Greetings and welcome to the Ultimate Guide for Shoal, I am Traefish and I will be showing you a look into what shoal has to offer, tips and some secrets I have found.

If you enjoy this guide, please leave a rate☆, comment✎, or an award☆.



Lets dive in...

Shoal is a game where you play as a predator in the open ocean. With your energy constantly running out as you swim, you must locate shoals that constantly appear and feed until the shoal disappears - a sign you must move onto the next shoal.

But you are not alone in this vast empty space of water and salt, you will bump into other hungry predators that desire sustenance and they will not think twice to ward you away from their shoals.


The controls are simple, move W,S,A,D or the arrow keys to move to the respective direction, clicking and than dragging the mouse can also be used to move the predator. There is no button for eating as you will eat automatically upon colliding with prey.


(Observe above for a breakdown of the UI of the main game.)

Shoal contains a large variety of prey to eat. All prey replenish energy upon consumption, some briefly change the appearance of the player, and some grant coins.


Small fish
(Osteichthyes)
Small fish are the most common prey, they provide a small amount of energy per fish. However they add up when you engulf large amounts at a time.


Large fish
(Osteichthyes)
Large fish are larger than the small fish and are noticeably much faster. They provide slightly more energy than the small fish per fish.


Pufferfish
(Tetraodontidae)
Puffer fish are ball shaped fish that are uncommonly found in shoals. They provide energy upon being eaten.


Crescent fish
Crescent fish are crescent shaped fish (hence the name) that are found uncommonly in shoals. They provide energy upon being eaten.


Eel
(Anguilliformes)
Eels are long, snake looking creatures found uncommonly in shoals. They provide energy upon consumption.


Flounder
(Paralichthys olivaceus)
Flounders are unique looking fish that are found uncommonly in shoals. They provide energy upon consumption.


Goldfish
Goldfish are orange colored fish that are found in small amounts in average shoals, however large groups can sometimes be found. They provide one coin upon consumption and change the player to orange for a brief period.

TIP: Goldfish provides no energy and thus should not be sought after if you are looking to refill your energy.


Energy fish
These slightly gray fish can be found in small amounts in average shoals, but can also be found in large groups sometimes. They provide a large amount of energy upon consumption per fish and provide a temporarily boost to the player's swimming speed.

TIP: If you engulf a decently sized group of energy fish, it can easily recover low energy back to full.
TIP II: In single units, they should not be sought after if they are not grouped together with other prey. Don't waste your time and energy on catching a single energy fish when you could catch a mouthful of other prey variants.


Rainbow fish
These fish come in all variety of colors, they are only found sometimes where the player begins their game. They provide small amounts of energy and briefly change the color of the player to the respective color of the fish that was eaten.


Small Predators
If you grow bigger than a predator, it becomes potential prey but onto that in the next section.

Predators are various large animals that are found swimming around shoals, they pose a threat to the player as they will chase you when you approach close to them, depleting your energy when they collide with the player.

White colored

Predators larger than the player will be colored white, an indication that they are not edible and dangerous. Growing larger than a white colored predator will shift it to the black color.

Black colored

Predators that are smaller than the player are colored black, an indication that they are vulnerable and will attempt to flee from you. They can be eaten as long as they remain black.

Red colored (Boss)

Every 10th day will result in the appearance of a boss predator, they are colored red and will always spawn larger than the player. The player must outgrow the predator, which will shift to a black colored predator. While they are black they behave the same as a normal black colored predator and can be eaten, resulting in the completion of the day.


Transparent (Most likely a bug)

Sometimes, you might encounter a small predator that appears to be almost fully transparent with only the predator's outline noticeable. They behave exactly the same as a black colored predator and is most likely a bug.

The ocean is where this game takes place. It is a vast empty space of water and salt with many background items scattered around.

Navigating
The wondrous thing about moving around is seeing the map of earth, showing the sea and the continents. The area's you have traveled appear as a line on the map, which can be used to determine where you have been and where shoals have previously been. This map can be found at the bottom left corner of the in game screen.

Attempting to cross an area marked as a continent will result in the player colliding with a wall which stops the player from continuing on the direction where the continent lies, after all we are a sea creature not a land creature.



(This is what you will see when you attempt to swim through a continent.)

Days are a mission the player must complete to move onto the next one, with later days becoming increasingly difficult.

The mission for each day generally revolve around eating certain creatures with every 10th day requiring the player to defeat a boss predator. (Refer to the section 'Predators')

Reaching day milestones unlock new background creatures that can be found around the ocean and the 100th unlocks a special predator skin.

After the 100th day, missions only require a large amount of fish to be eaten, gradually increasing on later days beyond the 100th day.

Background creatures are large creatures that wonder in the background, some are required to be found in order to beat certain side missions. (We will talk about this in the next section)


Mobula Rays

(Mobulidae)
They are a group of stingrays that always spawn in a group.


Giant Manta Ray

(Manta Birostris)
The grand manta ray is a type of stingray that aren't found in groups.


Turtles

(Testudines)
They spawn in groups.


Orca

(Orcinus Orca)
The mighty Orca always spawn by themselves and can be distinguished from a whale by their tail structure and white markings near their tail and head.


Whale

(Megaptera Novaeangliae)
The gentle giant resembles the humpback whale species and are not found in groups. They can be distinguished from an Orca by their head structure, tail structure and white markings.


Dragon fish

This huge winged fish can be found wandering in the background by themselves. They are unlocked after completing day 100.


Jellyfish

(Medusozoa)
These large jellyfish can be found in singular units and are not tied with any side missions.


Moon Jellyfish
(Aurelia Aurita)
These small jellyfish can be easily mistaken for bubbles, but upon closer inspection you'll notice its details. They are perhaps one of the most abundant background creatures in the game. They are not tied to a side mission.

Side missions are missions that can be completed alongside the current day. The objectives vary around eating certain prey, finding background creatures and hunting predators. These missions are the best way to gain coins, which can be used to purchase predator skins (On to that in the next section).

• Travel 600 / 900 / 1200 Kilometres = 150 coins
  
• Catch 300 / 400 fish = 100 coins
  
• Catch 3 / 6 goldfish = 100 coins
  
• Catch 8 energy fish = 100 coins
  
• Catch 10 / 15 Crescent fish = 150 coins
  
• Catch 5 / 10 / 15 puffer fish = 200 coins
  
• Hunt 1 / 2 sharks = 400 coins
  
• Find the Mobula Rays = 500 coins
  
• Find the Orca = 500 coins
  
• Find the Whale = 500 coins
  
• Find the Sea Turtle = 400 coins
  
• Find the Manta Ray = 300 coins

Predator skins are used to customize your predator, they can be found in the main menu. The skins are classed in 3 classes, common, rare and legendary. Common skins can be unlocked by purchasing them with coins. Rare skins can be unlocked by completing the skin's specific objective. Legendary skins are also unlocked by completing the skin's specific objective.

Predator skins can be accessed in the main menu of the game, by clicking the blue shark fin button on the left end of the screen. You can select your skin by clicking the skin's respective icon in the skin menu. Click the little arrow next to the skin icons to move to the next set of skins.

After you have selected your skin, clicking the big arrow on the top left of the screen will take you back to the main menu.


Common skins consist of 9 sharks, one common skin can be unlocked after paying a certain amount of coins. Paying for a skin than grants a common skin, which is picked randomly. The amount of coins needed increases as you unlock more common skins.

• 1st Skin = Unlocked by default
  
• 2nd Skin = 1500 coins
  
• 3rd Skin = 3000 coins
  
• 4th Skin = 7500 coins
  
• 5th Skin = 15000 coins
  
• 6th Skin = 25500 coins
  
• 7th Skin = 39000 coins
  
• 8th Skin = 55500 coins
  
• 9th Skin = 75000 coins

()


(Galeocerdo cuvier)


(Alopias vulpinus)


(Cetorhinus maximus)


(Sphyrna mokarran)


(Pristiophorus cirratus)


(Triakis semifasciata)


(Rhincodon typus)


(Carcharodon carcharias)

Rare and legendary predator skins cannot be purchased with coins, but rather by completing the skin's specific objective. The objectives are huge and will take multiple games to achieve them.


(Pinnipedia)
Travel 100,000km


(Orcinus Orca)
Hunt 100 sharks


Visit lost city of Atlantis


Eat 300 Crescent fish


Complete 100 days

There are special locations in Shoal that are unique in appearance compared to anywhere else in the world of shoal. These locations are always found in one specific area on the world and can be found with the map in-game.

I am going to try something different with this guide, rather than telling you where to find it straight away. I will provide you with hints to their possible location, after all exploring new places underwater is such a wondrous feeling. (May be biased due to my passion with all things aquatic) If you are unable to find it even with the provided hints, I will have the location in the bottom of each sub section.

I have only found one secret location and that is the lost city of Atlantis! Finding this place unlocks a rare predator skin.

Hints:

Hint 1: It is in the northern hemisphere
Hint 2: The location is based on the original myth

Still haven't found it? It is located in the huge harbor between the top of Africa and the bottom of Europe.



NOTE: On some circumstances Atlantis may become bugged and not appear. If this happens a reset may be necessary.

The music in shoal was created by the composer Meydan. Meydan is a French composer who has made many ambient tracks, most of which can be found in the many music sites he has posted his music in.

Here is a list of the tracks used in Shoal:

Away[meydan.bandcamp.com]
Elk[meydan.bandcamp.com]
Freezing but warm[meydan.bandcamp.com]
Floating Above Sokkan[meydan.bandcamp.com]
(Fun fact, Floating Above Sokkan currently plays exclusively on the Steam version)

I first tried Shoal on the mobile version, I was immediately drawn to it by the graphics style used. Before Shoal I had never played a 'oceanic predator simulator' that uses a birds eye view with the silhouettes of marine life, which is all brought to life with the wondrous colorful background with aquatic giants occasionally passing through.

Despite the graphics, I think there is still much more that can be worked on for shoal. After a while when you have unlocked everything, there is not much more game play value left. The addition of more secret locations, more marine life and more objectives or things to do could greatly improve the amount of hours one is willing to dedicate to this game.

I believe this game has great potential to go further. Although the developer has announced recently they live in Ukraine and are waiting out for the war to be over before working on more content. This is fair enough and I wish the developer and all of Ukraine wellness and strength to get to the light at the end of this terrible tunnel.

I will be waiting patiently for the developer to be able to resume work, and wish them luck for the future.


Stay strong and thank you for bringing this unique art style to the gaming community, and for introducing me to a new music artist I really enjoy listening to.

And that concludes the ultimate guide to Shoal. I hope you found out what you needed and hopefully learnt something out of this. If you enjoyed this guide please leave a like, favorite or give an award. I will most definitely be adding to this guide, as more content is added or discovered.

☆ Thank you, especially to the following people: ☆

☆ Vidroid - For making Shoal ☆
☆ All the special people in my life who make up my life ☆
☆ And YOU. Yes you, for reading this guide and hopefully getting something out of it ☆