For people who love fishing, the presence of video games relating to the subject has always been fun.

For almost as long as there have been video games, there have been fishing ones, which means that over the years a lot of good options have come about.

With some of those games now getting more sophisticated than ever, it seems a nice time to departure from real fishing and list a few of the top gaming options out there.

Super Fishing
This is about as simple as modern online arcade games come, and yet it’s still challenging and, in its own way, realistic. Challenging players to become the envy of Atlantic fishermen everywhere, it allows you to control a character in several South Florida locations, casting lines, hooking fish, and reeling them in. You can get the hang of it after a little while, but it’s actually not easy to hook fish, and reeling them in requires a patient approach not unlike that of real fishing. The graphics are simple and the controls are limited to mouse clicks, but it’s a fun game for people who appreciate the challenges of fishing.

Ridiculous Fishing
True to its name, this mobile game is ridiculous, but it’s also boatloads of fun (no pun intended). The game challenges you to move your mobile device from side to side, controlling a lure as it descends to the ocean’s depths, avoiding all kinds of bizarre fish on the way down. Once you run out of line you then try to snag as many of those fish as you can on the way back up, before shooting your catch as it’s sent flying into the air. If it sounds violent it’s actually more on the cartoon-y side, and though it has very little to do with actual fishing, it can actually be similarly meditative thanks to a catchy soundtrack, fun graphics, and repetitive but enjoyable gameplay.

Reel Spinner
You might not think of it until you try it, but a slot machine really might be the easiest way to translate fishing into an arcade gaming activity. Calling slot spinning a chance to reel in your fishing rod, and replacing prize symbols with images of fish, it’s a surprisingly natural representation. Though, as the game itself makes note of, there are no skills required. This is game for those who already appreciate chance-based gaming, but who would like to enjoy it with a theme related to fishing.

Pro Fishing Challenge
As mentioned, fishing games have gotten more sophisticated, and this is primarily what we mean when we say that. Virtual reality has led to all kinds of interesting enhancements for video games, and perhaps unsurprisingly there is already a prominent example that delves into fishing. Claiming that you’ll feel like you’re fishing in the real world, the game gives you the chance to enter full-fledged virtual environments and use your hands to cast a VR line and get to fishing. It’s available for the Oculus Rift, and could well be the first of many such games to come.

AR Fishing?
There isn’t a mainstream game in this category yet that we can find, but it’s probably a matter of time. Augmented reality gaming is just becoming popular thanks to Google and Apple making it an option on their smartphone devices. We’ve already seen a few fun little apps that make games appear as if they’re playing out in real space (when viewed through the phone screen), and fishing would be a fairly natural example. Such a game will likely come out, and will project a pond into a floor, or onto the top of a desk, where you’ll be able to go fishing.

This, again, is a little bit of a departure from real fishing. But these games may well appeal to you if you like the real thing.