How to Fish WikiFor How to Fish 1.1.3

How to Fish Max Players, Co-op Hosting and Shared Saves

Up to eight players per lobby since patch 1.0.4; the host owns the world, so moving or backing up its save file is how a group keeps playing.

Checked for How to Fish 1.1.3 (8-player lobbies since 1.0.4, Steam Cloud since 1.0.12)
PlayersSteam lists 1–4; lobbies support up to 8 since patch 1.0.4
Lobby typesInvite Only or Public multiplayer lobby; private lobby option added in 1.0.5
Save folder (Windows)%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\
Save folder (Steam Deck)Same LocalLow path inside the game's Proton prefix

How to host a co-op game

A lobby holds up to eight players. The Steam page still lists one to four, which is what combat is balanced for, but patch 1.0.4 raised the lobby limit, so five to eight players need no mod. Each extra player raises boss health.

One player's game hosts the world and everyone else joins it through Steam.

  1. Main menu: Host Game, then create a new game.
  2. Set the Session Type to Public or Invite Only from the start; a single-player world cannot be opened to friends later.
  3. In the world, press Esc and use Invite Friend to send a Steam invite, or Copy Lobby ID for a Public session.
  4. Friends accept the invite, or enter the ID through Join Game on their main menu.
  5. Everyone must run the same game version; after an update, restart Steam on every PC.

Continue your save without the original host

The world is stored in the host's save folder, so to keep playing without that player the save file has to move.

  1. The original host closes the game, or goes back to the main menu, and copies the world's file from their Saves folder.
  2. They send the file to the new host.
  3. The new host closes the game, places the file in their own Saves folder and starts it from Host Game, Load Game.
  4. Everyone checks the island and gear before continuing; keep the old copy until you are sure.

Where is the How to Fish save file?

On Windows, type %localappdata%low into the File Explorer address bar and open Dazed Games, How to Fish, Saves. You will find one text file per world, carrying the world's name, plus a !backup folder that the game maintains.

On Steam Deck the same folder sits inside the game's Proton prefix.

How to Fish cloud save between devices

Since patch 1.0.12 saves sync through Steam Cloud, but only after a clean exit. Load the world on the device that has the progress, press Save, leave through Main Menu or Quit and wait for Steam to finish syncing before starting the other device.

If both devices already have different progress, back up both folders first; the game does not merge campaigns.

Co-op questions

Is How to Fish only for groups?

No. The Steam page lists one to four players, so the whole game can be played solo, and every boss page here has a solo approach. In a group, each extra player raises boss health.

Back up the save before syncing or modding.