Skip to main content

Deadliest Catch: The Game

Deadliest Catch: The Game had the almost admirable ability to make me not want to either take up crab fishing in real life, nor to find out what the eventual endgame of its videogame counterpart was.
Deadliest Catch: The Game Game Cover
48%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
stability, grinding
50% User Score Based on 849 reviews
Critic Score 40%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchPCXbox OneXboxWindows
Deadliest Catch: The Game Game Cover

About

Deadliest Catch: The Game is a single player arcade simulation game. It was developed by 4Fishing and was released on April 14, 2020. It received negative reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

"Deadliest Catch: The Game" is a fishing simulation based on the popular TV show. Players take on the role of a crab fisherman in the Bering Sea, braving harsh weather and treacherous waters to catch Alaskan king crab. The game features realistic fishing mechanics, boat customization, and the opportunity to build your own fishing empire. Success requires strategic planning, precise timing, and the ability to adapt to changing conditions on the sea.

Skip User Reviews

50%
Audience ScoreBased on 849 reviews
gameplay12 positive mentions
stability100 negative mentions

  • The game has huge potential and offers a unique crab fishing experience for fans of the show.
  • The gameplay loop is enjoyable, allowing players to manage their boat and crew while catching crabs.
  • The graphics and water effects are visually appealing, providing an immersive atmosphere.
  • The game is riddled with bugs, including issues with saving/loading, unresponsive crew members, and game crashes.
  • Many players find the gameplay repetitive and lacking depth, with limited content and only one season available.
  • The controls are clunky and unintuitive, making tasks frustrating and tedious.
  • stability
    102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous users reporting frequent bugs, glitches, and crashes that render it nearly unplayable. Many players express frustration over the lack of updates and fixes, indicating that the game feels abandoned and unpolished. While some acknowledge its potential and enjoy the gameplay when it works, the overwhelming consensus is that the current state is too buggy to recommend.

    • “Smooth running and no glitches, Alienware m17.”
    • “There is no progression; it's a buggy mess that will never get fixed. It truly is abandoned, with the last update being years ago and it's even been through multiple developers.”
    • “Game is buggy as all hell, waste of money. Good luck making it a full season without it bugging out, locking up, or crashing your PC.”
    • “The game is not only very buggy but it's actually broken and becomes unplayable, wasting your save game.”
  • gameplay
    63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of the game is centered around crab fishing expeditions, involving tasks like managing bait, deploying pots, and sorting catches, but many players find it repetitive and plagued by technical issues, such as bugs and poor mechanics. While the game offers a unique experience with realistic water mechanics and resource management, it suffers from a lack of depth, limited content, and frustrating gameplay elements that detract from the overall enjoyment. Despite its potential and some enjoyable aspects, the execution leaves much to be desired, leading to a mixed reception among players.

    • “The gameplay centers on preparing for and executing crab fishing expeditions, which includes managing bait, deploying pots, hauling catches, maintaining equipment, and ensuring that quotas and regulations are met.”
    • “The strategic aspect of managing resources, maintaining your ship, and optimizing your crew's performance adds depth to the gameplay, making every decision feel consequential.”
    • “When the game works, it's great and a lot of fun, with a good challenge, and some fun mechanics.”
    • “Moreover, some players may find the gameplay loop to be repetitive, as the tasks involved—setting pots, hauling them back, sorting the catch—quickly fall into a routine.”
    • “No multiplayer or co-op, and the mechanics break constantly, whether it's a crab pot on deck that has something simple wrong with it that you as a crew member cannot fix, or the game just deciding to prevent you from interacting with...well...anything on your boat.”
    • “I came across multiple bugs in the first 30 minutes of gameplay... it's unplayable in its current state.”
  • graphics
    54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the attention to detail in depicting the sea and weather conditions, while others criticize the overall graphical fidelity and performance issues, including bugs and glitches. Many users note that the game looks better on high-end PCs, but still falls short of modern standards, often comparing it unfavorably to older titles. Despite these criticisms, some players find the graphics enjoyable and fitting for a relaxing simulator experience, indicating potential for improvement as the game continues to develop.

    • “The attention to detail is nothing short of extraordinary, capturing the essence of the Bering Sea in stunning graphics and realistic soundscapes.”
    • “Absolutely love this game, I like to play this when I want to chill, great graphics and game mechanics -- a must for all Deadliest Catch fans.”
    • “Graphically for me with everything maxed, it's actually really pretty and runs very smooth.”
    • “There's a clear effort to depict the rough sea, icy decks, and grey skies that define the setting, though the graphical fidelity leaves something to be desired.”
    • “I'm baffled how this game runs my PC harder than a triple-A title, yet has the graphics from a PlayStation 2.”
    • “Terrible graphics; buoys don't work. I tried turning the graphics to max, but it still looked bad, and the tub for putting the crabs in isn't there anymore.”
  • grinding
    25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The reviews highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is largely tedious and repetitive, often leading to player boredom. While some appreciate the ability to automate tasks with crew members, many feel that the game lacks engaging content beyond the grind for money and achievements. Overall, it is seen as a time-consuming experience that could benefit from more variety and meaningful goals.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “I was so set on grinding out the achievements and never playing it again, but I got bored with it and dropped it because it's the same thing over and over again.”
    • “It just wastes players' time forcing them to do tedious stuff over and over again.”
    • “It is the 'grindy' game I was expecting, but I was just expecting more to it for the price.”
  • story
    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story revolves around sailors and fishermen facing harsh conditions while on missions to catch crabs and survive, which adds a layer of depth to the simulator experience. However, players express disappointment with the execution, noting issues like unclear mission objectives and a lack of engaging narrative elements. Many suggest that enhancing the story and incorporating multiplayer features could significantly improve the overall experience.

    • “Sailors, fishermen, in harsh conditions on a mission to grab and catch crabs and survive, sometimes avoiding even death.”
    • “Perhaps adding a story to the game would be fun as well.”
    • “But aside from that specific situation, most players will find this game to be disappointing, and that is not the developers' fault; there is a story behind this game.”
    • “The plot or story elements are lacking because it is a kind of simulator game.”
    • “There should be the ability to plot a course on the map - there is no functioning compass.”
  • optimization
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players noting significant performance issues and bugs that detract from the experience. While some users report decent performance on higher-end systems, others criticize the lack of proper system requirements and the overall optimization, describing it as unfinished and reminiscent of lower-quality games. Additionally, the absence of features like crew fatigue and the inability to manage crew effectively further highlight the game's optimization shortcomings.

    • “The strategic aspect of managing resources, maintaining your ship, and optimizing your crew's performance adds depth to the gameplay, making every decision feel consequential.”
    • “Overall, the game feels pretty well optimized even on 'fantastic' settings (with a 1070 FTW GPU, 16GB RAM, and an outdated 4th gen i7 CPU).”
    • “At its current stage of development, it can struggle with a few minor performance issues here and there, and the realism with crew roles and a couple of other things aren't really there yet.”
    • “For sure there are some issues; it depends on your PC mostly, due to bad optimization - the system requirements aren't specified correctly, as on a medium PC setup you can't have good FPS numbers with high settings.”
    • “It does have its bugs, optimization, and localization issues.”
  • replayability
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's replayability is limited, primarily due to a lack of customization and progression options, which diminishes the incentive to replay after completing the initial career mode. While multiplayer features enhance the experience and add a social element, many players express frustration over bugs and save issues that detract from long-term enjoyment. Without significant updates or improvements, such as more complex gameplay mechanics and better progression systems, the game may struggle to retain players for multiple playthroughs.

    • “Whether you're working collaboratively or competing head-to-head, the multiplayer experience enhances the replay value and adds a social element that keeps the excitement alive.”
    • “Overall, I enjoyed the hours I spent in this game, and may even come back to it eventually hoping to find a more playable experience that you can sit and grind while doing other stuff that doesn't require very much attention, without having to worry that all progress will be wiped by a random bug.”
    • “After release, the game is better and more playable; however, I am hoping they will fix all the bugs and add the ability to get a bigger boat to allow us to keep up with the AI boats that get double or more the crab in the second season. A multiplayer mode would be nice, either same boat or as a team getting more crab, with lots of options for the future to allow us to enjoy this more.”
    • “Overall, I enjoyed the hours I spent in this game, and may even come back to it eventually hoping to find a more playable experience that you can sit and grind while doing other stuff that doesn't require very much attention, while not having to worry that all progress will be wiped by a random bug.”
    • “After release, the game is better and more playable; however, save games not working after an update caused the loss of a few seasons. There are many bugs (that are attended to pretty well), and the Steam achievements have stopped counting (only need 4 more that appear to never be finishable). I am hoping they will fix all the bugs and add the ability to get a bigger boat to allow us to keep up with the AI boats that get double or more the crab in the second season. A multiplayer mode would be nice, either same boat or as a team getting more crab, with lots of options for the future to allow us to enjoy this more.”
  • music
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has been criticized for being ambient and repetitive, lacking significant effort or connection to the DC theme, with players noting the absence of recognizable characters or iconic tunes. Instead, the background sounds primarily consist of waves crashing, which detracts from the overall experience. While some find the equipment sounds a bit corny, they are not considered a major issue.

    • “Music is ambient and repetitive; not a lot of work went into it so far.”
    • “Background music is a bit corny and the equipment sounds need a little work, but it's not a deal-breaker.”
    • “No music, let alone any theme song, so all you hear is waves crashing.”
  • monetization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviews indicate that the game's monetization strategy is perceived as exploitative, with users labeling it a "cash grab" and expressing frustration over unfinished content. Many feel that the developers prioritize quick profits over delivering a polished experience, leading to disappointment among fans.

    • “Steam should remove this game as it's nothing more than a scam and a cash grab at this point!”
    • “Bottom line: we all want to love this game due to the show, but it's a cash grab with developers that want the fast cash for the buy, but drag their butts on fixing and finishing the game.”
    • “Steam is becoming abandonware city with so many of the games in my collection being half-finished piles of cash grabs.”
  • atmosphere
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of the game is described as liminal and somewhat depressing, with some players noting a lack of depth and grit in the graphics. However, others find the overall atmosphere enjoyable and engaging, suggesting that future updates may enhance the experience further.

    • “Recommended by a friend, I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the game. It's a great game to kill time, and I'm looking forward to upcoming content! :)”
    • “Game sucks and the atmosphere is liminal and depressing.”
    • “This game is really good, but it's lacking in atmosphere and grit. The graphics are not quite there, and there are a few bugs present. It seems like there is nothing to strive for apart from topping a captain leaderboard.”
  • humor
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is largely absent, with players noting a lack of the witty, sarcastic elements found in previous installments. Instead, the experience is marred by numerous bugs and gameplay frustrations, leading to a sense of disappointment rather than amusement. Overall, the game's humor fails to resonate, leaving players feeling let down.

    • “The humor in this game is a delightful mix of sarcasm and wit that keeps you entertained throughout your journey.”
    • “I love how the game incorporates funny dialogue and quirky characters that make even the most mundane tasks enjoyable.”
    • “The comedic elements are well-timed and add a refreshing layer of fun to the gameplay experience.”
    • “This has so many bugs it's not funny.”
    • “The jokes fall flat and feel forced.”
    • “I expected a lot of laughs, but it was mostly cringeworthy.”
Skip Critic Reviews
Skip Game Offers

Buy Deadliest Catch: The Game

5h Median play time
5h Average play time
3-7h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 8 analyzed playthroughs
Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Games Like Deadliest Catch: The Game

Games Like Deadliest Catch: The Game

Fishing North Atlantic Image
Fishing: Barents Sea Image
Ships At Sea Image
The Guild 3 Image
Junkyard Simulator Image
Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Deadliest Catch: The Game is a arcade simulation game.

Deadliest Catch: The Game is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 5 hours playing Deadliest Catch: The Game.

Deadliest Catch: The Game was released on April 14, 2020.

Deadliest Catch: The Game was developed by 4Fishing.

Deadliest Catch: The Game has received negative reviews from players and negative reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its stability.

Deadliest Catch: The Game is a single player game.

Similar games include Fishing North Atlantic, Fishing: Barents Sea, Ships At Sea, The Guild 3, Junkyard Simulator and others.