Skate Fish Preview: Flip and Fish (Mobile)

Skate Fish is a premise which sits itself snugly between two niches. Using fingerboard swipe and flick controls on touch screen devices, Sudden Event Studios combine the most zen of hobbies with one of the more extreme in their upcoming title. Hooking a land requires a clean catch of your board as you pop tricks to fill the meter and impress on a major scale. The following first impressions are based on a demo initially showcased at PAX West 2023.

Skate Fish‘s release date is yet to be confirmed, but will be available on iOS and Android devices.

Story – Skate, Fish

The demo provided didn’t dive into the deeper details of a story, other than the rules of this alternate universe dictate that to catch a fish, you need to learn to ollie. Despite the opportunity this provides to explore the unforeseen impact this would have on the fishing industry, there is little conspiracy to Skate Fish. You just need to fill your net to help restore the local aquarium. 

There were a handful of locations to skate, each with their own native marine life, which are then documented in your journal. So far, the only story presented was that of skate game progression, where you are provided with trick-lists to complete. However the finished game should have NPCs for you to interact with, who will presumably provide more context and flesh out the environments.

Gameplay – Hard Flips, Easy Fish

Although utilising touch screen controls similar to those of True Skate, Skate Fish asks for a little more precision. Your fingers act as feet, an ollie requiring you to lift your ‘front foot’, quickly followed by your ‘back foot’, feeling more in line with a fingerboard technique. Accuracy is important, ensuring you flick and lift the correct feet at the right time, as well as measuring the amount of force being used to swipe. Input sensitivity can be adjusted in the settings.

Once you have completed the basic tutorial, you’re ready to roll. All of the locations will have a water feature of some description, be it a fountain, a reservoir or lake, and your audience lurks beneath the surface. When you see a shadowy outline appear, tap the screen to stop. Tap again near where the fish has appeared to cast your rod. Once you get a bite, an unfathomably strong fish takes you for a ride and you display impeccable balance as you trick and fish. 

Some areas have more objects to skate than others, allowing for airs and grabs.

It is here where the meter appears and timer starts. You have a generous minute to impress your catch, landing tricks to earn scores and fill the meter to get the fish out of water. The aquatic creatures are generous in their judgement too, as there seems to be no penalising of bails. There are no manual or grind mechanics as of yet, however with the scoring system and grindable looking surfaces in place, these seem inevitable.    

You can pop off the nose for a nollie or ride backwards for fakie, as well as being able to adjust your settings so that you are in goofy stance. It isn’t all regular flatground tricks either. In one location there was a ramp for you to get some air, and depending where you hold on-screen you can execute grabs. The trick I had the most trouble with was 180s. These are missed during the tutorial and are difficult to pull off, seemingly needing to swipe above the board before you land to rotate. 

Audio and Graphics –  Pop and Plop

There was no music in the Skate Fish demo, instead the generic ambiance of skateboard wheels across a paved surface, the satisfying pop of the board, and the clunk of four wheels hitting the ground upon landing. The expectant plop of bait hitting water doesn’t disappoint either, followed by the rippling of movement as you’re pulled upstream. 

Your feet are outlined on the board, which flips and rotates in the directions you send it. The physics based movement is translated to your 2D character, who are cruising down an equally flat landscape, contrasted with the 3D animations of the skateboard. Successfully rotating your avatar for a 180 emphasizes the paper puppet look. Aside from that, the character and fish are detailed, and I am intrigued to see what future aquatic creatures make it onboard. 

Skate Fish was previewed on an Android device, with a demo provided by White Thorn Games.