Length and tone
Expect about two hours for a first clear if you keep moving. That number comes from launch-week writeups, not from a loading-screen estimate. The tone starts as a postcard: colorful water, a clumsy walk cycle, music that people keep mentioning in reviews. Then the backpack grows, extra rods show up, magnets suck the beach clean, and the HUD is suddenly talking in billions.
Highlights that reviews keep naming:
- Music and visuals that stay friendly while the numbers go feral.
- The relaxing-to-crazy ramp, which is the whole design.
- Kids loving the fox, the turtle, and the ice jokes.
- The turtle pet after it pops off the rod (see how to catch the turtle).
- Lava fishing as a late spectacle that still uses the same barrel.
- Penguin Kicker, a timed ice minigame with a chest and coins. One reviewer watched a penguin steal a large diamond.
- A fast Discord response when Steam Deck issues popped up.
The demo already sold that ramp. Clownfish were worth more than they looked. Golden fish multiplied coins. The full game stretches the same joke across more biomes instead of replacing it.
Launch-week Steam sentiment
Positive, ~91% of ~23 reviews, is the live snapshot this wiki is using. Read it as early adopters plus demo converts, not as a locked-in Very Positive mountain. The written praise matches the list above. The written complaints are specific:
- One player said it was not worth £7 and called the later stretch a slog.
- Another said yellow deliveries need rebalancing because they become overpowered.
- Short runtime (~2 hours) is a compliment from people who wanted a complete snack and a knock from people who wanted more islands.
- A second playthrough can feel already maxed, which makes the early shores feel off once you know the spend order.
Those criticisms are fair. Deliveries really do take over late; the money guide tells you to play them and also tells you they dwarf the barrel. The slog complaint is the same ramp after the cute part is over: you know to buy backpack, extra rods, and magnets, so the fox is just executing. If that loop is the fun, you will keep fishing. If the fun was discovery, two hours is the whole meal.
Demo versus full
The demo (10 June 2026) taught the loop and leaked the personality: turtle tease, throwable penguins, magnets, extra rods, backpack size as the first real upgrade. The full launch keeps that loop and adds the later shores, lava, the pet payoff, Penguin Kicker, deliveries, and the 27 Steam achievements. If you bounced off the demo because the backpack walk felt fiddly, the full game does not magically become idle. If you loved the demo’s dump sound, the full game is more of that sound with bigger numbers.
Deck owners should still read the system requirements page, but the launch-week note that matters is social: Deck complaints went to Discord and got a fast fix. That is a small-studio point in the game’s favor and one of the reasons the Positive score is not just trailer hype.
Systems, not secrets
There is no hidden bait bible in this review. The systems you will actually touch are the backpack, multiple bobbers, extra rods, magnets, 2X water, yellow crates, mid-game drones and planes, a skill tree, and a turtle that refuses to be a fish. Achievements are 27 deep; we only name the 13 that are public on the achievements page. The rest will be added when Steam’s schema is fully public.
Upgrade order is the skill. Early backpack is cheap and high value. Max fish per bobber and extra rods explode income. 2X water is a location, not a lore dump. Standing still with a full pack is the only reliable way to play worse. If you want a spend list, use the upgrade planner and the upgrade tier list. This review only cares that those systems exist and that they are why the last hour feels like a different game.
Verdict
Buy it if a two-hour cozy-to-chaos fishing incremental sounds like a complete thought. Buy it if the turtle pet, lava fishing, and Penguin Kicker are the screenshots that made you smile. Skip it if £7 for a short ramp feels wrong, or if you need the late game to stay balanced after deliveries turn on. The launch-week score says most people who tried it were in the first camp.
Start with getting started if you already own it. Use the walkthrough when the first island is done teasing you. Check launch notes if you are coming back after a patch. The fox will still be there, the barrel will still take E, and the honest pitch is still the Steam sentence: a short incremental game about catching a lot of fish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers on islands, upgrades, the turtle, and launch week.
Is Just Keep Fishing worth buying at launch?
If you want a two-hour cozy-to-chaos incremental with a turtle pet and lava fishing, yes. Launch-week Steam is Positive at about 91% of 23 reviews. If you need a long sim or you already disliked the demo's backpack walking, the full game will not change your mind.
How long is the game?
About two hours for a first run if you keep moving. That short runtime is both the pitch and a common criticism. A second playthrough can feel already maxed.
What are players criticizing?
Value for £7 from at least one player, a late slog, deliveries becoming overpowered, and the short length. Those notes sit next to praise for music, visuals, kids' reactions, the turtle, lava fishing, Penguin Kicker, and a fast Deck fix.
Should I play the demo first?
Yes if you are unsure. The 10 June 2026 demo already has the catch-bag-barrel loop, the turtle tease, and the upgrade addiction. The full launch (27 August 2026) adds later biomes, the pet payoff, and the 27 achievements. See the demo notes.
Who made it?
Set Sail Games / Thomas Stewart developed it. Aarimous and Thornity published it. The embedded devlog is Stewart explaining why he left a slots autobattler for a janky fishing incremental.