How to Fish Achievements Guide: All 28 Steam Unlocks

The first useful fact for a How to Fish achievements guide is simple: Steam's own stats page currently lists exactly 28 achievements. The work is translating short descriptions into routes while keeping the boundary between developer documentation and community advice clear. This guide puts the official requirement beside the practical method and labels tactics that Dazed Games has not documented.

The current snapshot was checked on September 21, 2026. Steam lists How to Fish at $7.99 for Windows, and its English review summary reports 26,810 positive reviews out of 27,956. The achievement names and descriptions below come from the official Steam achievements page. Steam does not publish a permanent unlock-order recommendation, so the story route and optional cleanup plan are practical routing advice.

TL;DR: How to Fish has 28 current Steam achievements. Finish the story first, save every quest creature until its hand-in registers, keep normal and Drip collection separate, and make a clean practice save for Bean. Handyman and Fishipedia are the two late cleanup walls. Patch 1.0.4 fixed a Handyman issue, and patch 1.0.5 fixed an all-Drip counting bug.

How to Fish achievements guide: what should you unlock first? (quick answer)

Start with the normal story and let the early encounters unlock the obvious progression achievements. Then clean up equipment, combat, gambling, and collection conditions. Save Bean for a separate run because its official requirement is finishing the game within one hour. Use the How to Fish boss guide for the encounter route, and return here for the requirements that sit outside the story.

Key Takeaways

• The current Steam stats page lists 28 achievements, and this guide preserves every official name and description.
• The story route naturally covers Getting started, Who stole my beer, Getting an upgrade, Dinnertime, Vacation, Terrorizing bird, Deadliest catch, and We are so back.
• Collector and Fishipedia are different: one covers all creatures, while the other covers all Drip creatures.
• Handyman asks for the final boss to be defeated with bare hands. Dazed Games fixed an earlier issue with it in patch 1.0.4.
• Bean asks for a complete finish within one hour. Practicing the route on one save and attempting the timed run on another is safer than mixing it with collection.
• Current patch notes matter. Patch 1.0.5 addressed the Drip all-plus-one bug, and later patches changed difficulty, roulette, saves, and final-boss behavior.

Overview: the current How to Fish achievement list

This How to Fish achievements guide uses the live Steam stats page as the source of truth for the count, names, and one-line requirements. The page showed 28 entries when checked on September 21. I am not copying the displayed unlock percentages because those are a moving snapshot of the player base, not part of the condition and not useful for a durable route.

The game is now several patches beyond launch. Patch 1.0.4 added larger lobbies and fixed an issue affecting Handyman. Patch 1.0.5 fixed a bug where the game could count the Drip collection incorrectly and also fixed island-unlock behavior. Patch 1.0.9 added Easy and Hard modes. Patch 1.0.10 fixed roulette-table problems. Patch 1.0.11 added save validation and backups while changing explosive damage to players. Patch 1.0.12 changed the final boss's interaction with explosives. The notes leave the achievement list unchanged. They do change the safest way to attempt several old conditions. The review's patch context is useful if you are returning after a break.

The How to Fish review explains the game's physics and progression loop. The beginner guide covers money and early weapons. This page focuses on the achievement requirements themselves.

Step-by-Step: how to plan all 28 achievements

1. Read the official requirement before choosing a route: Steam's stats page is the authority for the name and condition. Community guides can suggest a method, but they cannot replace the requirement shown by Steam.

2. Clear the story without selling quest creatures: Follow Spider Crab, Giant Piranha, Pufferfish, Tuna, Albatross, Bowhead Whale, and Mutated Bowhead Whale in the main route. Keep every shell, skeleton, fin, head, body, and carcass until the relevant hand-in completes.

3. Finish the one-save collection and equipment cleanup: Work toward Drip, Collector, Fishipedia, Fully equipped, I am speed, GOLD GOLD GOLD, Rich! Millionaire, All in, and the cooking achievements after the story gives you access to the islands and shops.

4. Attempt combat conditions deliberately: Set up Noob, Impressive, 360 no scope, Easy, Everyone's dream, Competitive eating, and Handyman one at a time. The official page gives the target, while the route notes below separate confirmed conditions from community technique.

5. Make a clean timed-run save for Bean: Practice the story order first, then start a fresh attempt that prioritizes the ending over optional bosses, gambling, Drip hunting, and sale-value detours. The official condition is a one-hour finish, not a one-hour save file or a single boss time.

All 28 How to Fish achievements and how to unlock them

The tables below reproduce the current Steam requirement, then explain the least speculative route. When the official description is broad, the advice stays broad too. For example, Steam confirms that Deadliest catch involves the military and a big creature, but it does not name the creature in the description. Current community walkthroughs map the Volcano whale sequence to that condition, while the official wording remains broader.

Story and island progression achievements

The story achievements are the safest place to begin because they overlap with normal progression. Do not speed through an island by selling the creature that looks like ordinary loot. The beginner guide explains the early money loop, while the boss walkthrough covers the item hand-ins that unlock the next island.

Combat and stunt achievements

The Handyman icon on Steam matches the achievement's unusually specific final-boss requirement. The condition is the bare-hand defeat, not merely reaching the last fight.

The combat group is where old videos are most likely to mislead. The conditions have remained on Steam, but creature tuning and player safety changed. In particular, do not copy a launch clip that treats explosives as harmless to teammates or to the player. The official patch feed is more reliable than an undated social post for those edge cases.

Equipment, money, cooking, and physics achievements

The money achievements are easier when treated as separate goals. Do not gamble money needed for an engine, and do not sell a rare or quest creature merely because it has a large number beside it. For a first run, the beginner guide is a better resource for building cash than an achievement spreadsheet.

Collection and timed-run achievements

Fishipedia is the rare-variant collection achievement. The Steam icon is a useful reminder that Drip targets are a separate checklist from the normal creatures in Collector.

Collector and Fishipedia are the most time-consuming achievements because neither official description gives a complete roster. Use the current boss guide for the 10 named boss and major-creature encounters, then track ordinary and Drip variants separately. A kill that satisfies Collector does not automatically satisfy Fishipedia.

Tips: finish the How to Fish achievements without losing progress

Keep one story save and one Bean save

The story save should be your relaxed completion file. Use it for upgrades, optional encounters, roulette, Drip hunting, and the equipment grind. Once you understand the island order, make a separate save for Bean. The timed run does not reward detours, and trying to combine a one-hour finish with all collection conditions makes both goals harder.

Do every personal action yourself

In co-op, perform the final action for an achievement yourself whenever possible. This is a practical precaution from current community routes, not a published Dazed Games rule. It matters for a seagull pickup, a roulette win, an attachment application, a cooking interaction, a bare-hand final blow, and a collection kill. Ask teammates to help with setup, then take the decisive action.

Treat normal creatures and Drip variants as two checklists

Steam's Collector and Fishipedia descriptions are short enough to look interchangeable, but they are not. Keep a simple note with one column for normal creatures and one for Drip creatures. Mark a target only after the kill registers. Patch 1.0.5 fixed a known all-Drip count problem, but a note still protects against forgetting which variant you actually killed.

Update before attempting old edge-case achievements

The official patch history is part of this guide's research. Patch 1.0.4 fixed an issue affecting Handyman. Patch 1.0.5 fixed the Drip collection count and unintended island access. Patch 1.0.9 added Easy mode for the ten-second boss condition. Patch 1.0.10 fixed roulette-table behavior. Patch 1.0.11 added save validation and backups, and made your own explosives dangerous. Patch 1.0.12 changed explosive damage on the final boss's tail landing. If a video contradicts the current build, trust the current patch notes and Steam requirement first.

Do not sell a quest creature while chasing money

The boss route uses physical drops as keys. Spider Crab, Giant Piranha, Pufferfish, Tuna, Albatross, Bowhead Whale, and the final encounter all have items that matter after the kill. If you are chasing Rich! Millionaire, use ordinary high-value catches or a copy of a nonessential target. A large sale is not worth replaying an island because the required body was gone.

Use the boss and beginner guides together

The How to Fish boss guide has the current 10-encounter roster, including optional Old Pike and Goblin Shark. The beginner guide covers the opening shop, money, weapons, and co-op setup. Neither replaces the official stats page for the 28 achievement conditions, but together they fill in the game actions Steam leaves implicit.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many achievements does How to Fish have?

Steam's current stats page lists 28 achievements. The list includes story, combat, collection, equipment, gambling, and speedrun conditions.

What is the easiest way to start the How to Fish achievements?

Play the story normally first. The early route covers Getting started, Who stole my beer, Getting an upgrade, Dinnertime, Vacation, Terrorizing bird, Deadliest catch, and We are so back.

How do you unlock Bean?

Finish the game within one hour. Use a separate practiced save, stay on the story route, skip optional bosses, and avoid gambling or collection detours.

How do you unlock Handyman?

Defeat the final boss with bare hands. Patch 1.0.4 fixed an issue affecting this achievement, so update the game before attempting the final blow.

What is the difference between Collector and Fishipedia?

Collector asks you to find and kill all creatures. Fishipedia asks you to find and kill all Drip creatures, the rare variants. They are separate Steam achievements.

Why did an achievement not unlock?

Check the exact Steam requirement, perform the final action yourself, confirm the game is updated, and reload the save if necessary. Patches fixed several achievement-related edge cases.

Related Reading

• How to Fish Boss Guide: All 10 Encounters in Order: current story order, optional fights, triggers, and trophy hand-ins.
• How to Fish Beginner Guide: 8-Player Co-op Tips: early money, weapons, difficulty settings, and co-op setup.
• How to Fish Review: A Co-op Hit With a Solo Problem: the broader verdict on the physics and progression loop.
• Pratfall Complete Guide: another physics-driven co-op game with a larger item and biome system.
• Best Indie Co-op Games Under $20: more low-cost games to play with the same group.
• Sunderfolk Online Co-op Guide: a different co-op structure that still rewards coordination.

References

• How to Fish on Steam
• How to Fish official achievement stats
• How to Fish app details and current price
• How to Fish English review summary
• Dazed Games patch 1.0.4
• Dazed Games patch 1.0.5
• Dazed Games patch 1.0.9
• Dazed Games patch 1.0.10
• Dazed Games patch 1.0.11
• Dazed Games patch 1.0.12
• Pixel Twelve How to Fish achievements guide
• Dazed Games official YouTube channel