Fresh Fish
Fresh Fish Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 7 game boards (back side for Fresh Fish "classic")
- 84 paths/streets
- 55 coins: 50x "1", 5x "5"
- 4 parking lots for delivery trucks
- 4 delivery trucks
- 20 market stalls (4 each in 5 player colors)
- 18 flea market tiles
- 20 stall tiles
- 18 flea market tables
- 1 sticker sheet for market stalls and delivery trucks
- 30 reservation discs (6 each in 5 player colors)
Before the first game
- Carefully punch out all the tiles from the frames.
- Place the matching stickers on the market stalls and delivery trucks: a) Each of the four market stalls of a player color get a different sticker, so each color gets one market stall for fish, soda, cheese and ice cream. b) Each delivery truck gets the matching colored stickers. Place the bigger sticker on the top of the truck and the two smaller stickers on the sides.
Goal of the Game
In Fresh Fish you try to build your market stalls as close as possible to the matching delivery trucks on a huge market square. A delivery of goods directly from the delivery truck into the market stall is not allowed; there must be at least 1 path between them. Unfortunately the competition between the traders is quite intense, so you will block each other from the shortest paths with your market stalls. Additionally neutral flea market tables will get in the way, too.
To secure the prime spaces for your market stalls you must buy the stall tiles cheaply at an auction. But if you bid too little and lose the auctions you may later get a space much further away.
At the end of the game you add all the paths between your market stalls and the delivery trucks and subtract the saved coins from this sum. The player with the lowest value wins the game - he offers the freshest goods to his customers!
Preparations
Preparing the market square
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Depending on the number of players take a certain number of game boards - check the table below. You always choose from all 7 game boards, so each game of Fresh Fish will offer you new challenges. Place the chosen game boards with the front side face up as compactly as possible next to each other to create a market square. Most of the time you cannot place the game boards in a rectangle, so some spaces will protrude at the edges. This is intentional!
# of players # of game boards 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 The other game boards are not required and should be placed back into the game box.
The game boards are segmented in several areas, and each area has 3 to 5 spaces. Each area shows a number on a signpost, either "1" or "2". Additionally, this signpost shows the position of the space inside the area - this is the middle space of the area. Next to the signpost is a circular reservation space for a single reservation disc. During the game you place your reservation disc on this circular space.
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Choose four areas at the outer edge of the market square, each showing a "1" (for 2 players this may affect the choice of game boards). Place a parking lot on one of the edge spaces. Place paths on the other spaces of these areas, so the chosen areas are all completely covered with tiles.
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Afterwards place the delivery trucks on the matching parking lots. Each delivery truck shows the same symbol as the matching parking lot - fish, soda, cheese or ice cream.
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Place the other paths/streets next to the market square.
Preparing the draw stack
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Each game board shows a small mile stone with a number of 2 to 5. You will need as many flea market tiles as the sum of the numbers on the mile stones of the chosen game boards, adjusted based upon the number of players. With 2 players, take 1 flea market tile less than the total, with 3-4 players, take 2 less, and with 5 players take 3 less. Sounds a little bit complicated, but it is very important for a tight final outcome of the game. The result is the number of flea market tiles you lay out for the draw stack.
Example: In a game for 3 players your market square shows the mile stones 5, 3, 3 and 3. Subtract 2 from the sum of 14, so you lay out 12 flea market tiles.
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Place the same number of flea market tables next to the market square. During the game you need exactly one flea market table for each flea market tile.
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For each player lay out a set of four different stall tiles - one each of fish, soda, cheese and ice cream. During the game each player will place one market stall of each type on the market square. Shuffle one set and place the four stall tiles face up in a single row next to the market square. You will place these tiles last in the game.
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Afterwards shuffle the remaining stall tiles together with the flea market tiles and place them as a face down draw stack on the left side of the row with four face up stall tiles. During the game you will place the tiles of the draw stack first.
Example: After laying out the 12 flea market tiles for your 3 player game you take 3 sets of stall tiles. You shuffle one set and place the 4 stall tiles face up in a row. You shuffle the remaining 2 sets of stall tiles together with the 12 flea market tiles.
The other flea market tiles and stall tiles are not required and should be placed back into the game box.
Preparing your own components
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Each player takes 4 market stalls and 6 reservation discs in one color and takes coins of a total value of 15: 10 coins of value "1" and 1 coin of value "5". Place these components in front of you as a personal storage. During the game, you try to place the 4 market stalls as close as possible to the matching delivery trucks, you reserve spaces with the discs and use the coins to be able to place your market stalls earlier than your opponents. During the game you may keep your coins hidden from the other players.
With less than 5 players the other market stalls, reservation discs and coins are not required and should be placed back into the game box.
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The player, who most recently visited a weekly market is the starting player. Now the game begins!
Playing the Game
Beginning with the starting player you take turns in clockwise order. Each time it is your turn, you are the active player and choose one of the two following actions:
a) Reserve an empty space b) Draw a tile from the draw stack. After placing the tile on the market square, you need to check immediately, if you AUTOMATICALLY need to place paths on the market square!
a) Reserve an empty space
With this action you reserve the best spaces on the market square. Take one of your reservation discs from your storage and place it on an empty space of the market square. You must choose an empty space horizontally or vertically adjacent to a path and/or a reservation disc of any player (including your own). A space is considered empty, if there is no other reservation disc of any player, no path tile, no delivery truck, no market stall or no flea market table on that space.
As starting player, you must place your reservation disc adjacent to a path during your very first turn. The second player already has the choice to place adjacent to a path and/or adjacent to the starting player's reservation disc.
b) Draw a tile from the draw stack
With this action you either block the other players by placing flea market tables or you try to buy the desired stall tiles for your market stalls via an auction.
To choose this action, you must have at least one reserved space. (The more reserved spaces you have, the better for you!) If all your reservation markers are in your storage, you must choose action a) and reserve an empty space on the market square.
Draw the topmost tile from the draw stack. There are two types of tiles:
1) A flea market tile
You MUST place the flea market tile on one of your OWN reserved spaces on the market square. Take your reservation disc back into your storage and place one of the flea market tables waiting next to the market square on top of that tile. That way you sadly lose one of your reserved spaces. But usually you can annoy the other players by blocking them with the flea market table.
2) A stall tile - this will be auctioned!
The stall tile shows one of the four goods - fish, soda, cheese or ice cream. All players, who still have the matching market stall in their storage, join the auction for this tile. All other players, who already bought such a stall tile, must pass for this auction.
Each player joining the auction chooses an amount of money and takes the appropriate number of coins in his closed fist - you may choose 0 coins.
Before the start of an auction you can exchange your fiver into 5 coins of value "1". Take care, so you do not accidentally bid your fiver.
After all players have decided, reveal your bids. Only the highest bidder pays the amount he bid; remove the coins from the game. All other players keep their coins. In case of equal bids (even if all players bid 0 coins), the tie is resolved in favor of the active player. If he is not part of the tie, the next tied player in clockwise direction wins the auction.
The highest bidder takes the stall tile and MUST place it on one of his OWN reserved spaces on the market square. He takes his reservation disc back into his storage and places the matching market stall on top of the stall tile.
If you get a stall tile without having any reserved space on the market square, you must place the stall tile next to the market on the table and place your market stall on top of it. This game, your market stall is outside the market square!
If you win the auction as active player, the next player in turn order takes his turn. If another player wins the auction, you take another turn and choose a new action. You may again choose between the two possible actions.
A player must pass on an auction in the rare situation near the end of the game if he has no reserved spaces and there are no empty spaces on the market square. Only then you must pass during your turn. To avoid this disadvantage, take care to reserve enough spaces during the game.
Friedemann's tip: At the start of the game you should reserve spaces. Once you have 5 or even 6 reserved spaces you may draw your first tile. As you are forced to place flea market tiles on your own reserved spaces, you should have a nice selection to choose from. And the best spaces for your market stalls are not safe, as you need to bid for the matching stall tiles against your opponents.
AUTOMATICALLY: Placing paths!
The management strictly oversees that the market square does not get too crowded, so you frequently lose reserved spaces. Directly after action b) you need to check, if you must place paths on the market square. This is independent of a player placing a flea market table or a market stall on the market square.
If the number of built flea market tables and/or market stalls on spaces of this area equals exactly the number of the area, you MUST place paths on the remaining spaces of the area. All players with reservation discs on these spaces must take them back without any substitution and place them into their storage.
During the game your market stall may be blocked, so that there is no direct path between your market stall and the matching delivery truck.
If this happens, you may place streets outside of the market square to get a connection. The streets are placed directly adjacent to the market square, at the edge of the game boards. At the end of the game each street counts twice during the scoring!
Game End
After drawing the last tile from the draw stack and placing it on the market square, distribute the last four stall tiles in the displayed order from left to right. The player, who still has the matching market stall in his storage, must place the first stall tile compliant to the rules and if necessary fill the remaining spaces of the area with paths. In this way, you place the other stall tiles, too. The players do not pay for these tiles, as nobody else is bidding for them.
Finally you fill all remaining empty spaces of the market square with paths.
Scoring
Each player counts the paths between his four market stalls and the matching delivery trucks. The shortest distance is 1 path tile - a delivery of goods directly from the delivery truck into the market stall is not allowed. If a player must use streets, each of these street tiles counts as two path tiles! (Using a path counts twice!)
Depending on the number of players there is a maximum length. If a market stall is further away from the delivery truck or has no connection at all to the delivery truck (all paths are blocked or the market stall stands outside of the market square), you ignore the additional paths.
| # of players | maximum path length |
|---|---|
| 2 | 8 tiles |
| 3 | 10 tiles |
| 4 | 12 tiles |
| 5 | 14 tiles |
After adding up all paths, you subtract the remaining coins from this sum. The player with the lowest score wins the game!
Scoring example for 3 players
The rulebook illustrates scoring with a worked diagram for a 3-player game, showing each player's market stalls, their path distances to the matching delivery trucks, and their remaining coins.
Green has a score of 6: +10, +1, +2, -9. Green was unlucky and needed to place his cheese stall on the other side of the market square.
Yellow finishes with 5: +1, +8, +1, -6. Yellow wins the game!
Blue finishes the game with a score of 11: +1, +6, +6, -3.
Variant - Fresh Fish "Classic"
In 1997 we released the predecessor of this game with the name "Fresh Fish" as well. You play this classic version on a game board, which is not separated into different areas. You only create a single, connected path network. During the game, all empty spaces and all paths need to be linked, so at game end all market stalls and delivery trucks are connected by a single path network.
The resulting game is much more pretentious. Many players have problems visualizing the development of the paths.
In this variant we present all necessary game rules, so you can play a modern version of the classic game. All prior rules of Fresh Fish are in effect, with the following changes.
Preparations
Preparing the market square
Use the backside of the game boards without any separate areas. Thus you get an extensive market square, whose spaces only show a circular reservation space.
Choose any four spaces of the market square and place 1 parking lot on each space. We recommend to choose four spaces at the edge of the market square. Please check the rules below for placing paths! Depending on the position of the parking lots, already you may need to place paths on the market square.
Place the remaining paths next to the market square. You do not need the backside with streets for this variant!
Preparing the draw stack
You'll find a small mile stone on each game board showing a number between 2 to 5. Depending on the number of players you need a certain number of flea market tiles. Count the numbers of all mile stones, the sum matches the number of flea market tiles you need for the draw stack.
Playing the Game
The first turn of each player is different and the automatic placement of the paths follows completely new rules.
Reserving an empty space
During the first turn each player may reserve ANY ONE empty space on the market square. From the second turn onwards you again must choose empty spaces adjacent to paths or reservation discs of any player.
AUTOMATICALLY: Placing paths!
Directly after action b) you need to check, if you must place paths on the market square. This is independent of a player placing a flea market table or a market stall on the market square.
THE GOLDEN RULE: During the game, all empty spaces and all paths need to be linked, thus each market stall and each delivery truck has at least one access to the path network. Flea market tables do not need access to paths!
You must place a path on a space, when placing a flea market table or market stall would result in two separate path networks.
You need to check for two possibilities:
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Each delivery truck and each market stall must have access to at least one path. When the second to last adjacent space is built on, you must place a path on the last adjacent space. Flea market tables do not need access to paths. If a player reserved the affected space, he must take the reservation disc back without any substitution and place it into his storage.
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All paths and all empty spaces must be linked. You may not place a market stall or flea market table on a space, when placing them would result in two separate path networks. Instead you must place a path on this space. If a player reserved the affected space, he must take the reservation disc back without any substitution and place it into his storage.
Impacts for the path lengths between market stalls and delivery trucks:
Placing market stalls or flea market tables on the market square may have a big impact on the path lengths between market stalls and delivery trucks. The rulebook illustrates this with an example: Green places a flea market table resulting in the automatic placement of two paths. Following rule 1, the delivery truck needs a path. Following rule 2, there must always be a single network of paths. The path lengths for the fish stalls change as follows: 12, 12, 7, 1. A good move for Green!
Credits
© 2014 2F-Spiele
Author: Friedemann Friese Illustration & Graphics: Harald Lieske Editing of English rules: Nikki Pontius Realisation: Henning Kröpke
2F-Spiele, Fedelhören 64, 28203 Bremen, Germany Contact: [email protected] www.2f-spiele.de