Psychological horror Short horror PS1 horror Body horror Surreal horror

How Fish Is Made

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You are a sardine in a machine. Up or down?

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Free
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (5,439 of 5,719 reviews positive); 4.7 of 5 from 320 ratings on itch.io
Length: about 20 minutes
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse; Steam lists full controller support
Made by: Wrong Organ (Johanna Kasurinen, Jeffrey Tomec, Martin Halldin)
Released: 2022

What frightens You are a sardine dropped into a wet, squalid processing machine, which its makers call a narrative-driven horror game about choice. Other fish beg, warn and lie to you about whether to go up or down, and the halls are full of flesh, grotesque parasites and creatures with too many teeth; the Steam page warns of graphic fish violence and trypophobia-inducing imagery.
Content: gore, trypophobia imagery, crude sexual reference.

How Fish Is Made is a short, free first-person horror game by Wrong Organ, the team that later made Mouthwashing. You play a sardine flopping through a dark, fleshy fish-processing machine, talking with other fish who all want to know one thing: will you go up or down? It takes about 20 minutes and is grotesque, unsettling and darkly funny.

About How Fish Is Made

How Fish Is Made was made by Johanna Kasurinen, Jeffrey Tomec and Martin Halldin, then students at the Swedish game school Futuregames, and released free on Steam and itch.io on 14 January 2022. The three went on as the studio Wrong Organ, and their next game was Mouthwashing.

You are a sardine in a machine. You cannot walk, only flop, wriggle and roll across metal floors, down chutes and through rooms where pipes, gears and lumps of meat fill the dark. Other fish lie about in the gloom, and you talk with them. Each has an opinion on the choice every fish here must make, up or down, and some help while others try to lead you astray.

The horror is in how wrong everything feels. The low-poly, grainy PlayStation look turns the factory into a murky nightmare of flesh growths, staring eyes and mouths full of teeth, and the sound design of whirs, bops and wet slaps keeps you uneasy. Its makers describe it as a wet and squalid narrative-driven horror game about choice, and the Steam page warns of graphic fish violence and trypophobia-inducing imagery. It is also absurd and often funny, with a musical number in the middle of it, which makes the grim parts land harder.

A free standalone expansion, The Last One and Then Another, adds a Katamari-like mode where you roll up fleshy bits and other fish. How Fish Is Made suits players who like short, strange horror with something to say, and anyone curious about where Mouthwashing's makers started.

How to play How Fish Is Made

Download How Fish Is Made free from Steam or itch.io for Windows.
Flop and wriggle through the machine with the movement keys and look around with the mouse.
Approach the other fish and talk to them to hear what they think of the choice ahead.
Keep exploring the rooms and chutes to move deeper into the machine.
When the moment comes, choose up or down.

Screenshots

How Fish Is Made cover: the title beside a sardine whose body is a tangle of guts and organs

How Fish Is Made screenshot: a huge fish face with bared teeth and a red eye looms over a pale fleshy mass in the dark

How Fish Is Made screenshot: a giant eye in the darkness above a fish asking: Do you want to hear a joke?

How Fish Is Made screenshot: fish caught in metal gears in a machine room, with a warning not to touch the round red glowing thing

How Fish Is Made screenshot: a pale parasite with a microphone rides a fish against a red starry backdrop, singing You'll be buried with it

How Fish Is Made screenshot: a sardine lying in a dim red room as another fish says DOWN is wrong

How Fish Is Made screenshot: a sardine on a dark floor beside a giant rubber boot

Tips

Talk to every fish you find: the conversations are most of the game.
Play with headphones; the factory's sounds do a lot of the work.
It is short enough to finish in one sitting, so play it straight through.
If you enjoyed it, the free expansion The Last One and Then Another is a separate download on Steam and itch.io.

Questions

Is How Fish Is Made free?

Yes. It is free on Steam and on itch.io.

How long is How Fish Is Made?

About 20 minutes for one play, by PC Gamer's count.

Who made How Fish Is Made?

Johanna Kasurinen, Jeffrey Tomec and Martin Halldin, the team behind Wrong Organ, who later made Mouthwashing.

Is How Fish Is Made scary?

It is more disturbing than jumpy: grotesque flesh, parasites and staring creatures in a dark machine, with dark humour mixed in. The Steam page warns of graphic fish violence and trypophobia-inducing imagery.

Can I play How Fish Is Made on Mac or in the browser?

No. It is a Windows download only.