Gambler's Reach

A new stop on your fishing trip, with a harbor to explore, unusual fish to catch, two dangerous bosses, and a blackjack table for your crew.

For How to Fish 1.0.12, Steam build 25127368, on Windows. This is a beta release: the main features are implemented and tested, but balance and long-session co-op still benefit from player feedback.

What's included

• A new harbor between the fourth and fifth islands, with shops, a casino, a fishing cove, and a communal grill.
• Six fish: Lantern Perch, Copperfin Bream, Velvet Eel, Crown Puffer, Compass Ray, and Moonwake Koi.
• A short trophy quest involving the Harbor Barracuda and Deepsea Angler.
• The Deepwater Winch fishing rod and Tidebreaker Harpoon Launcher.
• Three harbor lures, weapon upgrades, and familiar supplies.
• A rare Harbor Hawk that warns before diving at exposed players.
• Shared blackjack played with physical catches, plus the native Reel of Fortune.

Tidehaul Nets is a separate, optional mod. You do not need it to play Gambler's Reach. Both mods use the same ExpansionKit runtime.

Install

1. Select How to Fish in Thunderstore Mod Manager or r2modman.
2. Create a separate modded profile and install B3rries-GamblersReach.
3. Let the manager install BepInExPack and B3rries-ExpansionKit when prompted.
4. Start the game through the mod manager.

For a manual install, install the listed dependencies first, then copy this package's BepInEx folder into the game folder, beside How to Fish.exe. Keep the folders intact. Do not copy a second ExpansionKit DLL into the Gambler's Reach folder.

Every player in a crew needs matching versions of the game, the mods, and ExpansionKit. Close the game before installing or updating.

How to reach the harbor

Finish the original fourth-island request and collect the Harbor coordinates. The new chapter sits before island five. Crews that already unlocked island five keep that access; installing the mod does not take it away.

At the harbor, talk to Oren for the boss-trophy quest. Bring him the Barracuda Jaw, collect the Angler lure, and return with the Angler Lantern to continue to island five. If you lose the Angler lure, another jaw can earn a replacement.

Fishing and equipment

Buy a Harbor Spoon to catch local fish. It also has a small chance of hooking the Barracuda. The Reach Predator Plug targets the Barracuda; the earned Lantern Lure targets the Angler. Boss lures are used up on a catch.

The Deepwater Winch is a fishing rod, not the boat-net crane. It has a longer line and helps reel in a hooked catch. The Tidebreaker Harpoon Launcher fires a visible shaft and supports sights and other upgrades. Hold a compatible weapon when buying upgrades. Ordinary equipment can still finish the chapter.

Use the grill to cook fish, but take them off before they burn. To sell, hold a catch near Mara, wait for her to look at it and open her mouth, then let go.

Watch for the Harbor Hawk

Only one hawk can be active at a time, and it appears less often than the native seagulls. It attacks players, not fish.

Listen for its cry and watch for the wing flare. It keeps moving during the warning, then commits to its dive. Sidestep or take shelter under a roof. Each dive can hit once for 8 damage. The hawk has 60 HP and a $20 base sale value; its corpse uses normal carrying, cooking, and selling.

Playing blackjack

1. Put a dead, sellable catch on the highlighted part of the tabletop.
2. Press DEAL. The player who deals controls that hand.
3. Choose HIT or STAND.
4. After a win or push, collect your returned catches or deal again. After a loss, place a new stake.

Friends can add catches before the deal and watch the same hand. Wins increase the catches' value; losses consume the staked items. A natural pays 3:2, and the dealer stands on soft 17. Split, double, and insurance are not available.

Leaving, disconnecting, or manually saving settles the current hand. Automatic saves and a friend's net or quest checkpoint do not interrupt it.

Saves, updates, and removal

ExpansionKit keeps modded progress separate from the original game's saves. On first import, it copies the original save rather than overwriting it. The two versions then progress independently.

Modded saves are under:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\ExpansionKitProfiles\<SteamID>\

Back up the whole profile folder before updating. Keep crew saves, expansion sidecars, and their backups together. Do not load these files in an unmodded game or remove a required mod from an existing modded crew. If a required pack or version is incompatible, the runtime stops with an error rather than silently deleting your items.

To return to the original game, use an unmodded profile and your original saves. Progress earned only in a modded crew is not merged back.

Known limits and troubleshooting

• Tested on the game version listed above; other game versions may be refused.
• Tested with separate local co-op processes, including late joins and reconnects. A multi-account Steam session still needs hands-on testing.
• Other island loaders and third-party mods are not guaranteed compatible.
• Keep every crew member on the same mod versions and remove duplicate DLLs.
• If the game refuses to load a crew, do not delete save files to force it. Back up the profile and check BepInEx\LogOutput.log.

When reporting a problem, include the game and mod versions, whether you were the host or a client, what happened, and the relevant log excerpt. Remove personal paths or other private details before sharing logs.

Credits

Created by B3rries. This is an unofficial mod, not an official update from the game's developers. Mod artwork is original; native game assets are used from each player's own installation and are not included. Developed with AI assistance and tested in the game.