Stabfish.io, or colloquially as Stabfish, is the original of the two Stabfish games created by Draco "Dragonwhites" Chu. Stabfish is an ocean-themed indie browser game hosted on its own website and also on iogames.space alongside its sequel, Stabfish 2.
Premise[]
The player chooses from one of three stabfish: the Shark, the Killer Whale, or the Hammerhead, and gives themself a name before entering a round against about thirty other bot-controlled stabfish with predetermined names. If the player masters the controls and stabs enough of the right enemies, their weapon will grow longer, they may unlock new stabfish, and they can collect various hats and masks. The player can also play to earn Black Pearls, a currency used to summon special cosmetics not directly earned through the game.
Inspiration[]
While not made clear on Dragonwhites's YouTube channel, his inspiration for developing Stabfish may be based upon two general genres:
- Stabbing-style games, where the player fights against various bots to stab and instantly kill them, while trying to "boost" to avoid enemies from stabbing the player's character. See other games such as Narwhale.io, Pikes.io, Cocky.io, etc.
- Aquatic- and oceanic-aesthetic games, where the player is an aquatic lifeform and must kill and/or consume others. See other games such as Deeeep.io, Oceanar.io and its sequel Aquar.io, Shark Attack.io, Lasershark.io, Salmonz.io, Sharkz.io, Fishz.io, Shark.io, etc.
Reception[]
Stabfish became popular in early 2020 with the onset of the CoVID-19 pandemic due to the balance of simplicity and complexity of the game as well as a competitive playstyle. When the first thirty stabfish (first ten families) have been added, Dragonwhites also added the Kraken Run and Master Challenge features, which added additional challenge to the game. With an increase in popularity of the game, he created a Christmas-themed event in late 2021 where limited-time cosmetics became available. The game became so popular that he programmed its sequel, Stabfish 2, to further challenge players so as to prevent them from becoming bored. He later introduced the summoning gacha feature to help monetize his games while introducing virtual blind bags that would theoretically keep players entertained.