Watersports are fun to play, but only when the weather’s right. Sometimes, you have to hang up your surf gear and admit defeat. It’s time to spend the day inside until the winds die down or there isn’t torrential rain and thunder.
Don’t be too glum; you can still enjoy watersport-themed fun through a series of online games. Fewer exist than you realize, so here are some of our favorite games to play when we can’t enjoy real-life watersports:
Big Bass Bonanza is an online slot video game from Pragmatic Play. It’s the brand's most successful video slot as it draws on themes of competitive fishing. You can find it at the majority of online gambling sites, including those that offer ways around GamStop programme restrictions.
It’s a fun and easy game to play that combines elements of fishing and offers lovely underwater themes.
You’ll feel like you’re out in the ocean, yet the fast-paced element of this online slot adds an extra adrenaline rush. If anything, you’ll find it more exciting than real fishing!
The official video game of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is an awesome place to enjoy various watersports. It’s one of the few games that lets you try competitive swimming as you swim against online or offline rivals.
The best part of this game is the multiplayer online feature - join a party with a few friends and you can all compete for the gold medal.
Outside of swimming, it also lets you play a variety of Olympic sports such as long jump, baseball, beach volleyball and table tennis. It’s the type of game that gives you hours of fun in the afternoon.
It’s an oldie, but my golly this game is a goldie. Yes, we’ve listed another official Olympics video game, but London 2012 is surely the best around. It offers way more sports than Tokyo 2020, so if you can handle the worse graphics and slightly clunky game mechanics, then it’s easily the best choice.
Here’s a list of the water-themed sports you can partake in:
Within swimming and diving games you have various forms and lengths, so there are plenty of ways to play and get excited. For us, the canoe slalom is a real highlight. It’s hard to find any games that let you play this sport, so you need to give it a go!
Okay, this is a bit of a cheat, but we’re classifying Sea of Thieves as a watersport-themed game. It was released in 2018 to rave reviews and currently has a 9/10 rating on Steam. While not technically about watersports, the game does involve a lot of sailing around on a big pirate ship. That’s why we’re including it here; you get a real sense of sailing across the ocean, making it perfect for anyone who likes sailing in their spare time.
There’s more to it than this, and if you’re a video game fan looking for some aquatic fun, you’ll be hard-pressed to find another game like it.
We could also throw in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag and Skull and Bones as both are also pirate-themed games with loads of high-intensity sailing for you to enjoy.
Go Vacation is a game developed for Nintendo Wii back in 2011 and brought to the Nintendo Switch in 2018. It’s child-friendly for the whole family, making it ideal if your day’s activities are upset by bad weather.
The premise is similar to that of Nintendo Switch Sports as you can partake in so many activities. The difference here is that the activities are made up of a series of extreme sports! A couple of notable options include marine and mountain fishing, surfing and scuba diving. We’re big fans and we think you will be too!
Speaking about games originally developed for the Nintendo Wii, if you can find your old console, dust it off and get Wii Sports Resort. It’s probably the best watersport-themed game of all time, especially if you love extreme watersports.
Like Go Vacation, you get a collection of activities/sports to try and not all of them are water-based. However, these are:
How cool is that? You can go wakeboarding in your home when the weather stops you from doing it outside. You’ll have loads of fun with this game and despite being 15 years old it stands up well!
If this post has taught us anything it’s that game developers need to make more watersport-themed titles! Most of the ones here are pretty old, so let’s see some new ones to get excited about.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aleksandra Djurdjevic
Senior Content Creator
Aleksandra Djurdjevic is a senior writer and editor, covering surf, kayak and various watersports activities. She has previously worked as ESL teacher for English Tochka. Aleksandra graduated from the Comparative Literature department at the Faculty of Philosophy in Serbia. Aleksandra’s love for the ocean / rivers, getting out waves, season after season, seeking epic adventures across the globe helps her continue to be a top expert at CSG.