Flip & Fish
Flip & Fish Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 90 x Fishing deck cards (blue deck), including:
- 17 x trophy fish
- 68 x regular fish
- 5 x boots
- 20 x Shopping deck cards (orange deck)
- 1 x Instruction booklet
- 1 x D12 dice
- 4 x Jetty/player aid cards
Objective
Win the game by catching the required number of trophy fish:
- 2 player game: 3 trophy fish
- 3 or 4 player game: 2 trophy fish
Trophy fish have a medal on the top right corner. Regular fish have a dice (top right) showing their bait rating.
Set up
a) Shuffle the fishing deck to create a face down draw pile to the side of the table.
b) Shuffle the shopping deck to create a separate face down draw pile next to the fishing deck.
c) Draw the first 5 cards from the fishing deck and place them face down grouped together in a pattern of your choice (see suggested example layouts under Example layouts). Try to keep the cards roughly the same distance from each player. The cards in the middle are called the water.
d) Place a jetty card in front of each player.
e) The player who last went fishing starts the game. Otherwise, the player who last ate fish. If you don't fish and don't eat fish, why buy a fishing game?
Table set up for 2 players: the shopping deck and fishing deck sit side by side, each player has a jetty card, and five face down fish are placed in the water in a loose pattern between the players.
Player turn
On your turn, you can choose only one of the following actions:
- Fish (try to catch a fish from the water)
- Shop (collect an equipment card once the fishing shop is open for business)
- Gear up (flip a used equipment card, readying it for use)
Play continues clockwise after each player's turn.
Action – Fish
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Announce bait, if using any (see Using bait).
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Cast your line: roll or flick the dice from on or over your jetty card towards the cards in the water, the dice must make a full revolution to count.
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Measure the distance from where the dice landed to the closest card in the water, using the ruler provided on your player aid card:
- Bite: If the card is within the length of the ruler, flip this card face up if face down. If your dice roll number is lower than the catch rate of this fish (top left), the fish got away. Leave it face up in the water.
- Catch: To catch a fish you must get a bite, and your dice roll must be equal to or higher than its catch rate.
- Miss: If the card is not within the length of the ruler from the dice or if this card is a boot, end your turn as you did not get a bite.
Aim to stop the dice within the length of the yellow part of the ruler from a card.
- Any caught fish are placed face up in front of you.
Using bait
During the fish action you can use any fish you have caught with a bait rating (top right) to increase your dice roll.
To use caught fish as bait, announce which fish you are using before you roll (maximum of 3 bait fish per turn), then cast your line and measure the distance to the closest card as per usual.
You will then add the total bait rating from the nominated bait fish to your dice roll. If at least one of your bait fish is the same colour as the biting fish, add an additional 2 to the dice roll (this effect doesn't stack). All used bait fish are kept on a miss, and discarded to the fish discard pile if you do get a bite whether you catch a fish or not.
Example: in this example 4 from bait fish and +2 for the blue colour match = a bonus of 6 to the roll rating.
Replenish fish
- If at the end of any player's turn all cards in the water remain flipped face up, discard all cards from the water to the fish discard pile and replace them with a new set of 5 face down cards from the fishing deck in a pattern of your choice (whether or not that last fish was caught, or even if it is a boot).
- If there are still face down cards in the water, replace only missing cards with new face down cards from the fishing deck to a maximum of 5 cards.
Remember to replenish the water at the end of every player's turn (see End turn check). This keeps the water and the game fresh and exciting!
When the fishing deck runs out, shuffle the fish discard pile and create a new fishing deck.
Action – Shop
Open for business! The fishing shop is open after the first trophy fish is caught. At the start of the next player's turn, set up the shop by displaying the first 3 cards from the shopping deck face up in a row.
Example layout for the shop, once it is open for business.
You can then visit the shop to purchase (collect) one equipment card on your turn, instead of fishing. You may select from the available face up cards, or select the top card from the shopping deck (lucky dip) and place it face up in front of you. When an equipment card is collected from the shop, it must be replaced face up with the next card from the shopping deck.
Stocktake
During the shop action, if you don't like the 3 displayed cards in the shop, you can choose to restock the available equipment cards. To do so, discard any one fish that you have caught as payment (except Carp) into the fish discard pile, then discard the 3 shop equipment items to the shop discard pile and replace them with the next 3 cards from the shopping deck. You may now elect to purchase one of the new displayed equipment cards this turn.
When the shopping deck runs out, shuffle the shop discard pile and create a new shopping deck.
Using equipment
Normally, you may use as many equipment cards as you choose, but only during the fish action. However, note that some equipment cards must be played as the only action that turn, which means no fishing either! When this is the case, the cards will start with: 'As your only action…'
Flip equipment cards have a blue background, discard cards have a red one and ongoing have green.
There are 3 types of equipment cards, and they are activated as follows:
- Discard: activate and discard card to shop discard pile
- Flip: activate and flip the card face down after use, it must be geared up to be used again (see Gear up action)
- Ongoing: always active as long as the card is owned
When an equipment card is discarded, place it in the shop discard pile.
Action – Gear up
Instead of fishing or shopping, you can gear up (flip face up) up to 2 equipment cards that have been used in a previous turn (flipped face down). To do so, declare that you are gearing up your equipment cards and flip them face up, readying them for use in future turns.
Example of a player using the gear up action. Player decides to flip face up the Spear and Flashlight equipment cards, so they can be used on a future turn.
Card limits
You can only collect a maximum of 5 fish and 3 equipment cards. At the end of your turn, if this limit is reached, discard excess cards into the fish or shop discard piles as required (Carp can't be discarded in this way).
Example of full equipment and fish card limits.
End turn check
At the end of every turn, you should also check the following items, explained in more detail throughout the instructions:
- Check the water, replenish the fish if required (see Replenish fish)
- Check card limits, discard excess cards if required (see Card limits)
- Play continues clockwise
Special rolls
Snag: when a 1 is rolled:
- Instant miss, can't catch a fish this turn
- Do not flip over any cards
- Discard all bait used this turn
- Discard one equipment card of your choice
- The next player can't use fishing action due to tangled lines (3+ player game)
Strike: if your dice lands flat on a card, without touching the playing surface:
- Add 2 to your dice roll this turn, as long as you did not roll a snag
Fish abilities
Fish abilities are game changing events that can happen throughout the game. The abilities can be triggered automatically, or activated by players, depending on the ability and activation type:
- On flip: activates when the fish is flipped face up and before the roll is calculated
- Once caught: activates after the fish is caught
- On miss: activates every time the fish bites but is not caught
- While in water: activates if fish is not caught when it first bites, remains active while card is face up in the water
Make sure you read the cards carefully as forgetting to follow an ability could cost you. If you catch a fish without following an active ability and another player calls you out, shuffle that card back into the fishing deck and end your turn.
Example: Pufferfish, On flip: when the Pufferfish is first flipped face up, all other cards in the water must be discarded and replaced with new face down cards.
Example layouts
Here are some example layouts for the water to get you started, but this is by no means a full list. We encourage you to explore different patterns and enjoy the game in new, exciting ways that you create!
The booklet shows six example water layouts as diagrams (1 to 6), which are not reproduced here.
End of the line
You now know everything you need to play Flip & Fish. So tight lines, our fishing friends! We hope you become... the Flipping Master.
Glossary
- Bite - (during fish action) the closest card to the dice is within the ruler distance, and is not a boot
- Casting your line – (during fish action) roll or flick your dice from over your jetty towards the water
- Catching a fish - (during fish action) getting a bite, and having a dice roll equal or higher to the fish catch rate
- Dice roll – the number you have rolled on your dice this turn, plus any bonuses from bait, equipment or a strike
- Fish abilities – events and actions written on fish cards, can be activated by players or are automatically applied (read the individual abilities for details)
- Fish action – announce any baits and equipment used, cast your line trying to catch a fish in the water
- Fish discard pile – the communal pile where all discarded fishing deck cards are placed, shuffle to create a new fishing deck when it runs out
- Fishing deck – blue backed cards, the fish and boots in the water
- Flip & Fish – the best game on the planet
- Flipping Master – what you could become, if you get really good at the game
- Gear up action – flip face up 1 or 2 face down used equipment cards, readying them for use
- – non-trophy fish, most can be used as bait to help you catch other fish, including trophy fish