Fisherman
Fisherman Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Summary
In “Fisherman”, the players take on the roles of fishermen competing in a fishing tournament with two phases. Over the course of the game, they will compete in multiple tournaments to earn points and become the world's number one fisherman.
In the rule decision phase, the players determine the details of the four rules which will be applied during the fishing phase.
In the fishing phase, the players catch fish using the fish cards. The cards are played one by one, in turn order, and the player with the strongest fish card will win all of the cards played. Points will be awarded based on the rules and the player with the most points will earn VPs based upon their ranking.
Components
50 fish cards (1 to 10 in each of five suits, horse mackerel/blue/□, puffer fish/green/○, sea bream/red/◇, goby/yellow/≡, squid/white/△); 1 big catch card; 4 fish tokens; 40 shield cards (10 each of gold, silver, and bronze); 1 rule mat; 1 rulebook.
Preparation
Place the rule mat in a position where everyone can reach, and place the fish markers next to it. Sort the shield cards by type and place them next to the rule mat.
The player who most recently caught a fish, or any appropriate player, becomes the first dealer and takes the big catch card. This card will rotate to the left for each successive tournament.
In a 3 player game, use 4 of the suits (do not use squid); in a 4 player game, use all of the cards.
Game Progression
The game lasts a number of rounds equal to the number of players; each player will be the dealer once.
Each tournament (round) has the following structure:
- Distribution of cards
- Rule decision phase
- Fishing phase (trick-taking); continue until all players are out of cards.
- The lead player chooses a card from their hand and plays it.
- The other players each play a fish card.
- Determine the strongest fish.
- The winner acquires the fish cards and becomes the next lead player.
- Announce tournament results
- Tidy up
Card Distribution
The dealer shuffles all the fish cards, face down, and deals them equally to the players. Any extra fish cards are not used (one in a 3P game and two in a 4P game); return these to the box face down. The players may look at the cards they have been dealt.
Rule Decision Phase
Using the rule mat, determine the four rules which will be applied in the fishing phase: Target, Valuation, Size, and Not Target. Beginning with the player to the left of the dealer, each player decides one rule at a time in clockwise order and proceeding down the rule mat; that is, the first player to select will always choose the Target, the second player the Valuation, etc. (In a 3P game, the second player to decide will decide both the Valuation and Size at the same time.) The player deciding the rule places a fish token to mark their choice.
Target. Each card collected of the corresponding suit is worth 1 point. The player should choose one suit and mark it with a fish marker.
Valuation. Which size fish are to be considered stronger: large or small? The player should choose which and mark it with a fish marker.
Size. The size of a fish that is acquired will cause the point to increase or decrease. The player chooses two consecutive numbers (you cannot choose other pairs of numbers, such as 3 and 5 or 1 and 10). Each fish of the selected sizes are worth -1 point if of the Not Target suit and +1 point for all other suits.
Not Target. Each fish of the selected suit will be worth -1 point. The Not Target suit may not be the same suit as the Target suit. The Not Target suit is stronger than all other suits. (A card which matches the chosen size and is the Not Target suit is worth -2 points.)
Fishing Phase
The dealer is the lead player for the first trick and chooses any card from their hand and plays it face up on the table. Beginning with the player to their left, each other player then plays a card face up in clockwise turn order.
If a player has a card of the same suit as that played by the start player, they must choose one of those cards to play. Otherwise, a player may play any card.
After each person has played a card, the winner of the cards is determined.
The player who played the strongest (check Valuation to determine if low or high numbers are stronger) of the Not Target suit wins the trick. If no cards of the Not Target suit were played, the strongest card of the lead suit wins the trick.
The winner of one trick will acquire all cards played to the trick and lead to the next trick. You only need acquire cards which are worth positive or negative points; leave your acquired cards face up in front of you.
Announce Tournament Results
Once players have no cards left in their hand, the fishing phase ends. Calculate the points each player has collected. The player with the most points takes a gold shield card (worth 5 VPs); the player with the second most points takes a silver shield card (3 VPS); the third most bronze (1 VP); and the fourth most does not get a shield. (Players do not have to have won any tricks to earn a shield card.)
If players are tied, they each are considered to have earned that rank and the next position is skipped. (e.g. If two players are tied for second, no player is awarded third; the next possible position is fourth.)
Tidy Up
Clear the fish tokens off of the rule mat. Then, pass the big catch card to the left; they become the dealer of the next round.
Determination of Winner
The player with the most VPs after all rounds are complete is the world's number one angler! (In the case of a tie, share the victory.)