Hide & Reef

A game about fishing, and being a fish, and hiding from other fishers.

Alternative names: SelFISH

Setup

Create a random X by X grid on the table. (The tiles are hexagonal, and they show fish, empty water, coral, etcetera)

Place the tiles such that they are flat: there are three neighbors below each tile and three neighbors above it.

For all actions in the game, remember that the board wraps around. You can move off one edge to reappear at the other side.

Pick one player to be the first Fisher.

Objective

Once every player has been the Fisher (once), the game ends. The player with the most points in their pile wins.

Gameplay

Play happens in rounds. Each round, one player is the Fisher, and all the other players are fish. The Fisher tries to catch as many fish as they can, while the others obviously try to hide and flee.

Each round, take clockwise turns, starting with the Fisher. The Fisher will move the hook down into the water, then come back up. When they resurface, the round ends.

What you do on your turn is completely different if you’re the Fisher or Fish. The two sections below explain both.

Fisher

On your first turn, place the Hook tile somewhere at the top (“water level”). You are moving down, into the water.

At any point, you may say “I’m going up!” From that moment, you move up until you’re out of the water. You must say this if you can’t move further down anymore.

On your turn, move the Hook one step in your current direction.

Grab the tile on which you landed and add it to your score pile. (If it’s a stack of tiles, you only get the first one.)

If you cannot move further, but haven’t resurfaced yet, the round ends and you do not score anything.

Fish

On your turn, swap two adjacent tiles with each other. One of them must be movable (“SOME ICON”) => for example, plants are not movable

As expected, if you swap with an unmovable tile, it doesn’t move. Instead, place the other tile below it: they’re hiding behind it.

If there’s a stack of tiles, you only swap the top one.

If you swap with empty space, you get the tile, but must refill that space with a tile from the deck.

IDEA/CRUCIAL: There must be some way to score during your fish turns / prepare for your Fisher turns. This creates conflict of interest and prevents it being too hard for the Fisher.

End of round

Refill the holes in the map with new tiles from the deck.

The Fisher role moves one player to the left.

Tiles/Powers

Simple fixed points (positive or negative)
Combo points (in pairs, or threes, or when combined with other fish in your deck)
Obstacles => you can’t grab this tile, you can’t end on next to this tile, etcetera.
Fisher bonuses/handicaps:
- Move 2 spaces per turn when you’re the Fisher.
- You may say “I’m going down” once to go back down (before you resurface)
- One-time instant use: “Move your hook into the OTHER direction by at most 2 steps”
- “If you’re the fisher, instantly teleport to another tile on the same row.”
Fish bonuses/handicaps:
- When swapping, you may swap the whole stack of tiles (if it is a stack).
- Once per round, you may swap twice in a row.

IDEA/CRUCIAL: Most fish can only be caught when going down or when going up, not both.

EXPANSION/VARIANT: Multiple fishers. Make this more of a traditional game, in which people can choose—every turn—whether they’ll move their hook or swap fish.

EXPANSION/VARIANT: You must go up/can’t move anymore if you’ve collected too many heavy objects. (Many tiles also have a weight, and it cannot exceed 10?)

EXPANSION: Tiles that automatically “sink” or “float”. Place these on top of the map, and the Fisher moves them up/down before their turn.

A game about fishing, and being a fish, and hiding from other fishers. _Alternative names: SelFISH_ ## Setup Create a random X by X grid on the table. (The tiles are hexagonal, and they show fish, empty water, coral, etcetera) Place the tiles such that they are flat: there are three neighbors _below_ each tile and three neighbors _above_ it. For all actions in the game, remember that the board _wraps around_. You can move off one edge to reappear at the other side. Pick one player to be the first Fisher. ## Objective Once every player has been the Fisher (once), the game ends. The player with the most points in their pile wins. ## Gameplay Play happens in rounds. Each round, one player is the Fisher, and all the other players are fish. The Fisher tries to catch as many fish as they can, while the others obviously try to hide and flee. Each round, take clockwise turns, starting with the Fisher. The Fisher will move the hook down into the water, then come back up. When they resurface, the round ends. What you do on your turn is completely different if you're the Fisher or Fish. The two sections below explain both. ### Fisher On your first turn, place the Hook tile somewhere at the top ("water level"). You are moving _down_, into the water. At any point, you may say "I'm going up!" From that moment, you move _up_ until you're out of the water. You _must_ say this if you _can't_ move further down anymore. > On your turn, move the Hook one step in your current direction. Grab the tile on which you landed and add it to your score pile. (If it's a stack of tiles, you only get the first one.) If you cannot move further, but haven't resurfaced yet, the round ends and you **do not score anything.** ### Fish On your turn, swap two adjacent tiles with each other. One of them must be movable ("SOME ICON") => for example, plants are not movable As expected, if you swap with an unmovable tile, it doesn't move. Instead, place the other tile _below_ it: they're hiding behind it. If there's a stack of tiles, you only swap the top one. If you swap with empty space, you get the tile, but must refill that space with a tile from the deck. _IDEA/CRUCIAL: There must be some way to score during your fish turns / prepare for your Fisher turns. This creates conflict of interest and prevents it being too hard for the Fisher._ ### End of round Refill the holes in the map with new tiles from the deck. The Fisher role moves one player to the left. ## Tiles/Powers * Simple fixed points (positive or negative) * Combo points (in pairs, or threes, or when combined with other fish in your deck) * Obstacles => you _can't_ grab this tile, you can't end on _next_ to this tile, etcetera. * Fisher bonuses/handicaps: * Move 2 spaces per turn when you're the Fisher. * You may say "I'm going down" once to go back down (before you resurface) * One-time instant use: "Move your hook into the OTHER direction by at most 2 steps" * "If you're the fisher, instantly teleport to another tile on the same row." * Fish bonuses/handicaps: * When swapping, you may swap the whole _stack_ of tiles (if it is a stack). * Once per round, you may swap twice in a row. _IDEA/CRUCIAL: Most fish can only be caught when going down or when going up, not both._ EXPANSION/VARIANT: Multiple fishers. Make this more of a traditional game, in which people can choose---every turn---whether they'll move their hook or swap fish. EXPANSION/VARIANT: You must go up/can't move anymore if you've collected too many heavy objects. (Many tiles also have a weight, and it cannot exceed 10?) EXPANSION: Tiles that automatically "sink" or "float". Place these _on top_ of the map, and the Fisher moves them up/down before their turn.