Jan. 29, 2007 Hey! That's My Fish! - Review

Overview
Hey! That's My Fish is a fairly simple 2-4 player game where the objective is to acquire the most fish. The game begins by setting up the game board. The hexes are laid out (face up) in pretty much any layout that players want. The easiest way is to simply lay the tiles out in rows of 7-8. After the board is laid out, players take turns placing their penguin tokens onto different hexes. The number of tokens each player gets depends on the number of players in the game. Fish are printed onto the hex tiles that make up the game board. Each hex has either 1,2, or 3 fish on it. Once everything is setup, players take turns moving their penguins. The penguin must move in a straight line and may not move through any other penguin (including their own). They also may not jump any gap. The player then takes the hex tile which was vacated and places that in their score pile. Because the hexes come off the board, it is possible to cut sections of the board off from the other sections. If a section cannot be reached, it is removed from play. If a penguin is isolated on a hex island, he will likely take most of those tiles. Players need to evaluate their options so that their marker's access isn't cut off from the rest of the board while at the same time, trying to possibly isolate their penguins onto a large area. Once no more moves are possible, players count the number of fish that they have accumulated and the player with the most fish is the winner.
Components
The game comes with only a few basic components - hex tiles with 1, 2, or 3 fish printed on them and 4 sets of colorful wooden penguin shaped markers. The hex tiles are fairly standard cardboard and are sturdy enough to last for many playings. The box insert is fairly simple and not specifically designed to hold the tiles. The box is probably only slightly bigger that it needs to be. The instructions are simple and well done.
Highs- Easily learned by gamers and non-gamers
- Cute looking pieces make this easier to introduce to non-gamers, yet there is enough game here for true gamers.
Lows- When played by experienced players, it'll take longer to setup the game than to actually play it.
- The game is confrontational.
- Colors of the penguins include red and green, making this a non-friendly game for the color blind.
Conclusion
Hey! That's My Fish is a quick light game that plays well with 2, 3, or 4 players. It is simple to learn and still offers good tactical play options. This game works well as filler, with slightly more meat than some other light fillers. This also works well to introduce non-gamers and family members to tactical gaming because it is easy to teach and them theme is friendly and easy to understand. For hardcore gamer, this is probably a pass unless you need to have a game in your collection for playing with family. This is also good game for introducing kids to euro-style games. This one rates a 6.5/10 for me. I'm glad to have it for a quick game, but it is not going to find its way into my regular weekly game stack very often.