Fresh Fish Rulebook

Table of Contents

Introduction
Setup
Play
End

Introduction

Each player's goal is to create the shortest total route length to their retail outlets from the common supply centers.

Streets cannot be built directly (until the endgame) but are compelled when needed to keep the network connected.

There are several types of tile:

Streets.
Supply centers: Harbor, Nuclear Power Plant, Oil Refinery, Game Factory.
Retail outlets: Fish Market, Nuclear Waste Disposal, Gas Station, Game Shop.
Optional tiles: Construction Zone, Antinuclear Demonstration.
Other tiles: Apartment, Park, Office. (These are identical for game purposes and are called APO tiles below.)

Money:

Green is 5, orange is 1.

Plots:

A plot with no tile is empty even if it contains a player's reservation marker. A plot with a tile is developed.

Strategy tip:

Distribute your markers on the grid before drawing, to maximize your choices. Since you do not know what tile you will draw, you need to have plots suitable for retail outlets and plots suitable for APOs.

Setup

Prepare a "deck" of tiles in shuffled face-down stacks or a bag, composed of:

One of each retail outlet for each player (total 8/12/16/20 outlets for 2/3/4/5 players).
For 2/3/4/5 players, 8/12/15/19 APO tiles.
Optionally, 1 or 2 Construction Zone tiles and the same number of APO tiles.
Optionally, 1 or 2 Antinuclear Demonstration tiles.

(Retail outlets not used above are out of the game. APO tiles not used above are set aside for after deck exhaustion.)

For 2/3/4/5 players, use a 7x7 / 8x8 / 9x9 / 10x10 area. (Mark borders with face-down surplus retail outlet tiles.)

Place the Harbor in one corner of the grid.

Place the other 3 supply centers:

For a simpler game, in the corners.
For a moderate game, in different quarters of the board.
For a complex game, anywhere.

Give each player 15 money. (The rules suggest 1 green and 10 orange.)

Give each player the 8 markers (small cubes) in their color. Each player keeps 6 as their supply and sets 2 aside.

Select the start player. (The rules suggest the player who most recently dined on fresh fish.)

Select which auction tiebreaker rule to use (see Auctions below).

Play

Play rotates clockwise until all plots have been developed (or players agree the scores are determined).

On each turn, you must either reserve a plot or draw a tile, or, if neither is possible, you must pass.

You may draw a tile only if you have at least one plot reserved.

Reserving a Plot

Place a marker from your supply in an unreserved empty plot orthogonally adjacent to a tile or any player's marker.

Exception: Each player's first reservation may be in any unreserved empty plot.

Drawing a Tile

Draw a tile from the deck. If the deck is empty, you may choose a previously set-aside APO tile or a street tile.

If the tile is an APO or a street:

Place it in one of your reserved plots and take your marker back for your supply.
After placing the tile, place streets as required by Expropriation, below.

If the tile is a retail outlet:

Auction it per below.
If you do not win the auction, start your turn again. (You may reserve or draw.)

If the tile is an Antinuclear Demonstration:

Place it in one of your reserved plots and take your marker back for your supply.
(Antinuclear Demonstration tiles are streets but score as 3 because they slow traffic.)

If the tile is a Construction Zone:

Place it on top of an existing APO.
If there is no APO on the board, put the Construction Zone tile aside and place it on the next APO placed.
Any player may build an APO on a Construction Zone instead of on one of their reserved plots.

Auctions

Only players who do not have the retail outlet being auctioned may bid.

(The last outlet of each type will be won by the sole eligible player with a zero bid.)

Each bidder places their bid in their hand, concealed.

When all bidders are ready, reveal all bids simultaneously.

The high bid wins. Ties are decided:

Author's original rule: First to the current player (who drew the tile), then clockwise. (This deters a player from drawing before they have good reservations since they may be stuck with the tile.)
Translation error rule: First to the player left of the current player, then clockwise (ending with current player). (This could let a player force a tile on other players before they are ready.)

The winner pays the bank and puts the tile in one of their reserved plots, under their marker, which stays on the tile.

If the winner has no reserved plot, they keep the tile off the board. (It will be scored as the maximum length.)
If it is their first or second retail outlet on the board, they move one of their set-aside markers to their supply.
After placing the tile, place streets as required by Expropriation, below.

Expropriation

It must always be possible to connect all supply centers, retail outlets, empty plots, and streets by streets. Therefore:

Any empty plot whose development would prevent a supply center, retail outlet, empty plot, or street from being connected to others on the board must be expropriated.
If an expropriated plot contains a player's marker, return the marker to the player's supply.

A street tile is placed on each expropriated plot. One tile placement may cause many plots to become streets.

Expropriation is automatic and immediate and is not a player action.

APO tiles do not need to be connected.

End

The game ends when all plots have been developed (or players agree the scores are determined).

Score four routes for each player, along street tiles from each supply center to its corresponding retail outlet:

Each street tile counts 1. (A route must use at least one street; an outlet adjacent to a supply does not score 0.)
Each Antinuclear Demonstration tile counts as 3.
For 2/3/4/5 players, the maximum score for each route is 8/10/12/14.

Total each player's route scores and subtract their money. (The result may be negative.)

Lowest score wins. Ties are won by most money. (Further ties are broken by arm wrestling.)