Fishing
Fishing Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 100 playing cards
- 5 fisher and 5 boat cards
- 3 round cards and 1 tracking card
- 5 overview sheets (English & German)
- 2 rule sheets (English & German)
How to Play
You play Fishing in 8 rounds. After preparing the game at the start of the 1st round, play a given number of tricks in each round. You build your own draw stacks with your caught tricks, and draw your hand of cards from that stack at the start of each following round. If you do not have enough cards in your draw stack to do so, fill up your hand of cards with fresh cards from the ocean stack.
Play the 1st round at first, before checking the second page of the rules sheet for how the game progresses.
Preparing the 1st Round
Take 1 overview sheet and place 1 fisher and 1 boat card in front of you. Collect your caught tricks on the fisher during the rounds, and later place your own draw stacks on your boat.
Look for the round card matching your number of players. The backside shows the necessary starting cards (as explained next), the frontside shows the round overview with the number of cards you take in your hand. Place the tracking card on the round overview, so you can see the row for the 1st round.
Sort the playing cards by the 0 to 5 stars depicted on them in 6 stacks.
Place the 40 starless starting cards aside for now. Separately shuffle the remaining 5 stacks, before creating the ocean stack with them: place the 5-star cards facedown at the bottom, place the 4-star cards on top of them and so on, until you place the 1-star cards facedown on top of that draw stack. Place the ocean stack next to the round card, so you can all reach it easily.
The 40 starting cards have the values "1" to "10" in the four colors blue, purple, red, and yellow. Depending on the number of players, take the following starting cards:
3 players: remove all cards with values "1" and "2", and the blue and red card with value "3". Shuffle the remaining 30 cards and deal 10 cards to each player that you take in your hand.
4 players: remove all cards with value "1". Shuffle the remaining 36 cards and deal 9 cards to each player that you take in your hand.
5 players: Shuffle all 40 cards and deal 8 cards to each player that you take in your hands.
Place the removed cards in the game box. You do not need them for the game.
Put out a pencil and paper for scoring your points and determine the player who starts the first trick.
Example: All players can easily reach the ocean stack and round card. Place your fisher and boat in front of you and take your cards in your hand.
The Trick Taking Rules
Play any 1 card from your hand to start the first trick (that is: lead a color). The other players also play 1 card from their hand in clockwise order. If they have at least one card in the led color, they must play one of them (that is: follow a color). If they do not have the led color (anymore) in their hand, they must play any other card (that is: shed a color).
You catch the trick if you play the highest value in the led color. In each color, the cards all have different values, so there is always a definitive winner of a trick. Place the caught cards facedown on your fisher, before playing a new card from your hand to start the next trick.
Example: Angelika starts the trick with the yellow "7". Sabine follows with the yellow "3", Hedwig with the yellow "10", and Nicole sheds a purple "2". Hedwig catches the trick and places the cards face down on her fisher. Then, she starts the next trick.
End of the 1st Round
The 1st round ends after you played all tricks.
Count the caught cards on your fisher. Record 1 point for each of these cards.
Afterward, shuffle your caught cards and place them face down as your own stockroom stack on your boat.
Example: Hedwig caught 8 cards and records 8 points. Afterward, she shuffles her caught cards and places them as her stockroom stack on her boat.
Preparing the 2nd to 8th Round
Move the tracking card one row down on the round card. Draw the stated number of cards from your stockroom and take them in your hand. If you have more cards in your stockroom than you must draw, keep the remaining stack in the stockroom for the round.
| Players | 2nd round | 3rd-4th round | 5th-6th round | 7th-8th round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 players | 10 cards | 11 cards | 12 cards | 13 cards |
| 4 players | 9 cards | 10 cards | 11 cards | 12 cards |
| 5 players | 8 cards | 9 cards | 10 cards | 11 cards |
If you do not have enough cards in your stockroom, draw the missing cards from the ocean stack. The player needing the most cards draws all these cards first, then followed by the other players with lower demand. If several players need the same number of cards from the ocean stack, the player of them draws first, who played a card earlier in the former trick.
If you have the fewest points, start the 1st trick of the new round. If several players have the fewest points, the player of them starts the trick, who played a card earlier in the former trick.
Example: everybody draws 9 cards at the start of the 2nd round of a 4-player game. Angelika draws 9 of her 16 cards from the stockroom. Hedwig and Nicole only have 8 cards and Sabine only 4 cards, so they each draw all of them. Sabine misses 5 cards, that she draws from the ocean stack, followed by Nicole and then Hedwig each drawing 1 card from that stack.
The Cards in the Ocean Stack
The ocean stack offers fresh cards, that gradually come into play.
More valuable color cards: there are values "11" to "18" in all four colors blue, purple, red, and yellow.
Trump cards: the green cards with values "1" to "16" are trump cards. Trump cards always beat color cards. If you must follow a color, but do not have that color in hand, you may play a trump card (that is: trump a color). If you start a trick by leading a trump, the other players must play a trump (that is: follow trump). Only if they do not have trump cards in hand, they can shed any color card. If there is at least one trump card in the trick, the trump card with the highest value catches the trick.
Cards with "At the end of the trick" effects
When you play these cards, use their effects at the end of the trick, before the player with the highest card places the caught trick on their fisher. The "0" cards follow the usual trick taking rules. You can always play the buoy cards, even if you have cards in hand that need to follow a played color or trump. If you start a trick with a buoy card, the next played color or trump card determines what the other players must follow. If there are only buoy cards in the trick, you catch the trick with the first played buoy card.
- "Catch 1 other card" (a "0" card, marked with a hand-and-fish icon): there is a "0" in each of the four colors and trump. First, catch 1 other card of the trick and place it face down on your fisher, before the player with the highest card catches the remaining cards. If there are several "0" in the trick, choose in the order that you played these cards.
- "Pass 1 card to the left" (an hourglass card marked with a left-arrow icon): All players simultaneously choose 1 card and pass them to the left. Afterward, take the received card in your hand.
- "-3 points" (an hourglass card marked with a red "-3"): there are 2 cards of this in the ocean deck. If you catch this card and place it on your fisher, immediately record -3 points. At the end of the round this card counts 1 point as any other card.
- "Catch all other cards" (an hourglass card marked with a fan-of-cards-and-fish icon): first, catch all other cards of the trick and place them face down on your fisher, before the player with the highest card catches only this buoy card. If there are also one or more "0" in the trick, choose in the order that you played the buoy and "0" cards. A "0" played after this buoy card catches the buoy card. Further "0" cards get nothing. The person with the highest card starts the next trick, even if they do not catch anything.
Cards with "For the next trick" effects
If you play these buoy cards, their effects only affect the next trick. If you play them in the last trick, the effects forfeit.
- "Play the 1st card" (an hourglass card marked with a "1" and card icon): Start the trick and play any 1 card from your hand instead of the person with the highest card. The other players follow in clockwise order.
- "Call the color" (an hourglass card marked with a "?" and rainbow of colors): Call the color of the next trick, that all players must follow, if they have the matching cards in their hand (even who plays the 1st card). You can choose the green trump color. If nobody follows or trumps the color, thus only shed colors or play buoy cards, you win the trick thanks to your call.
- "Lowest value wins" (an hourglass card marked with a down-arrow icon): Follow the normal trick taking rules, except that you catch the trick with the lowest card. If you trump a color or lead with trump, the lowest trump catches the trick.
End of the 2nd to 8th Round
Record 1 point for each of the caught cards on your fisher like you did at the end of the 1st round.
Afterward, shuffle the freshly caught cards and place them again facedown as your own stockroom stack on your boat. If you still have old cards there, place the freshly caught cards BELOW the old cards. You only draw these cards after the old cards!
End of the Game
You win Fishing after the end of the 8th round with the most points! If several players have the most points, they share the victory.
Rare Exception – Overfishing
If you cannot take enough fresh cards from the ocean stack at the start of a round, so that not all players can refill their hands with the requested number of cards, Fishing ends immediately. In this case, you still win with the most points.
Credits
Author: Friedemann Friese Graphics & Layout: Maren Rache Proofreading: Linus Wolf, Ronald Hrkać, Christian Frank Editing and Production: Henning Kröpke Copyright 2024, 2F-Spiele, Bremen / Germany