As you know, fishing is no game.

It is a test of endurance, patience and wills. It is a battle between you and nature, a form of relaxation and a source of great tension. When you have something on the line tugging you this way and that, it is exhilarating, but when you’re waiting for a bite, it is serene and calming.

We can’t always get out to a river or lake; sometimes the weather is lousy, the conditions unfavorable, or work just doesn’t permit. In those moments, anglers have a few options, one of which is video gaming. There is a strong market for video games featuring angling and fishing across mobile devices and home computers.

Statista suggests there are as many as 39 million anglers in the United States, around 10% of the population. When you combine that with the number of video gamers in the country (three-quarters of all US homes have a gamer in), it proves the need for crossover titles.

There are plenty too, on mobile as well as home computers. Mobile games are often shorter and sometimes stray from the core principles of fishing. For instance, Fishing Break on iOS and Android is quite colorful and cartoony, not like a wet, dreary riverbank. Titles also use fishing themes for other gaming genres; Foxy Bingo has many fishing titles, including Fishin Frenzy and Fishin Reels. They’re online slots, drawing from fishing’s imagery but not delivering it as a core gaming concept. Also on iOS and Android are apps to help the fishing experience, completing a range of options for mobile gamers and anglers.

The real simulations, the ones that keep an angler happy when away from their rods, come on home computers, such as PC but also PlayStation and Xbox. These are often in-depth titles, simulations that give you the angling experience without the rod and line. If you are away from the riverbank and are keen to fish from home, then these are the titles for you.

Fishing Planet

Fishing Planet is available on all home consoles and is perhaps the best fishing game money can buy. There is a keen attention to detail here, making it much more of a simulation rather than anything else. That means waiting patiently for a catch, just as you would on the riverbank. There are competitions and tournaments to enter as well, and that means if it is a straight-up fishing simulator you’re after, this is where your dollars should go.

Red Dead Redemption 2

This isn’t a fishing game alone, but it does have one of the best angling experiences of any title and is well worth a visit. If you’re looking for a game with something a bit more than just fishing, then Red Dead Redemption is for you. The fishing element of the game is solid, it looks beautiful, and there’s plenty of variety in bait, catches and even who you fish with. You can get out fishing early in the game, and once you do, you’ve unlocked all the lakes and rivers you need. The mechanics and ambiance make it better than many standalone angling titles.

Euro Fishing

Euro Fishing is another deep and immersive experience, much like Fishing Planet, with lots of tutorials to get you going. The USP here is the location; you can fish some of the top lakes in Europe. You won’t find any popular rivers from the US here, but if you’re a keen angler wishing to try Europe’s best locations, without travel, this is for you. Once you’ve mastered the basics, lakes can be bought as add-ons, meaning the game rarely gets old for experienced players, as there’s always a new challenge.