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Fish & Ships box art
2017 Ranked #20,374

Fish & Ships

Cast off and set sail for the fishing grounds in Fish & Ships! No one knows which ships you're betting on to bring in the biggest haul, but at the same time, you're in the dark as to what the other fishermen are doing, too. At the start of the game, each player receives seven car...

Players

2-4

Play time

Not listed

Age

7+

Complexity

1.5/5

Rating

5.79

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Group fit

At a glance

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.3/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 4.0/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.6/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.5/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.7/5

Deep strategy

Player control 2.8/5

Luck-sensitive

Table feel

Moderate level of interaction with a mix of direct confrontation and strategic depth.

Replay value

Fish & Ships offers a high level of variability in gameplay with a diverse gameboard and multiple paths to victory. The presence of expansions enhances the replay value, providing new content and gameplay elements. The game offers deep strategic possibilities and allows players to improve their tactics over time. The scalability ensures an enjoyable experience with different numbers of players. While the game may take some time to learn, it strikes a balance between easiness and depth. Overall, Fish & Ships has a strong replayability score of 8.02.

Luck profile

Fish & Ships has a moderate level of luck involved in the game. Random elements like dice rolls or card draws have a notable but not exclusive impact on the game outcome. While players have some ability to mitigate the effects of randomness through strategic decisions and planning, luck still plays a significant role. The game has a balanced mix of luck and strategy, making it suitable for players who enjoy a combination of both elements.

Overview

Cast off and set sail for the fishing grounds in Fish & Ships! No one knows which ships you're betting on to bring in the biggest haul, but at the same time, you're in the dark as to what the other fishermen are doing, too.

Read the full game description

Cast off and set sail for the fishing grounds in Fish & Ships! No one knows which ships you're betting on to bring in the biggest haul, but at the same time, you're in the dark as to what the other fishermen are doing, too. At the start of the game, each player receives seven cards from a deck of 28, with each color appearing four times. Players simultaneously pass one card to the left. The four colors of cards match the colors of ships that start in the harbor. Six cards are shuffled and laid in a row from the harbor, with each card having 0-3 fish. Each player starts with one resource cube, and 15 journey tiles are shuffled and laid face down. On a turn, you announce that you're revealing 1-3 journey tiles — gaining a resource cube if you say 1 and paying one if you say 3. You then reveal those tiles, then move one of the ships depicted on one tile one space forward. (Alternatively, if you reveal the pirate tile, all other players must discard a resource cube.) Instead of revealing tile, you can discard one of your cards in hand face down to move one ship forward or backward one space. You cannot move a ship to the final space this way. If fewer than four tiles are face down at the start of your turn, place them all face down, shuffle them, then continue. When a ship reaches the final space, the game ends. Each player then reveals their cards, and each card is worth as many fish as the space occupied by the ship of the same color. Whoever has caught the most total fish wins!

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Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
Oliver Igelhaut

Artists

1
Christof Tisch

Publishers

1
Igel Spiele

Linked items

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