The main currency in these games also serves as ammunition for the cannons. This is what fish shooting games look like. How much, really, does player skill affect the gameplay outcome is obviously something we all have only limited visibility into, but at least there exists a veil of illusion for that. Fish also float in and out of the board, so it is important to keep track of whether the fish has just entered the board or is about to slip out. This is because the fish vary in terms of rarity, “health,” and speed – meaning it is much easier to kill a small fish for fewer rewards than a large fish for bigger rewards. A key decision for players is to decide which fish to shoot. The cannons are placed on different sides of the gameboard, and everyone shoots the same pool of fish. A group of players (usually four players) shoot fish with cannons for rewards. The core idea behind fish shooting games is relatively simple. In the West, there has been no shortage of discussion on the games’ gambling elements and even connections to organized crime. From there, they have spread around the pacific rim and to Asian-oriented communities around the world, e.g., in California. The history of fish shooting games can be traced down to arcade halls in places such as Hong Kong and Singapore.

So what the Heck are Fish Shooting Games? Roughly speaking, fish shooting constitutes about one-third of the casino market in China. Out of these exotic Chinese casino game types, fish shooting is arguably the most interesting one. The only game in this list that isn’t about the fish shooting, fight the landlord, or mahjong is Sohoo Poker at number 10. JJ Doudizhu – essentially a collection of different types of casino and casual games (e.g., fish shooting, mahjong, fight the landlord) – is second. The top dog in this space is Tencent’s Landlord Poker, which, despite its name, is not a poker game but instead all about fight the landlord (a popular Chinese card game). In other words, around 8-10% of games in CN’s top 500 grossing are casino games. The 5.5% revenue market share translates into 40-50 games in the top 500 grossing. On genre level, we can see that casino is the biggest non-mid-core genre in the market – e.g., 2.5 times bigger than puzzle.

China, top 500 grossing, revenue market share, genre-level

Fish game slot