Components
- game board
- 55 cards
- 35 stackable fish tokens
- 1 starfish token
- Instructions
Object of the Game
Players challenge and bluff each other as they attempt to "eat" other players' fish. The player with the most fish at the end of the game wins.
Setup
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Place the game board in the center, each player selects a color (fish and cards). Purple may only be selected when there are 5 players. Look at your challenge cards.
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Select a player to go 1st and give that player the Starfish token. That player places a fish 1st.
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Placing the fish. The 1st player places 1 fish on any of the 25 circles. The person to the left places 1 fish on an empty circle - no 2 fish of the same color can be next to each other, unless there is no alternative.
Each player places 5 fish. (if there are 5 players, all circles will be filled. If fewer than 5 players, the purple fish are then considered neutral and must be placed on all remaining empty circles.
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The player with the Starfish token now takes the 1st turn.
Game Play
Use one fish to do one, and only one, of the following:
Attack a Fish: Attack a fish located on an adjacent circle without moving any fish.
Move a Fish: Move a fish to a circle adjacent to another fish, and attack that fish. (Fish are considered 'adjacent' when they are connected by a single line). Can only move your own fish, only in a straight line, and may not jump over another fish.
If neither 1 or 2 is possible: Then move a fish to a circle where it could be attacked by another player's fish during another turn and pass Starfish token to the left.
Attacking a Fish
Opponents Fish under attack: If fish under attack is an opponent's fish, then each player selects 1 Challenge Card from his or her hand and places it, face down, on the table. Simultaneously, the cards are turned face up, and the outcome is determined.
Both select Fish cards: Add # of fish in stack to card, highest number wins. If a tie, both stacks of Fish are removed from the game.
1 Shark and 1 Fish card: the Shark card wins. (place fish on top of stack)
Both select Shark cards: considered a tie and both stacks are removed from game
1 or both select Octopus card: attack is nullified, neither fish is affected, discard challenge cards as usual.
If fish is neutral or same color as attacking fish: no challenge cards used. Player simply places attacking fish on top of other fish.
Other: If a player is out of Challenge cards, that player must remove all remaining stacks of fish from the board.
These fish become part of that player's catch and added to their fish count at the end. That player may not participate in any more battles.
End of the Game
Game is over when only 1 player has fish remaining on the board. These fish are now added to the players' catch, along with the Starfish token. Players count the number of fish - most fish wins.
Tiebreaker - Starfish token holder wins if involved, otherwise then the player with the most Challenge cards left in hand wins.
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