Fishing Lessons Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Step 1: Place Lesson
  • Step 2: Activate Lessons
    • Example: Resolving Lesson Effects
  • Step 3: Check Your Goal
  • Step 4: Draw a New Lesson
• Winning the Game
• Additional Challenges
• Credits

Components

• 3 Family Cards (double-sided)
• 7 Lake Cards
• 8 Lesson Cards

Setup

1. Shuffle the 7 Lake Cards. Deal them face down in a row to represent the lake.
2. Choose any Family Card and place it, either side up, above the center Lake Card to indicate your position. Note the fishing goal.
3. Shuffle the Lesson Cards to form a deck and place it face-down below the lake, leaving space around it for a lesson row and a discard pile.
4. Draw 3 Lesson Cards to form your hand.
5. Choose a difficulty level (see Step 3: Check your Goal).

Gameplay

The layout: your Character card sits above the Lake — a row of 7 Lake Cards. Below the lake sit a Discard Pile, the Lesson Deck, and the Lesson Row.

Use Leland's lessons to meet your fishing goal before time runs out. Each turn proceeds through the following steps in order:

Step 1: Place Lesson

You remember a few of Leland's lessons, but which should you apply now to find the right fish?

Begin each turn by choosing a Lesson Card from your hand. Either insert it into the lesson row or replace an existing card there:

• Insert the new card at any spot in the lesson row (at either end or in between other cards in the row). You may shift other Lesson Cards as needed to make room, but do not reorder them.
• Replace any existing card in the lesson row. Discard the card you're replacing, and place the new card in the old card's location.

Step 2: Activate Lessons

Have you chosen the best lessons to apply? Let's see if you get a bite!

Activate each card in the lesson row one at a time from left to right. Resolve each card's effects from top to bottom. If part of an effect cannot be resolved, ignore that part and resolve any others if possible.

If playing at Easy difficulty, check your goal after activating each card (see Step 3: Check Your Goal).

Move Effects: You move left or right above the lake, with each Lake Card representing one space. You always end up directly above a Lake Card. If you would move beyond an edge of the lake, you stop at the edge instead. If you're already at an edge, you may skip movement by attempting to move beyond that edge and stopping.

Flip Effects: You flip Lake Cards based on their position relative to you. Positions outside of the lake are not flipped (for example, if an effect flips two Lake Cards but one is past the edge of the lake, flip only the other card).

Example: Resolving Lesson Effects

Before Lesson: the Character's boat sits above the lake, with the fifth Lake Card face up showing fish.

Lesson Effects: a Lesson Card reading "Move 1, 2, or 3" and "Flip" (with flip icons for the space to the left of the character, the space directly under the character skipped, and the two spaces to the right).

After Lesson: the Character has moved to the right end of the lake, and the Lake Card now under the boat is face up showing fish.

Step 3: Check Your Goal

It takes both luck and skill to find the right fish. Let's see if you've met your fishing goal today.

Each character has a unique fishing goal, which typically requires exact numbers of different types of fish on face-up Lake Cards. If a Lake Card does not contribute to the goal, it must be face down.

Example — Zoe's Goal: On face-up cards: 3 S + 2 T.

This lake meets Zoe's goal because exactly 3 S and 2 T fish are visible (other fish on these cards are ignored).

If the lake had face-up cards with neither S nor T fish, it would not meet Zoe's goal.

You must match goal requirements exactly. For example, if the lake had 4 S fish visible, it would not meet Zoe's goal.

Based on the game's difficulty level, you will see if you've met your goal at different times:

• Easy (End of Lesson): Check after activating each Lesson Card and resolving its effects.
• Medium (End of Turn): Check once each turn, after activating and resolving all lessons.
• Hard (End of Game): Check only after activating and resolving all lessons on the last turn (when the deck is empty).

If you meet the goal, see Winning the Game.

Step 4: Draw a New Lesson

Try to recall other lessons to help find the right fish.

If the deck is empty, the game immediately ends (see Winning the Game). Otherwise, draw 1 Lesson Card then begin another turn. If you draw the last card in the deck, you will begin one last turn.

Winning the Game

If you meet the requirements of your fishing goal at the right time (based on your chosen difficulty level), you win the game! If you must draw a card from an empty deck, you lose the game.

Additional Challenges

When you are ready to fish in more difficult conditions, add one or more of the following twists. These may be used at any difficulty level.

Night Fishing: You may replace a maximum of two Lesson Cards throughout the game (you must insert the others into the lesson row). Set replaced cards aside to keep track.

Boat Ramp: During Setup, place your Family Card above the leftmost Lake Card instead of at the center. To win, you must complete your fishing goal, and you must be at that leftmost position when you do so (you may still move across the lake during the game).

Credits

Design: Scott Almes Art: Nivea Toliver Rules Editing: Michael Lee

FAQ and more games at buttonshygames.com