But before I tell you my tale, you must know one thing.
At the end of this story, Lysander Burnett does not drown.
FISH HOOK is a horror visual novel that began its development as a solo project in 2025. It is a dual narrative between Juri and Adrian; a shared story of what happened to Lysander Burnett, what followed after, and the strange things occurring in the present. Fish Hook is a game about art, how it changes us, and how limited our scope of reality truly is when seen through the human eyes.
The game draws its main inspiration from cosmic, gothic and supernatural horror filtered through the lens of my background in posthumanist studies, with a particular interest in the nonhuman. My aim is to make a free game dedicated to a very niche audience consisting of me, my friends, and the three other people on the internet who like this kind of stuff :)
NOTICE: Fish Hook is intended for mature audiences (17+) and will include subjects such as unreality, death and self harm, as well as graphic depictions of body horror. A comprehensive list of warnings will be provided at a later date.
CURRENT FOCUS Script first draft edits
(Updated 24/02/2026) Working on editing the first draft, filling in missing parts, and doing further research.
OVERALL PROGRESS (Extremely rough estimate)
If you'd like a more detailed breakdown of my progress, I'm posting monthly updates on my development blog!
Q: Does the game have an estimated release date?
I'm working on it during my free time, so at minimum it'll take a few years. I don't have any precise estimates as of right now.
Q: Will Fish Hook be released in chapters?
No, it will be made available as a completed game. I will, however, be uploading a demo or two before its final release.
Q: Has Sinfonia (previous VN project) been dropped?
No, but it has been put on an indefinite hiatus. I do want to finish it at some point as the script has existed since 2019 and I had roughly 80-90% of it done, but I want to do something else for the time being. You can read more about its current status from here.
Q: What's this talk about a companion game to Fish Hook?
It’ll be a more experimental and abstract “other side of the coin” type of accompanying story to Fish Hook, but both games will also function as stand-alone stories. I will be talking about it more after I’m done with Fish Hook, so you don’t actually need to care about it just yet.
Q: Is the title written "Fish Hook" or "FISH HOOK"?
Whichever looks cooler in any given situation :)