Rule with an Iron Fish
A Pirate Fishing RPG
Ratings
Age
4+
Category
Adventure
Languages
English
Sat Jan 16 2021
Updated for iOS 14
Rule with an Iron Fish blends fishing mechanics with RPG progression and a humorous pirate story. Players venture across various exotic locales, from volcano lakes to celestial oceans, to catch a wide variety of bizarre sea creatures. Use your catches to cook recipes, fulfill quests for your crew, and earn gold to upgrade your ship and gear. Featuring boss battles and island management, it offers a deep, character-driven experience beyond standard fishing games.
Dinsun Expert Review
Our Expert Score
Rule with an Iron Fish is a rare gem that manages to make fishing feel like an epic RPG quest. Instead of the typical meditative fishing sim, this game injects personality and humor through its pirate-themed narrative and 'fishing-combat' mechanics. You play as a castaway pirate who must fish to feed their crew, upgrade their gear, and eventually take on legendary sea monsters. The progression loop is incredibly addictive: catch fish, sell them, buy better hooks/bait, and unlock new areas.
What sets it apart is the 'battle' aspect of fishing. Some fish won't come quietly, requiring you to dodge attacks or use special items to reel them in. The writing is witty, the art style is charmingly vibrant, and the sense of discovery as you unlock new zones is palpable. It’s a perfect mobile game because it respects your time—you can play for two minutes or two hours and still feel like you’ve made significant progress toward your next upgrade.
Features
100+ unique fish to discover
Engaging pirate storyline
Equipment crafting and upgrades
Epic boss fights
Beautifully hand-drawn art style
Tips & Walkthrough
When fighting bosses like the Giant Squid, pay attention to the bubbles. They indicate where an attack is coming from, allowing you to move your line and avoid damage while maintaining tension.
Gameplays
As you progress, you can attract new crew members to your island, each offering unique perks, shops, or quests that help you on your journey.
Screenshot
Q&A
Yes, the game features a complete narrative arc with a final conclusion, though you can continue fishing and completing your collection after the story ends.
Ratings & Reviews
Just play and play and play!
Thu Nov 03 2016 King_SquidIn a world where apps are all free... until you realize they aren't because everything exists in a paywall universe where you'll have to pay for every bit of content along the way, this game is refreshing. No pay to win, no stress to be rated, no fuss. Just pure gameplay and content that all unlockable through game play. Play as much as you want, not timers here. No stress about having to spend real cash in hopes of getting that one item with a super low drop rate from some silly box which has to be bought with "gems". Just play. The game itself is simple and fun, fish in a casual manner to unlock items and ships. Travel to new lands and find new fishes, be an awesome pirate. Or be a completionist and unlock everything!! Whatever you like.
Rather enjoyable experience.
Wed Feb 14 2018 SpoolseCute, low-stress fishing game. The fishing itself, while feeling a tad repetitive, is simple enough to understand while still engaging. The dialogues are humorous, and there’s many quests to keep you out and actively fishing. Replay value is limited, other than the gender reversal as you play as the twin (only after you finish the main quests in the game once, I believe). I also encountered a bug when I started playing where the first quest I was given never updated when I completed the goal. This was easily fixed by closing and refreshing the app though. Lastly I find the rare fish a bit tedious, because there are times where it takes 30 seconds to a minute for one to appear, and other times where it’d take literally 5-10 minutes. It was a bit frustrating, especially in later game when you need to fish several of one type of rare fish and said fish never appears.
Enjoyable fishing, esp for Animal Crossing fans.
Wed Jan 03 2018 TiredOfShenanigansThis was a pleasurable, zen fishing game. I had some problems catching the infrequent rare fish (Bubble Algae, I'm looking at you!) but they must have addressed this in an update. I contacted the developers with random game-play questions (and suggestions) on FB, and they quickly contacted me. They were very kind about my suggestions, too. 😊 My only real wish feature now is a special sound when a rare fish shows up (like a tinkle or sparkle noise maybe). That would have helped out a lot since I wanted to watch tv and fish, but didn't want to gaze at my iPhone the whole time. Anyhow, fun game. Great characters and silly tasks. I even enjoyed the Monkey Island references.
Addictive and frustratingly fun!
Fri Sep 21 2018 Jazira (Jah-Zira)You wouldn’t think a frustrating game could be fun. Those two words seem to disagree with one another strongly. But fishing will always be frustrating, sitting there waiting for a bite and then when you finally get one the fish gets away! Wasting your bait and your time spent. But then the next time you cast your line you pull out a frickin mermaid! The next time it’s paperclip fish, a clownfish, an alligator or just a trout. The characters are intriguing and their quests are cute and just difficult enough to keep you interested. Over all it’s a game I would highly recommend trying.
Rule With An Iron Fish
Sat Dec 16 2017 Q*bert goes boomThis game is way more fun than I thought it would be when I first downloaded it. It's wacky, witty, and wonderful. Who thought a fishing game could be so entertaining. It's as if Kestral Games took the fishing part of Animal Crossing and threw it in a blender with liquid crazy, and this game was the result. Excellent blending! The characters are silly. The fishing spots have enough variety. There's enough different things to do to keep it fresh. The controls fit well with the game. All in all a very good game. Thanks Kestral Games for this little gem of a game. Oh, the icing on the cake – NO IAP OF ANY KIND – which makes the purchase price of $2.99 a steal.
A Pirate that doesn't plunder your wallet
Thu Nov 03 2016 ScarcrossdAmazing that in this day and age there are still developers that don't try to milk every cent out of you and deliver a complete game for a reasonable price. I have not played a game on the App Store EVER that was worth more than $10. Yet companies like Disney, EA, and other less reputable folks continually try to grab every penny with egregious IAP. Thank you for this incredibly fun and addictive game that doesn't require me to spend money on nonsense like "energy" or "crystals".
Love!
Mon Mar 12 2018 KerikinsbThis game is so fun, I love it! All the funny little banter between the characters is great and the descriptions for items are very clever and witty. If you like games with questing, farming, and gathering with a little adventure thrown in this is for you! I would give it 5 stars but I’ve noticed some of the quest fish take WAY TOO LONG to catch. I’m not saying make it easy, I like to earn my loot, but I’ve spent HOURS trying to catch gulper eel and I’ve caught ONE. I need TEN for my quest. I’m starting to get pretty irritated, honestly. But other than that I’ve loved this game tremendously. As an artist, I really love the artwork, too!
Excellent, but one thing..
Fri Feb 18 2022 Sanctum.Love the game. Definitely worth the pay. Unfortunately I beat it in under a day, lol. However, the only thing that gets me is the fact that I can’t seem to find anything on the internet on how to acquire the Pylon hat (cone). I’ve already beat everything, done all the quests, bought all the items, gotten all the trophies, and still nothing. Any help would be nice. 😂
Some Youtube Videos found!
News found!
Review | Rule with an Iron FishI have never understood the entire Fishing genre. It seemed always to me something far more interesting to do in reality then in a game.
Big Boss Battle Sun May 13 2018
Rule with an Iron Fish ReviewRule with an Iron Fish, a combination of adventure and RPG brought to you by Kestrel Games. The game was originally released on mobile platforms to...
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Hey Poor Player Sun May 13 2018
Kestrel Games Updates ‘Rule With an Iron Fish’ and Releases ‘Witch Twitch’Kestrel Games is having themselves a busy October 19th. They have just updated their fishing RPG Rule With an Iron Fish with a big content...
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