FULL REVIEW

Games Magazine – Year's Best Games
John McCallion
December 2003
USA

Everyone has five fish of his color on the 5x5 board. Any remaining spaces contain neutral fish. Contestants have identical hands of 11 cards: Numbers 0, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, two Octopuses, and one Shark. Each turn, you can either eat an adjacent friendly or neutral fish by jumping on it (stacks from as play progresses) or fight adjacent enemy fish stacks (controlled by the top fish). Rivals simultaneously discard one card each. When two numbers are played, the highest total (fish in stack plus card's value) eats its rival. Ties remove both stacks from play. Sharks win against number cards, and two sharks remove both stacks! Nobody eats when Octopuses are played. Attempting to eat is compulsory: You may move over vacant spaces to find an adjacent meal. Remove (to safety) all your stacks when you play your last card. Play ceases when further attacks are impossible. Win with most fish in controlled stacks. There's nothing fishy about our thumbs-up for this game!

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