Diger's List
Digest Number 2342
May 2004
USA

I must admit that the components and graphics of this Out-of-the Box release of a Reiner Knizia design were a bit of a put-off for me.  My initial impression was that of a light, "fluffy" game, one that wouldn't interest me very much.  However, I began hearing some remarks indicating that the game possessed a nasty edge and was quite brutal.  So, perhaps there was more here than I initially gave it credit for.

After obtaining a copy, my concern grew when I spotted the starfish token that appeared to be a character from the Sponge Bob Square Pants cartoon. The abundance of vicious-looking fish tokens, however, began to soothe my fears.  Maybe this was going to be a game with some teeth.

Each player possesses five stackable fish, each designed to fit atop another.  A 5x5 grid is superimposed onto the board, and the fish are placed on to the dots at the intersections of the squares.  The object of the game is to eat as many opposing fish as possible, while avoiding being eaten.

The game has a strong "bluff" element, normally a mechanism of which I am not very fond.  Each player also receives an identical deck of cards, with each deck containing "fish" cards with values ranging from 1 - 5, as well as two octopus cards and one shark.  Players will play through their deck once, and it is important to try to track the cards each player has already played, particularly the sharks and octopi.  Normally, I have no desire to track or"count" cards.  I find the experience to be mentally taxing and just too much work.  Here, however, one really only need keep track of three cards per player.  Even I can handle that!

A player's turn is quite simple.  He MUST either attack an adjacent fish, or move one of his fish to a vacant space and then attack an adjacent fish ... even if that adjacent fish is one of his own.  If neither of these two actions is possible, the player must move a fish to a vacant space so that it can be attacked by another player on a subsequent turn.  This is NOT a kind and gentle game.

To attack, the player places the cutesy starfish token between his attacking fish and the defending fish.  Each player then simultaneously plays one of their cards.  They each add the value of the card played to the number of fish in their stack.  The player who has the greatest total gobbles the other fish and places his fish on top of the defeated fish.  This creates a 'stack' of fish.  The more fish in a stack, the more formidable it is in encounters.

What about ties?  If there is a tie, both stacks of fish are removed from the board and are out of the game.  Ouch.

A stack can contain no more than five fish.  If a stack ever contains more fish, the excess are removed by the player controlling the stack and kept as victory points.  Thus, gobbling large stacks of fish so you can secure the excess is a wise idea . IF you have the cards to win in battle.

But what are those sharks and octopi for?  A shark always wins a battle . provided the other player also didn't play a shark.  In that event, a tie results, meaning both stacks of fish are discarded.  The shark card is VERY powerful, but each player only possesses one.  The lesson:  use it wisely. An octopus results in a standoff, with no fish being removed, but any cards played being discarded.

The game ends when only one player has fish remaining on the board.  He removes his fish (along with any stacks he controls) and places them in his victory point"catch".  The player with the most fish in his victory point 'catch' is victorious.

Although the game has a definite "cutesy" appearance that may be a put-off some gamers who are into beefier entrees, these fish have teeth.  "Attack" is the name of the game (well, Fish Eat Fish is the actual name, but you know what I mean!), something that should appeal to those who have the 'let me kill something' mentality.  Yet, the game is easy enough to learn and the combat doesn't require in-depth knowledge of military strategy or involve countless dice-rolling on statistical charts.  Combat here involves simple cardplay, with a healthy dose of bluff.

Bluff?  Sure.  Which card do you play in a battle?  Do you set things-up so that your opponent thinks you will be playing a high-valued card, hopefully forcing him to play a high valued card or perhaps even his shark?  Setting up situations wherein your opponent thinks you will play one card, but you play another…or forcing your opponent to play a higher valued card…is part of playing the game skillfully.

I was pleasantly surprised by Fish Eat Fish.  The game has more bite than I had pre-supposed.  Although I'm not normally a fan of "bluff" elements in a game, the mechanism fits well here.  Even though the mechanics are the same on each player's turn, it doesn't have chance to grow stale as the game plays quickly - 20 to 30 minutes at most.  That's just about perfect for the type of game it is…a decent choice for opening or closing an evening of gaming, or filling in between two longer games.

Spouey, Kurt, Jason, Jerry and I swam the perilous seas, attempting to become the big fish in the pond.  Several players used all of their challenge cards and were forced to sit out the remainder of the game, but this actually proved beneficial to Kurt and I as we managed to collect seven fish each in our victory point stack.  Unfortunately, Jerry mistakenly believed that Jason had already played his Shark, and on the final climatic battle, lost his large stack of fish to Jason's shark.  This gave Jason 7 fish, and since he won the final battle, he gained possession of the starfish token, which was the tie-breaker.      

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