Fish 'n' Flip
Fish 'n' Flip Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
120 cards, which are:
- 79 marine animal cards (10 whale, swordfish, octopus, turtle, dolphin, jellyfish and ray cards, and 9 shark cards)
- 1 boat card
- 20 action cards
- 12 waste cards (6 plastic, 3 metal, 3 oil)
- 8 power cards (1 for each animal)
Setup
Players will only be using 4 marine animals per game. If you'd like to use more animals at the same time, feel free to try the campaign mode (available on our website).
First, choose 4 marine animals to play with and set aside their corresponding animal cards and power cards. Return the remaining animal cards and power cards to the box: they will not be used in this game.
Shuffle the chosen animal cards together with a number of waste cards, depending on your preferred difficulty level: 4 waste cards for a normal game, and 6 for a difficult game.
Note: be sure to flip the cards a few times while shuffling, so that the animals aren't all facing the same way.
Shuffle the action cards and deal 2 cards face up to each player (3 cards in a 2-player game). Create a draw pile with the remaining cards and place it next to the play area. Finally, each player draws one power card: this will be their power for the rest of the game.
The last player to spot a dolphin starts the game.
Setup Example
Prepare the fishing net by placing down 3 rows of 4 cards. Create a draw pile with the remaining cards and place it next to the play area. Place the boat card at the level of the seventh row.
Note: cards must always be placed down in such a way that their bubbles are in the top right corner.
Turn Overview
Players take turns playing in clockwise order. You're allowed (we even recommend this) to consult each other in order to come up with the best strategy.
Your turn consists of 4 steps:
1. Moving Animals
On your turn, use one of your action cards to form groups of animals (the action cards will be explained in detail later). Then discard the card and draw a new one.
Note: You may use your animal's power once per turn, if you want to. The powers will be explained in detail later.
2. Freeing Animals
You may free all groups consisting of at least 2 adjacent animals of the same type that are swimming in the same direction.
Note: at least one of the cards in the group has to have moved during step 1 in order to free the animals.
Remove the animal cards from the play area and place them in a discard pile.
3. Lowering Animals
Lower the remaining animal cards towards the bottom of the net.
Note: If new groups of animals are formed after step 3, perform steps 2 and 3 again. When you're no longer able to free any animals, continue to step 4.
4. Refilling the Nets
Starting from the left, add one new card to the top of each column. If new groups of animals are formed during this step, they are not freed.
Note: When you're forced to add a seventh card to a column, you immediately lose the game!
Now, the player to your left takes their turn.
If you managed to free 5 animals (or more) in a single turn, shout "Fish'n'Flip!"
End of the Game
When the final card is added to the play area and the draw pile of animal cards is empty, the end of the game is triggered. The two next players in turn order each get one final action to try and free as many animals as possible. After that, the game is over.
Note: Depending on the number of waste cards and the chosen animals, it could happen that there are less than 4 cards to add when the end of the game is triggered. In that case, add the remaining cards and finish the game as normal.
Count the number of animals that are still caught in the nets: the lower the number, the better your score will be! Would you like to know how you did? Go and find out on our website!
Animal Cards
There are 8 different types of animals and 10 cards per animal, except the shark (which only has 9).
Each card shows the same type of animal and the same type of background on the front and back. However, the direction in which it swims is different, depending on the side of the card: flipping an animal allows it to change direction.
Each animal also has a background color: there are 4 differently colored backgrounds.
Power Cards
Each animal has a power that can be used once per turn. Using powers is always optional.
There are 2 types of powers:
- Movement powers, which are activated during the "Moving animals" step (1).
- Evasive powers, which are activated during the "Freeing animals" step (2).
Dolphin
When you flip a dolphin card, you may also flip an adjacent card.
Octopus
When you flip an octopus card, you may also flip a card of the same background color.
Ray
When you free a group of rays, you may also free other rays in the same rows and/or columns that are swimming in the same direction.
Advanced variant: rays can form groups at a distance, and use their power even though they're not adjacent.
Swordfish
When you free a group of swordfish, you may also free an adjacent animal card or waste card. Freed waste cards are placed underneath the draw pile.
Exception: if you free a swordfish directly using the corresponding action card, you may use its power even if it's by itself.
Turtle
After you flip a turtle card, move it horizontally one space in the direction it's swimming in. If the space is empty, the card simply moves and nothing else happens. If the space is occupied by another card, the two cards switch places.
Whale
When you flip a whale card, place the card at the bottom of its column, below any other cards that might still be there.
Jellyfish
After you flip a jellyfish card, move it vertically one space in the direction it's swimming in. The jellyfish switches places with the adjacent card.
Shark
When you flip a shark card, you may free it, even if it's by itself.
Waste Cards
There are 3 different types of waste. Waste cards do not form groups, but they can be flipped over or switched with other cards.
Plastic
This type of waste is found everywhere in the ocean and it always seems to find its way back. The power of the swordfish allows you to remove them from the net, but be careful: waste cards are not discarded. Place them underneath the draw pile.
Metal
This type of waste is too heavy to move around using the action cards. You may only use an action card if there's no metal waste involved. However, metal waste can be moved using the powers of the turtle or the jellyfish.
Oil
Any marine animals orthogonally adjacent to this type of waste lose their power. This means oil can't be removed using a swordfish.
These last two types of waste are only used in the campaign mode.
Action Cards
There are 2 types of actions: switching cards and flipping cards.
- Flip a card.
- Flip an entire column of cards.
- Flip an entire row of cards.
- Flip a square group of cards (a square group may consist of four cards, or of three cards and an empty space).
- Flip all cards with the same background color.
- Switch two orthogonally adjacent cards (without flipping them over).
- Switch and flip two orthogonally adjacent cards.
- Free an animal.
Competitive Version
In this variant, players have to fend for themselves: they take their turns simultaneously, trying to find the optimal combination and freeing as many animals as possible. The player who manages to free the most animals wins the game!
Setup
Just like in the cooperative version, choose 4 marine animals and their corresponding power cards. Return the remaining cards to the box. From these 4 powers, choose 2: these powers will be common and accessible to all players.
Note: in this version, the animal powers may be combined and/or used several times per turn, but only once per card.
Shuffle the animal cards and reveal the top 9 cards. Place them in a 3x3 grid. Shuffle the action cards and reveal the top 2 cards.
Turn Overview
Everyone plays simultaneously. Look at the play area and the available action cards, then bet on the number of animals you're going to save using one of the 2 action cards and the available powers. Once someone calls out a number, the other players have one minute to raise the bid. When the time is up, the player with the highest bid may carry out their action.
Did you manage to free...
- The exact number of animals you bid? Place the freed animal cards in front of you.
- Fewer animals than the number you bid? Take a waste card and place the freed animals on the discard pile: you don't receive anything else this turn.
- More animals than the number you bid? Distribute the excess cards among your opponents (you may choose how to distribute them).
Place the remaining animal cards on the discard pile and draw 9 new cards to start the next round of bidding.
Also discard the action cards and reveal two new ones.
If the draw pile contains fewer than 9 cards, shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw pile.
End of the Game
The game ends when the draw pile is emptied for the second time and it's no longer possible to create a new grid of 9 cards.
Calculate your points: each animal card is worth 1 point, and each waste card is worth 2 negative points. The player with the highest score wins the game.
Example: Dominic announces he's planning to free 6 animals. He flips the dolphin card in the middle and creates a group of 3 dolphins. He also uses the dolphin's power to flip and free the shark to its left, thereby creating a group of 2 swordfish on the left, which are also freed. He managed to free 6 animals and wins the bid.
Looking for a bigger challenge? Try the campaign mode and go through all the missions together!
Marine Pollution
The world's oceans are polluted: according to estimates, between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into the ocean each year.
Fishing boats are among the biggest polluters. It often happens that fishermen lose their nets while they're out at sea, or that they throw them overboard when they're damaged instead of disposing of them properly. This poses a threat to whales, dolphins and other marine mammals that suffer a horrible death after they get entangled. Around 640,000 tonnes of fishing nets and other materials are dumped into the ocean each year, causing the death of around 136,000 seals, dolphins, sea lions, turtles, small whales and seabirds.
Bycatch also causes problems for our oceans. Numerous animals that get caught were not intentionally targeted by the fishermen, which means they are often pulled from the ocean without being used. For example, 250,000 sea turtles, 300,000 whales and dolphins, and several millions of sharks and rays end up in fishing nets each year.
Here's how you can help on a smaller scale:
- Collect waste on the beaches: you can participate in the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) in your country. This initiative is organized by Ocean Conservancy all over the world, and takes place annually during the third week of September. Please join in!
- Only purchase fish that was caught durably: the MSC label issued by the Marine Stewardship Council guarantees that the fishing activities are monitored in order to maintain the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem. Associations like the WWF have also published consumer guides which you can find on their websites.
- Don't forget anything! When you go to the beach, remember to take back everything you brought with you. Don't leave behind any food, toys, cigarette butts or other types of waste. Everything will eventually fly off and end up in the sea. You can also gather waste that doesn't belong to you and throw it in a garbage can.
- If you want to do even more, you can join associations that work tirelessly to protect the fauna and marine life. Sea Shepherd, Sana Mare and others have branches all across the globe, so please look them up!