Black Hole Fishing news & patch notes

Thank you everyone for an amazing launch! (and for 250 reviews)!

So, Black Hole Fishing is my first game ever. I feel like the launch week was a bit rough (lots of bugs and issues right away), but in general, I am still happy with how things went! We managed to hit 1,500 concurrent players (which is a bit crazy to me), and we are now past 250 Very Positive reviews. ːsteamhappyː

I am continuing to work on the game full-time right now, so expect more updates in the coming weeks. I’m focusing on smaller updates at first, but I do have my first major post-launch update planned as well, which should dramatically extend the end-game. I have been dealing with a fair bit of burn-out (working nights and weekends with a newborn will do that to you), but I've been resting a bit more and am starting to recover. In general, I want to finish critical patches quickly (responding to critical feedback), and then I hope to slow down and set a more comfortable update cadence going forwards.

With that said, I wanted to talk through the short and mid-term road-map a bit today. Overall, the game doesn’t offer enough onboarding, so a major focus for the few weeks will be on the tutorial system and tool-tips, along with the Codex itself.

I have been working on a proper conclusion to the game (the "you win" end screen was rushed and is disappointing), but I want to ensure that the changes are good before releasing them, and I didn't want to delay a roadmap announcement any further. Expect another game update in the next few days with these changes.

Also, there are now compatibility modes when you launch the game. If you can launch the game without issues, then you can safely ignore this. I added the option to address the "I am stuck on the boot screen" issue that some players were seeing.

What's next:

I won't put any concrete dates on the calendar quite yet since scope is hard to estimate, but in general expect the following soon (ideally within the next week):

• Updated game story and better ending (I have it done, but not fully tested)

• More Steam achievements (especially for the confusing Bleach trait)

• Updated soundtrack (again, this is mostly done, just needs to be vetted) A composer reached out a couple of weeks before launch and offered to make an OST. So we're getting that in soon. The old music will remain as a second option in the settings menu.

I'll make each of these updates in a patch (so they can get out quicker), but will make a large announcement when all of these changes are live. After that, expect the following (ideally within the next month):

• Balance updates (especially in the mid and late game). This will take time to do right, but I'll try to update things incrementally so the game keeps improving as I work.

• Continued improvements to art (our artist gave me a list of about 40 things to fix...)

• More tool-tips and tutorial text where needed.

• More codex details (how fish traits interact with the more advanced systems)

• Possible prestige screen re-work (depending on how the other updates go)

I'll be working on most of these changes at the same time while playing through the game myself and comparing my notes to existing feedback. Again, I'll make a big announcement when everything is done.

After this all, we can finally get to the really fun part: new content. I can easily add 100 new fish to the game, but right now, it doesn't feel like we'd get much benefit from more stuff - the meta is dominated by just a couple of fish. I have the first major update planned already (dramatically expanding the LHC to make the late game a bit more interesting). After that, I'd like to look at future content updates or possible DLC.

Welcome to Fishy Friday #7: Oh, Boid! That's a lot of fish!

Hello, friends! We are currently 4 weeks away from the launch of Black Hole Fishing! It's exciting (and slightly terrifying) all at the same time! Generally, I am excited, though. This game has taken way longer to finish than I initially expected, but I am confident it will be worth the wait! Thank you everyone for the kind words and support over the past year or so.

I just wanted to share two fun updates today:

We have a few extra fish in the pond!

In earlier versions of the game, we would see performance issues after 200 or so fish. In fact, my laptop was seeing frame rate problems on the main menu ːsteamfacepalmː Thankfully, those issues have been fixed, so you should be seeing 500 or 1000 fish at certain points in the game. This video showcases 6000 fish at once, but that is a bit of a performance test, so I will be keeping the final numbers a little more in-line with what most people's computers can handle.

The fish have also developed some personalities! The perch love to swim around in schools, while the catfish prefer to find quiet corners and leave each other alone.

We've been doing a lot more behind the scenes, but I'll save those updates for a bit later :)

And on a more personal note:

We have a new intern!

Ok, maybe "Intern" is the wrong word here. But I am writing this with a baby on my chest, so that's exciting. I just wanted to share now, I am planning on continuing to support the game post-launch, but I might slow down for a bit once the game is live. Please be patient, but do expect some updates after the 7th.

Thank you, friends! And stay fishy ><>

Welcome back to Fishy Friday #6: Forecasting Fish For Q1 2026

Welcome back to Fishy Friday! Today, we have two announcements to share. One: we have an updated trailer! I'm really proud of how this turned out, so if you missed it, give it a watch here:

I am astounded by the improvements that the artists (oh, I'm working with real artist now, by the way) were able to make to the look and feel of the game. Of course, attractive visuals are just one part of the equation, the real magic in incremental games are the progression systems. For that, I want to look back at some of the plans I've made, and see how they turned out:

A walk down memory lane...

On June 20th, I posted the first Fishy Friday. In that article, I talked a lot about what the game Will Be. I truly expected to be able to implement all of these features in a month or two (oops). Well, it's been six months, but I am happy to say that the game finally Is. Every feature from that original plan is now implemented and working in some form or another, and I personally have been having a lot of fun playtesting the game as I begin the slow process of cleaning it up for launch.

(I'm sure this will be more than a thousand hours before it goes live.)

Here is a list of player actions that are in the game right now!

• Throw rocks to scare fish into the black hole

• Stock the pond with fish

• Upgrade your stockers (and everything else)

• Catch fish in the wild

• Compare your fish to only use the best

• Research your fish for science

• Paint and Inject your fish to Maximize their profitability

• Cross-breed your best fish in the hatchery to Discover new traits and Optimize your profits

• Fire your favorite fish out of a cannon to trigger bonus effects

• Operate a particle collider for science

It has been a long (and sometimes painful) road to get here, but I am so happy to see the game taking shape. Thank you to everyone who has joined me on this journey. Every wishlist has been an encouragement, not to mention the comments, feedback, suggestions, and even offers of help. This game has become so much more than I could have imagined, and I couldn't have done it alone!

And for the second announcement? Well, you you saw the title:

We have scheduled the game to launch in Q1 2026!

It was a little later than I expected (actually, my original, original plan was October 2025), but I think the delays were well worth it. The game is very close to "done" (from a certain point of view), but we want to give ample time to test, calibrate, adjust, bugfix, and polish.

This won't be the final Fishy Friday, so keep an eye out for updates as we get closer to launch. Stay Fishy, Friends! (That's still a terrible outro, and we're still keeping it)

Welcome to Fishy Friday #5 - Into the Vortex

Welcome back to Fishy Friday! The past month has been filled with many exciting things like Design documents, code cleanup, and refactoring. Just look at how organized my code is!

Ok, none of those things make for very interesting announcements, so instead, let's talk about Art. While there is still more work to do, I can confidently say that Black Hole Fishing has found its style!

Art 1: The Magazine

This art journey began when one of the talented artists at Playsaurus sent me a concept image of my magazine. The magazine is the central place for upgrades in the game, so I wanted to ensure that it was as interesting and enticing as possible. Throughout the game, you will slowly collect new pages, which will unlock new systems and mechanics.

The concept image looked amazing, but there was a problem: the magazine makes the reset of the game look slightly bad. I decided that instead of asking for a less good version, I'd just step up my game and make something equally exciting:

Art 2: The World

My first step was to update the environment. There are now multiple pond shapes and sizes, and a variety of props and scenery pieces.

The world is now generated procedurally from data, just like the fish. There are a few world themes (4 currently), but the pond you fish will be completely unique to you. Even better (for me), inventing new worlds is trivially easy, thanks to the development tools I created along the way. Expect to see many more worlds in the final game!

Art 3: The Water

I have a confession to make: I am a huge nerd, and I actually enjoy spending a weekend programming water to do weird spacetimey things. I've had "write a double-buffer water shader" on my bucket list for months now (as I'm sure we all do). Well, I finally got the chance, and it turned out way better than I had hoped.

I'm still working on integrating all of the systems, but I expect to have more gameplay updates to share with you all next time. Until then, stay fishy! (Yup, we're committed to that outro now)

Welcome to a very special edition of Fishy Friday. Today, I am happy to announce our partnership with Playsaurus! Playsaurus has a long history of creating and publishing idle games. They are the exact partner I need right now, and I am extremely excited about the possibilities they bring!

What does this mean?

In short, Black Hole Fishing just got an upgrade.

• Playsaurus will be providing me with much needed support, including marketing, funding, QA, etc. They have been making idle games for years, and are able to help me get this project across the finish line.

• Playsaurus will not be changing the creative vision for the game. They are here to help, but they are a studio that respects the creative visions of their partners. I will be asking them for guidance and feedback, but ultimately, the design of the game remains my responsibility.

• The release date will be changing. To quote Miyamoto: "A delayed game is eventually good, a rushed game is bad forever" I was running out of resources, and was going to have to release the game before it was ready. This is no longer the case, and I can now promise that Black Hole Fishing will be a game worth playing when you finally get your hands on it.

• Your feedback will continue to matter to me/us. If you are a part of the community already, or you are waiting for those playtests to finally start (soon, I promise), then expect development to continue as it has been.

• And, finally, I will finally start posting more consistent development updates... probably. I have a lot less gamedev-adjacent work to do now (marketing, various paperwork), so I have fewer excuses now. Stay tuned.

Stay Fishy! (That's still terrible, but we're rolling with it...)

Welcome to Fishy Friday #3 - A Flood of Fancy Fish

Welcome back to Fishy Friday! Apologies for the delay, I had a conference and a family vacation (two exciting things that don't make for a very exciting announcement). I'm back now - and working hard on Black Hole Fishing.

Fish lab update!

If you haven't checked out the Fish Lab on Itch, now's a great time! I've updated it again, and there are now a total of 2.5 Septillion unique fish variants you can make!

Visit the Lab

Why the lab matters:

Of course, the Fish Lab isn't a part of Black Hole Fishing. It's a superset - meaning it contains all of the possible fish breeding operations for the game itself. I'm now in the fortunate position where all of my planned features technically exist, but need to be exposed in-game. Of course, the fish don't do much as long as they're stuck in the lab.

Good news: The fish have left the lab!

This new fish system is fully integrated in the base game, meaning you can see a much larger variety of fish in the game now. The demo is still (currently) limited to Cash Carp, but that will change soon.

"The Big Update"

All of this - the Fish Lab and the backend game systems rework - is a foundation for the features I foreshadowed in the first Fishy Friday. Hopefully, the next update will contain at least a few of these features.

Of course, there are a lot of other exciting things happening behind the scenes, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. Games take time to develop, and I released the first demo very early. I'll share more news (and the next stages in my roadmap) once I have the first set of breeding systems in your hands. Thank you for being a part of this development journey!

Stay fishy! (No, that's terrible, I am not using that) Have... a good day.

Welcome to Fishy Friday the Fourth (of July): Founding the Fish Lab

Today, we are diving in to the wonderful world of procedural fish! I have some good news, some bad news, and more good news and bad news.

About the demo.

Let's start with the bad news. I was going to release an updated version of the game's demo today, but I ended up taking the weekend off for the holiday. Which leads to the good news: There will be a Special Edition of Fishy Friday next week which will include a major demo update! Keep your eyes out for that!

Now for the good news:

We at Fishy Business Co have been hard at work breeding and developing fish for the game. In fact, we just passed 69 BILLION fish variants produced! That's right - billion with a B.

Here is our latest masterpiece - specialty bred for the holiday. Say Hi to Murray the Murican Catfish!

Hi Murray.

(Ignore the torpedofish - he wasn't supposed to leave the lab)

We have been breeding all of these fish in our brand new Fish Lab!

About the Lab

The Fish lab is an experimental fish breeding operation. We can combine any shape fish with any color set, and mix in up to four genetic traits, including eye size, eye color, and pattern/texture. These are the fish that will be populating your point from here on out. We currently have a brand new set of Cash Carp on the way, and they should be in the Demo pond sometime next week.

Ok, it's time for more bad news. The lab... isn't for sale. I know, it looks cool, but we have so much specialty equipment that we couldn't possibly ship all the way out to your little pond. We promise, the Fishy Business magazine will contain as many fish breeding and fish merging machines as possible.

Black Hole Fishing is an incremental game, and that means unlocking things slowly. Just picking traits and putting them into a fish would totally kill the gameplay :D Although, if you really want to try it out, we might be convinced to let you visit the lab.

An early experimental version just hit Itch.io, so feel free to mess around with the fish for yourself. This is a development tool, so don't expect a lot of polish. You can try it in your browser, though - no download required.

Visit the Fish Lab

That's all for this week!

Welcome to Fishy Friday the First: Foreshadowing Forthcoming Features!

Ok, I'll drop the alliteration (amusing and alluring as it may be). This week, we will be looking back at the first two months of development, and laying out a roadmap for the next few months.

The State of Things:

Black Hole Fishing has had a relatively short development cycle so far. I am planning on releasing the game before October (I am aiming for August, but will announce a fixed date a little later), so I decided to release an early demo for the Steam Next Fest in June.

The response has been incredible, the game has been added to over 1000 wishlists already! With that said, I should clarify that the current demo is an early preview of the game, not a proper showcase of all the systems. I created a video documenting the past two months of development, so feel free to give it a watch if you're so inclined.

The Science!

So that's the current state of things. What's next?

The current Next Fest demo features a liner progression cycle. You buy Super Stocker nodes, you place them in the pond, and then you upgrade the speed or fish value. The next major update will introduce the Super Stocker Pro. Instead of upgrading through 8 fish of increasing value, you will be able to buy one of a hundred fish from the magazine (don't worry, they will be sorted into sets and unlocked slowly. There will be time to digest all of the new colors, shapes, patterns, Traits, and tradeoffs).

Speaking of Traits, the new system will also unlock bonus fish that use their traits to affect the world. This can synergize with other fish to create score bonuses, or cause things to happen. Some fish are compatible with the Super Stocker Pro, but other fish must launched one at a time from a Fish Cannon.

The magazine offers a limited selection of traits and visual stylings, so you will eventually want to start creating your own fish. The next game update will include the Fish Press, and more advances tools will come down the road. Keep an eye out for special editions of Fishy Friday where we deep-dive into each of these tools, and the Traits they will unlock.

I'll pause to quote the store page here. These features may change a little as we go on, so consider this a time capsule as well as an update:

• Collect Fish: Buy fish from the Fishy Business Magazine. Put them in the pond.

• Combine Fish: Shove two fish into the (extremely ethical) Fish Press to create a new fish! The new fish will contain Traits from BOTH of the old fish. What a deal!

• Breed Fish: Tired of losing fish to the press? Give two fish an intimate moment, and receive a NEW FISH as a reward! Warning: Cross-breeding will result in randomized traits, repeat until desired results are achieved.

• Design Fish: Tired of waiting for the genetic lottery to pay out? Take the genomes into your own hands by directly injecting fish with Traits. Results almost guaranteed!

• Collide Fish: Science isn't going to progress itself! Use the Large Halibut Collider to combine fish at relativistic speeds! Discover all six Quantum Sharks, and use them to progress our understanding of destructive singularities at an alarming rate!

The Story!

But how do we unlock all of this? I tested out a few story ideas: Maybe the magazine is an Eldritch god? Maybe the Fishy Business is run by a supervillain and you are his unwitting pawn. Ultimately, I decided that a good incremental story doesn't need a villain at all. Your goal is to become the world's greatest fisherman. Why not pair that noble goal with an equally noble goal: Becoming the world's greatest scientist!

You start the game with just the cover page of the Fishy Business magazine, unlocking the black hole and starting the game. As you progress, you gain the attention of the mad scientist who runs the Fishy Business. It turns out, he's too busy to leave the lab, so you are the perfect candidate to test out his inventions. Over the course of the campaign, he will send you letters - along with new pages for the Magazine. As you buy and upgrade your equipment, you help him prove his outlandish theories. Unfortunately, his excitement has a tendency to outweigh his caution, so his black hole experiments eventually turn apocalyptic. No worries!

That's all for this week! Keep an eye out for future editions - released every other Friday until the game ships or the singularity destroys us all.

P.S. Yes, I am proud of my Fish .gif page dividers. How can you tell?

P.P.S. Also, I'm planning on starting playtesting in the next month or so. You can join my Discord for more up-to-date information, or just hit the Follow button to get notified. I will make a big announcement, so you won't miss it.

Welcome to Black Hole Fishing!

I just released the demo for the game for Next Fest. Actually, I stealth-launched the demo last week, but I didn't announce it until now. Thank you to the 425 people who found and played the demo anyways. I fixed (most of) the bugs, so if you played it before, now is a great time to play it again.

Fishy Friday Facts (but on a Monday)

This is the beginning of the journey for Black Hole Fishing, so keep an eye out for updates going forwards. I'll share them on Fridays for alliterative reasons. To start us off, let's talk about the game art.

Fun fact: the game doesn't actually have any art. I mean, technically, it is art, but everything you see is made in Godot and only Godot. No sprites, meshes, or anything else. This might be clearer if I show an early development screen shot:

You can really see the polygons in this one!

I have been exploring the limits of this... limitation, and I'm quite proud of what I was able to accomplish. Here is the first iteration of the Fishy Business Magazine.

I took inspiration from old Bass Pro Shops catalogs. The style might change a bit, but the idea is locked in. The game leans in to absurdist humor, but it plays on the tropes of cosmic horror. Who created this magazine, and why do they want to destroy the world. Could it be that the magazine is... alive? We will explore these themes in later updates.

I'll end this update with a couple more screen shots. These are currently on the store page, but I think future readers might be curious to see what the initial demo looked like.

That is all for now! Keep an eye out for more Friday Fishy... Fun? Facts. We'll work on the name.