When I heard that I would be reviewing PunchBox’s Fishing Joy 2, I figured that I would be playing a game involving a pole, casting, lures…Fishing Joy 2 is actually about shooting lasers at a virtual aquarium of fish to rake in coins. Sounds of coins jingling around makes you feel like a winner every time you take a shot or bag a fish, but beware…coins are in short supply, and it’s likely you’ll run out in a flash. Though Fishing Joy 2 has an enjoyable concept and beautiful graphics, you’ll need to whip out your wallet plenty of times to keep the angling going.

Fishing Joy 2 currently offers 2 different sea locales for you to “fish” in, with two more on the way. In each stage you’ll have a laser which fires varying types of ammunition. The ammo is classes from level 1 up to level 10; each level 3 shot will cost 3 coins, level 5 shots cost 5 coins and so on. Fish range from little guppies worth 1 coin to giant hammerhead sharks worth 100 coins a piece. As you play you’ll unlock access to more guns and the multiplier; a bonus which increases the cost of each shot you fire, but also increases the value of each fish you catch. Though the system is simple, the gameplay itself can be a bit convoluted.

Catching fish is almost completely random; using stronger lasers doesn’t seem to affect whether or not you catch fish on a regular basis, and it’s rather common to spend tons of coins shooting at a particularly tasty school of fish only to bag one or two out of the bunch. This makes you burn through coins like crazy, a problem which almost feels like it’s by design. If you want to keep fishing after you’ve run out of coins, you’ll have to either wait a few hours for your “reward” to refresh and give you free coins, or send that good ol’ fashioned real money their way.

It’s interesting that Fishing Joy 2 is classes in the App Store as a casino game, because it has all the effects of being in a casino: dazzling images, rewarding sounds, and a knack for draining you of all your coin faster than you expected. The game does support Retina HD graphics, and even on my iPad 2 it looks gorgeous, but the randomized gameplay and strong draw for cash basically from the get-go makes this fishing trip one you may want to pass on.