Fish or Cut Bait
Fish or Cut Bait Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 7 Game Dice
- 1 SNAG-FREE chip
- 45-second timer
- Score Pad
Game Image Glossary: Fishing Pole, Lure, Bobber, Boat, Fish Dice (Red, White and Blue), Snag, Snag-Free Chip.
Objective
The winner is the player who, after 8 rounds of play, has caught the most fish. The strategy is for players to make quick decisions during their :45 turn involving how much time to spend assembling their fishing rig and/or whether to spend precious time earning a "SNAG-FREE" chip...all of which impacts a player's remaining time to catch fish.
Set Up
All game components are placed on the table. The sand timer and score pad are placed off to the side as to not interfere with the rolling players' turn. The 7 game dice and "SNAG-FREE" chip are positioned close to the "rolling" player.
Playing the Game -- The Basic Game
- One player rolls at a time, with subsequent rolls rotating to the left.
- Each turn starts when the :45 timer is flipped and ends when the timer expires.
- Each turn contains 2 parts: 1.) rolling dice to assemble their "fishing rig", and 2.) rolling dice to catch fish.
- Before a player may start catching fish, they must first roll the 4-natural-color dice to assemble their "fishing rig".
- A fully-assembled rig includes Fishing Pole + Lure + Bobber + Boat, which enables the player to roll all three Fish Dice (Red + White + Blue).
- A partially-assembled rig includes Fishing Pole + Lure + Bobber, which allows the player to only roll the Red and White Fish Dice.
- A player is NOT allowed to 'start fishing' until they have rolled a partially-assembled rig!
One strategy is to keep rolling the natural-color dice until a complete "rig" is assembled, so that ALL of the fish dice may be rolled.
- Note that the fish dice have varying "fish-numbers" (points). Players may continue rolling these dice to get the highest possible score until the sand time expires. Players do NOT have to roll ALL of the fish dice in each roll. For example, if they have a high point number of the White die, they can keep that die and continue to only roll the Red and Blue fish dice.
- SNAG: If a player rolls a SNAG, their fishing rig is "broken", any fish caught until then are "thrown back", and they must then start over from the very beginning.
- SNAG-FREE CHIP: A player may earn a "SNAG-FREE" chip when they roll at least "three-of-a-kind" of the natural colored dice while assembling their fishing rig. Once a player earns the SNAG-FREE chip, all future rolls with a snag during that turn do not result in the player starting over.
Scoring
- At the end of a player's turn, the number of fish caught is noted on the score pad next to that player's name, and the dice passed to the next player.
- Scoring should be kept like "Bowling" with the individual "round" score noted in the small box and the "sum" score noted in the larger box, per example.
Example of a Player's Roll
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The :45 timer is flipped and the player rolls the 4 natural-color dice and rolls the combination shown in the rulebook graphic (which does NOT result in an 'assembled fishing rig').
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The player decides to keep the Pole + Bobber and re-roll the other two dice which come up Lure + Pole. The player's adjusted roll is shown in the rulebook graphic as: Keep Pole, Keep Bobber, Re-roll Pole, Re-roll Boat, then after the re-roll Pole, Bobber, Lure, Pole.
Caption from the graphic: "Pole + Bobber + Lure = Player can only roll the Red and White Fish Dice to start fishing."
The player now has 3 options to decide quickly:
- Start fishing with only the Red and White fish dice, OR
- Roll one of the Pole dice again hoping to get a boat, thereby allowing the player to roll with all 3 Fish Dice, OR
- Work to get 3-of-a-kind to earn a SNAG-FREE chip. In the example below, the player might keep the two Poles, and re-roll the Bobber and Lure dice to try to get a third pole.
Graphic example for Option 3: Keep Pole, Keep Pole, Re-roll Bobber, Re-roll Lure.
- If the player decides not to pursue a SNAG-FREE Chip, but instead pursues Option 1 above (to start fishing right away), if, by the end of their turn they roll a Red-2 and a White-4, they enter 6 points next to their name on the score pad.
- Remember, however, if this player had rolled a SNAG during their turn without having first earned their "SNAG-FREE" chip they would have had to start completely over from the very beginning while the timer continued to run (the timer is NOT reset on SNAGS.)
Advanced Game Option - "LUCKY 7"
- "LUCKY 7" is played identically to the rules above; however, if a player scores exactly "7" fish/points during their turn, they not only ADD 7 points to their score, but they also DEDUCT 7 points from any opponent(s) score(s).
- During a 2-player game, the 7 points are deducted straight from the opposing player. During a game where 3 or more players are competing, then the player who earns LUCKY 7 may deduct all or any portion of 7 points against any one or all opposing players. (For example, 5 points from Player B and 2 points from Player C).