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Colin Clark

I have trypophobia. I also have ichthyophobia. I cannot tell you what possessed me to play this game. If I went looking for something made of my literal nightmares, it would most certainly be Wrong Organ’s How Fish is Made. You play as a fish (gross). You’re a fish who confronts other fish about one very, very important decision: UP, or DOWN? Along the way you’re treated to a variety of what I think are sardines. Perhaps I’m completely wrong here, I know next to nothing about fish, as I try to spend almost every waking moment as far away from them or thinking about them as humanly possible. (How I ended up working in a restaurant that serves all manner of fish dishes, I have no explanation for, OK?) Anyway, these sardines(?) sit amidst the industrial, fucked up, surreal wasteland that is the setting for How Fish is Made. To say the setting is disturbing is such a gross understatement. I can’t fathom a word strong enough to convey how utterly awful your surroundings are as you flop your way down dimly lit hallways and through gargantuan, disgusting meat tunnels. All the while, your fishy comrades pose to you the one central question: are you going UP or DOWN? You choose.

You can change the answer you give throughout the game, and receive different input from your fellow fish. One fish’s friend is trying to convince them to go DOWN. The problem is, that fish’s family has all decided to go UP. What is this disgusting piece of meat to do? You can try to rationalize an answer with them, and they generally agree with whatever you decide, but none of it makes you feel good, or OK, or at peace with your decisions.

The problem (or best part, depending on how you look at it) with How Fish is Made, as a horror game, is its substitution for some spooky “big bad” chasing you around these decrepit corridors with severe existential dread. It’s far from the first horror game to take this path, but it may be the first that has truly freaked me all the way out. I’ve only played one run of How Fish is Made. I chose DOWN. I don’t know what happens when you choose UP. I’ve made my decision and I’m stickin’ to it. The game is short enough that making two runs is easily doable, but as for now, I’m satisfied with my playthrough and choices. At some point I’ll probably go back and choose UP, just to see what happens. You’ll have to see for yourself in the meantime.

How Fish is Made is what I’d categorize as a “walking q There’s not much “gameplay” to be had as you flounder your way through the dimly lit corridors, but the horrifyingly humanized fish dialogue is what the game is about. There’s a sense of finality, of eternal waiting, and of general dread purveyed throughout the experience, lending to an unending aura of existential dread. It’s not just your choices that have a sense of finality; the idea of death and dying abounds and takes the forefront of your fishy cerebral cortex. As you flounder your way fleshy innards and mechanized hallways, you’ll come across a number of fellow fish’ns similarly approaching their end. Do your answers to their questions truly change the outcome? What happens to the fish who choose UP instead of DOWN? How did we get here, and what happens when we leave here? Why does this parasite have a musical number?

And what in the hell is the deal with this DLC?

You can check out How Fish is Made here, replete with your own horrifying, trypophobic experience for free. It’s kind of rude for Wrong Organ to offer this nightmare up with no barrier to entry. It’s like they want us to suffer. And suffer and flop we shall, until the final decision looms. Which will you choose? UP or DOWN?