Hey, That's My Fish Review: Grab all the fish before the ice breaks

•0•0Comment iconComment iconComment iconComment icon

The ice is breaking up, and the area for catching fish is getting smaller and smaller. Here's the challenge: with your penguin family, catch as many fish as you can before other penguin families grab them and leave you stranded. The competition will be fierce. "Hey, that's my fish!"

Writer image

Translated byAntonio Carlos

Writer image

Revised byAntonio Carlos

Edit Article

Real Life Penguins

It's a fact, penguins are competitive! Penguins really do compete for fish in limited areas. When the ice breaks up, they need to move quickly to reach schools of fish before they disappear - after all, the ice is constantly changing.

Penguins moving between ice blocks
Penguins moving between ice blocks

In Antarctica, sea ice breaks up and melts according to the season. This forces penguins to adapt their hunting routes, similar to the mechanics of the game Hey, That's My Fish!. This creates a real risk of isolation, just like on the board, and penguins can become trapped in smaller ice floes, making it difficult to return to their group or the open sea.

Therefore, a natural strategy emerges: they tend to move in groups and choose areas with a higher concentration of fish, reminiscent of the logic of "running to the hexagons with more fish" in the game.

Finally, it's clear that the game is a playful metaphor for the struggle for survival in Antarctica, where the simplicity of the rules contrasts with the strategic depth, making it accessible to families and challenging for experienced players.

Let's get to know Hey, That's My Fish!

Hey, That's My Fish - Game Info

Hey, that’s my fish! is a game for 2 to 4 players, ages 8+, designed by Günter Cornett and Alvydas Jakeliunas. The artwork is by François Bruel, Sylvain Decaux, and Bernd Natke.

Game Box
Game Box

Hey, that’s my fish! was released in 2003 by Bambus Spieleverlag, but today it is distributed by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG). Its main mechanics are: area control, grid movement, modular board, hexagonal grid, and map reduction.

Game Components
Game Components

Since 2005, the game has been frequently nominated for and won awards.

Here are some of its accolades:

- In 2005 it was nominated for the Meeples Choice Award;

- 2006 was a busy year! It was nominated for Best 2-Player Game, Best Family Game, Best Children's Game, and Best Party Game, all of these by Golden Geek;

- Also in 2006, it was recommended as Spiel der Spiele (Game of Games) for Families and also for the Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year). It was a finalist for Game of the Year and, to close out 2006, it was nominated for and won the award for Best Foreign Game for Beginners by the Japan Boardgame Prize;

- In 2012, it was nominated for Best Family Game by Årets Spill and Lucca Games.

Let's get to the game!

Playing the Game

Your penguins must race across the rapidly dwindling ice floe to collect the juiciest fish and block off their rivals. But your penguins better stay alert! If a penguin gets stuck on an ice floe, he’s done.

Seemingly simple, your goal will be thwarted by devious penguins and an ever-shrinking game board. What strategy will you construct to bypass the competition?

That's the scenario for Hey, that's my fish!

First, let's familiarize ourselves with the game components:

- Ice Floe Tiles;

- Penguins;

The ice floe tiles are hexagonal in shape and form the game board, as they are placed side by side forming a kind of square where the game will be played. They contain the fish that need to be caught, and come in 3 values: 1 fish, 2 fish, and 3 fish, meaning there are only 3 types.

Ice Floe Tiles
Ice Floe Tiles

The penguins are certainly a highlight. They come in 4 colors, as the game is for up to 4 players, but each player's penguins are unique, even between the same color. They have different shapes, all evoking the "rush" involved in catching fish in an inhospitable environment.

Penguins
Penguins

Now let's talk about the game's Setup:

- Shuffle the ice floe tiles face down;

- Turn them over and arrange them in 8 rows (1st row with 7 tiles, 2nd row with 8, 3rd row with 7, and so on alternating);

- Each player takes a number “x” of penguins that varies according to the number of players;

- Starting with the youngest player and proceeding clockwise, each player now places one of their penguins on an empty ice block token that contains only 1 fish (repeat this until the players have placed all their penguins).

2-Player Setup
2-Player Setup

A turn has basically 2 steps:

- move a penguin;

- collect an ice block token.

To move a penguin, simply choose one of your penguins and move it. Easy, right? Well, there are a few rules:

- the penguin can only move in a straight line, in any of the 6 directions of the hexagon, through empty ice floe tiles;

- the penguin cannot change direction during movement;

- if there is another penguin in the way, it cannot pass through it;

- the penguin cannot pass through empty spaces.

Visual explanation of the movements
Visual explanation of the movements

After your penguin moves, it's time to collect the ice floe tile from where your penguin started, and keep it in front of you. Simple as that!

Collecting the Ice Floe Tile
Collecting the Ice Floe Tile

After moving one of the penguins and collecting the fish, it is now the turn of the player to their left.

Each player must move one of their penguins during their turn. If they cannot, because their penguin is "stranded" in a dead-end corner or in a smaller block that only their penguin can access, they collect all the fish from that block and remove that penguin from the board.

Blue penguin is stranded
Blue penguin is stranded

That's a turn of Hey, that's my fish!

Ending the Game

The game continues until no penguin has any more possible moves, then it's time to collect the penguins and the fish from the correspondent ice tiles. Any uncollected ice floe tiles won't be counted, since no player has them.

End of the Game
End of the Game

Now all players add up the fish collected on their ice tiles. The player with the most fish wins!

If there is a tie, the player with the most ice floe tiles wins. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.

Strategy Tips

Hey, that’s my fish! is about quick collection and encircling your opponent! And it's this simplicity that generates so much strategy; the possibilities are endless, and this is key to the game's success.

The strategy starts during the setup, as we have to place our penguins on ice floe tiles that only have 1 fish. So far, so good, since everyone has to follow this. But since the game board is also randomly assembled, meaning no two games are the same, there's no way to "memorize" the best places to put your penguin.

It's necessary to plan your strategy during the setup, meaning you have to map out in real time the best place to put your penguins. But the million-dollar question is: what are the best places?

Here are some tips:

- Don't place yourself in the corners, as it will be easy for an opponent to block you and eliminate your penguin from the game;

- Try to place yourself more in the center of the board;

- Try to place your penguins, if possible, near tokens with 3 or 2 fish, so you can try to "dominate" that area.

Even with these tips, it won't be easy to get everything, and this is due to the fact that, during setup, players place their penguins alternately, meaning it becomes increasingly difficult to find a good place to put your penguin. So as I mentioned, it is simple, but not without strategy.

Okay, after setup, it's time to move a penguin, and this is where you reveal your plan, because you can only move in a straight line, and where your penguin goes will indicate your strategy to all players.

Another important tip is to always try to isolate an opponent's penguin, that is, leave it "stranded" in a corner, or in a small block with few fish to collect. This guarantees one less competitor. It's not simple, but it's always good to try to combine fish collection with surrounding the opponent; this is the "perfect scenario".

For the heavy gamers out there, regarding the availability and variety of fish to be collected:

- 30 tiles with only 1 fish;

- 20 tiles with 2 fish;

- 10 tiles with 3 fish.

Based on this, pay attention to the opportunities, devise your best collection and encirclement strategy, don't make life easy for your opponents, and win in Hey, that's my fish!

Unboxing, Rules, and Gameplay Videos

Unboxing:

Rules:

Gameplay:

Pedagogical Tips

If you're looking for a portable game in a small box, easy to teach and play, with beautiful components that will capture children's attention and create many fun moments, Hey, that's my fish! is your game!

Right away, the kids will be "drooling" over the game's box art, which is very fun and hints at what's to come during the game.

Game Box
Game Box

Upon opening, they'll find miniature penguins in funny situations collecting and "fighting" for fish. They're quite cute, fun, and reminiscent of the competitive moments in the game.

The random nature of the setup will already be fun, as they'll be "mapping" where there are more fish. It will be exciting to see them pointing with their little fingers to the best opportunities to catch fish. Let them enjoy and have this fun setup.

After that, it will be the decisive moment for them, about where to start, after all: "it's always good to be, at least, near where there are 3 fish". It's amazing how everyone seeks this, and, in a way, they're not wrong. Let them make their best choices. This is important and gives them autonomy and confidence.

Afterwards, it will be all fun and laughter, celebrating their catches, surrounding some friends, in other words, good moments to remember.

Hey, That's My Fish! provides all of that, but beyond the fun, children have the opportunity to exercise important skills, namely:

- resource management: managing the movements of their penguins;

- strategy: to know where to move their penguins;

- decision-making: deciding which penguin to move;

- logical-mathematical reasoning: to calculate how many fish they collected.

Pedagogically, Hey, That's My Fish! addresses resource management, stimulates strategy, decision-making, logical-mathematical reasoning, and on top of that, it's fun!

I recommend Hey, That's My Fish! for your collection!

Send your news

Topics

fish boardgame fantasy flight games bg
Telegram logo

Hi, we have a community in Whatsapp! Come talk to us about Board Game here!