Fishsticks!

Fishsticks! was one of those simple Flash games you'd find in the mid-2000s, a time when a browser could be a portal to a quick distraction. It didn't need a complicated story or fancy graphics. You just loaded it up and were immediately in the water.

You control a small, white fish navigating a river full of hazards. The moment-to-moment play is about constant movement, using the arrow keys to dart left and right while the current pushes you downstream. Your main goal is to survive as long as possible, avoiding the larger fish that patrol the waters and the spiked mines that float by. The mechanics are straightforward: you steer to collect the smaller fish, or "fishsticks," which seem to be your only objective besides staying alive. The pacing is relentless; the river speeds up, and the obstacles become more crowded. It feels like a tense, twitchy scramble against an inevitable current.