Let Them Eat Shrimp! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Basic Game
  • Set-Up
  • Playing the Game
  • Placing a Tile
  • Taking an Action
    • Action 1: Fish Eggs -- Take New Fish Tiles
    • Action 2: Starfish -- Roll the Die for Gain
    • Action 3: Shark -- Roll the Die for Loss
  • Game End
  • Scoring
• Advanced Game
  • Set-Up
  • Playing the Game
  • Turn Order
  • Actions
    • Action 3: Shark -- Roll the Die for Loss
  • Game End
• Variants
• FAQ
• Basic Game Summary
  • Set-Up
  • Taking Turns
• Advanced Game Summary
  • Set-Up
  • Taking Turns
  • Covering a Shark
  • Scoring Summary

Components

• 3 Double-Sided Board Pieces
• 140 Fish Tiles: 35 each in 4 shapes
• 5 Shields
• 5 Player Mats (advanced game)
• 1 Black Pawn (advanced game)
• 1 Fish Die
• 35 Egg Tokens
• 35 Shrimp Tokens

Basic Game

Set-Up

1. Place 3 board pieces (4-5 players) or 2 pieces (2-3 players) together to form the "board". The pieces are joined along their long sides.
2. On each board piece, drop 1 triangle-shaped fish tile & place it into the space nearest to where it rests. These are the "starting tiles."
3. Give each player a shield.
4. Give each player 3 egg tokens.
5. Give each player 4 fish tiles: 1 of each shape.
6. Each player places their tiles & egg tokens behind their shields, so each player can only see her own supply.
7. Place the remaining fish tiles in a general supply near the board.
8. Choose a starting player.

Playing the Game

Players take turns beginning with the starting player. On her turn, a player places 1 fish tile & takes any required actions resulting from the placement. Players take turns in a clockwise manner until a game-ending event.

Placing a Tile

On her turn, a player takes any fish tile from behind her shield & places it on the board according to these rules:

The fish tile must be placed next to another fish tile on the board, so that at least 1 side of the placed tile touches at least 1 side of another tile. Touching only on the points is not allowed.

Each board space fits 1 triangle, so each shape must cover the appropriate number of spaces, e.g., the hexagon covers 6 triangle spaces.

If a player has no fish tiles in her supply to play, she returns 1 of her egg tokens to the supply & takes any tile of her choice, which is then played to the board.

If it is a player's turn to place a fish tile and she has neither a fish tile to place nor an egg to trade in for a fish tile, she is knocked out of the game. If a player is knocked out, the other players continue until a game-ending event.

Example 1. Illegal Placement: The hexagon is only touching the triangle by its point, so it is not allowed. Legal Placement: One side of the hexagon is touching the side of the trapezoid, so this is a legal placement.

Taking an Action

By placing the fish tile, the player may cover 1 or more of the sea creatures on the board. Depending upon what is covered, the player performs 1 or more of the following 3 actions. If the player performs more than 1 action, she does so in this order:

1. Fish Egg/Shrimp: Take Fish Tiles/Shrimp
2. Starfish: Roll the Die for Gain
3. Shark: Roll the Die for Loss

Note: If a player's fish tile covers no sea creature, the player ends her turn & takes no action.

Action 1: Fish Eggs -- Take New Fish Tiles

If the fish tile covers a fish egg and/or a shrimp, the player takes the corresponding type of fish tile and/or shrimp from the supply. Any time a player takes a new fish tile or shrimp, she places it behind her shield.

Example 2. Player A covers both a diamond-shaped egg & a hexagon-shaped egg, so she takes both a diamond & hexagon fish tile from the supply & places them behind her shield.

Action 2: Starfish -- Roll the Die for Gain

If the fish tile covers a starfish, the player rolls the fish die and takes 1 of the following actions:

• If the rolled die shows a fish shape, the player takes the corresponding fish tile from the supply.
• If the die shows a starfish, the player takes a fish tile of her choice from the general supply.
• If the die shows a shark, the player receives nothing.

Action 3: Shark -- Roll the Die for Loss

If the fish tile covers a shark (or part of a shark), the player rolls the fish die & takes 1 of the following actions:

• If the die shows a fish shape, the player takes a fish tile from behind her shield & returns it to the general supply. In this case, she must return the type of fish tile shown on the die.
• If the die shows a shark, the player returns a fish tile of her choice.
• If the die shows a starfish, the player loses nothing.

If a player is unable to return the required fish tile to the supply, she must return 1 of her egg tokens. If she has no egg token to return, she is knocked out of the game.

Note: Simply losing a final egg token does not knock a player out, but she is knocked out only if she needs to return an egg token, but has none.

In the extremely rare case that a player is unable to take a fish tile because no tiles of that type remain in the supply, the player does not receive the fish tile.

Game End

The game ends in 1 of 3 ways:

1. All players except 1 are knocked out. The remaining player wins. Remaining placement is based upon who was knocked out the latest; those lasting longer place higher.
2. At the start of a player's turn, if there is no legal way to place a hexagon fish tile, the game immediately ends. It does not matter whether the player wishes to place a hexagon fish tile or not.*
3. At the start of a player's turn, if there are no sea creatures (excluding sharks) showing on the board, the game immediately ends.

If the game ends in the 2nd or 3rd way, players calculate their scores (see Scoring).

*Note: the game can still end in the 2nd way even if there is a space large enough for a hexagon fish tile. In rare cases, there is a space on the board for a hexagon shape, but no legal way to place it (e.g., it could only fit by touching only its points to another tile). In such a case, the game still ends.

Scoring

If the game ends in the 2nd or 3rd way, players calculate their scores as follows:

• Each set of 4 different fish tiles scores 5 pts.
• Each set of 3 different fish tiles scores 3 pts.
• Each set of 2 different fish tiles scores 1 pts.
• Each fish tile may be used only once.
• Remaining tiles of the same type = 0 pts.
• Each shrimp scores 2 pts.
• Each egg token may be used as a "wild" (i.e., as any fish tile) to complete a set, but do not exchange the egg token for the tile, as the eggs will be used for breaking ties.

In case of ties, the player with more remaining fish tiles (i.e., those not counted in a set) wins the tie.

If still tied, the player with the most egg tokens wins the tie.

If still tied, the player with the most shrimp wins the tie.

Scoring Example. 5 + 5 + 1 + 0 + 6 = 17

Advanced Game

The advanced game uses the same rules with the following changes:

Set-Up

Each player takes a player mat & places it in front of herself.

The starting player takes the pawn, which is used to indicate the starting player for the round.

Playing the Game

The game is played in a series of rounds. At the beginning of each round, all players take 1 fish tile of each shape from their personal supply & place the fish tiles on their respective player mats.

When taking a turn, a player will take 1 fish tile from her mat and place it on the board in accordance with the normal placement rules. A round ends when each player has taken four turns, having placed each 1 of the four fish tiles on their mats.

If, at the start of a round, a player is unable to put 4 different fish tiles from her supply onto her mat, she must return an egg token(s) to the general supply in exchange for the missing fish tile(s).

As in the basic game, a player is knocked out of the game if unable to pay a required egg token.

Example 3. At the start of a round, player A has no hexagon fish tiles. He moves the 3 other fish tiles from behind his shield to his mat. He then pays 1 egg token to take a hexagon fish tile from the general supply, which he then places on his mat.

Turn Order

As in the basic game, each player takes turns placing 1 fish tile in a clockwise manner. In contrast to the basic game, there is a different starting player for each round. After all players have played their 4 shapes in a round, the player to the left of the previous starting player takes the pawn & begins a new round. (Note: in a 2-player game, this means that the player ending a round will be the first to play in the next round, i.e., two turns in a row.)

Actions

The first 2 actions remain the same, but there is a change to the 3rd action.

Action 3: Shark -- Roll the Die for Loss

If a player covers up a shark (or part of a shark), she must roll the die for each covered triangle space that contains part of a shark. For example, if the fish tile covers up 2 triangles containing a shark part, she must roll the die two times. The consequences of rolling the die are the same as in the basic game, except that a shark roll requires the loss of an egg token and a starfish roll requires the loss of a tile of the player's choice. A roll showing a fish tile shape requires the loss of that kind of fish tile, as in the basic game.

Game End

The game-ending triggers are the same as in the basic game, however, in the advanced game it is possible (though unlikely) that all remaining players are eliminated at the start of a round because they lack the necessary fish tiles or eggs. If this occurs, those players do calculate their scores to determine final placement.

If the game ends because there is no legal placement for a hexagon fish tile or because no sea creatures except sharks remain showing, all fish tiles remaining on a player's mat are returned to that player's own supply. Scores are then calculated as in the basic game.

Variants

• For a longer game with 2-3 players, add a 3rd board piece.
• For a game with less luck, do not use the die. When covering a starfish, the player receives a fish tile of her choice. When covering a shark, the player loses a tile of her choice.
• Start with 5 egg tokens per player. When covering a shark, the player does not roll the die, but loses an egg token.
• After covering a starfish, if the player rolls a starfish, he gains an egg token.
• Play without the shields, so there is no hidden information.

FAQ

Q. What happens if I do not cover any sea creatures at all? A. You neither lose nor gain anything. Your turn just ends.

Q. Is there an easy way to remember the difference between the consequences for rolling for gain (starfish) and for rolling for a loss (shark)? A. Yes. The starfish always provides the better result. So, when rolling for gain, the starfish gives you a tile of your choice, while the shark gives you nothing. When rolling for a loss, the starfish allows you to lose nothing, while the shark forces you to lose a tile of your choice.

Q. Should the player mats be visible to all players in the advanced game? A. Yes, they must remain visible.

Q. I have no more egg tokens, does this mean I am knocked out? A. No. You are only knocked out when you need to give up an egg token, but have none.

Q. When a player is knocked out, does this mean he automatically loses? A. Yes, except in the rare case that all players are knocked out simultaneously (in the advanced game) at the start of a round. In this case, all players knocked out at that time calculate their scores to determine placement.

Basic Game Summary

Set-Up

Use 2 board pieces for 2-3 players; 3 board pieces for 4-5 players. Each player receives:

• 3 egg tokens
• 1 fish tile of each shape
• 1 shield

Taking Turns

Place 1 fish tile from personal supply. Place tiles next to other tiles (cannot touch only at points). If you have no fish tile to place, exchange an egg token for a tile.

If the fish tile covers a ...

• fish egg: take fish tile from general supply;
• starfish: roll the die for gain;
• shark: roll the die for loss.

If rolling for both starfish & shark, roll for starfish first.

If rolling for a starfish and the die shows a...

• fish tile: take the corresponding fish tile;
• starfish: take any fish tile;
• shark: take nothing.

If rolling for a shark and the die shows a...

• fish tile: return the corresponding fish tile;
• starfish: return nothing;
• shark: return any fish tile.

If a player needs to return a fish tile and cannot, she must return an egg.

If a player needs to return an egg, but cannot, she is knocked out of the game.

Advanced Game Summary

Set-Up

Each player receives a player mat. Starting player takes the pawn.

Taking Turns

The game is played in rounds. The starting player of each round takes the pawn. The pawn is passed clockwise at round end. In a round, players take turns placing 1 fish tile from their player mat until mats are empty, ending the round.

At the next round's start, all players replenish player mats from their own supply. If lacking a required tile, return an egg(s) for required tile(s).

Covering a Shark

When covering a shark, roll the die for each triangle space covered containing a shark part.

If rolling for a shark & the result shows a...

• fish tile: return corresponding fish tile;
• starfish: return a fish tile of your choice;
• shark: return an egg token.

Scoring Summary

• 4 different fish tiles = 5 pts.
• 3 different fish tiles = 3 pts.
• 2 different fish tiles = 1 pts.
• Remaining tiles of same type = 0 pts.
• Each Shrimp = 2 pts.
• Egg token = wild