Hey, That’s My Fish!
Hey, That’s My Fish! is an engaging, award-winning board game of strategic fish hunting, in which 2-4 players control determined penguins hungry for their next meal on a bustling Antarctic ice floe. Since Hey, That’s My Fish! was originally published in 2003, it has become widely popular as an engrossing and strategic board game for casual family and tactical play.
Hey, That’s My Fish! includes 60 hexagons to create your ice floe with new artwork renditions of fish, 1 rules sheet, and 16 newly sculpted colorful and animated penguin miniatures. Can you waddle your way to dinner? Secure the best fishing ground with Hey, That’s My Fish!
Digital Version:
Fantasy Flight Games has made a digital version of this game that works on iOS devices, Mac OS X and Android!
Check it out! >
User Reviews (10)
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I found a copy of Hey, That’s my Fish at a local bookstore on a clearance table for just $5.00. I recalled the title from some game reviews I had browsed. I also saw the Fantasy Flight Games logo on the box, so I knew I couldn’t go wrong for five bucks! The components consist cardboard ice tiles and molded plastic penguin figurines. They are brightly colored and feel sturdy.
The biggest surprise was the size of the components. The box is roughly 12 x 12 x 2 inches, which would suggest it is an average sized game. But the inside of the box contains an insert which divides the box into roughly three equal sections. All the components fit into the center third of the box.
Setup involves arranging hexagon ice tiles in a roughly circular area. So I set up the hex shaped ice tiles, placed the penguins, and I was ready to play. The game is easy to learn, and it requires a fair amount strategy in trying to get the most fish. No reading is required, so even young players can enjoy Hey, That’s my Fish. The game takes 10-15 minutes and supports 2-4 players.
The design is simple and effective, but one frustrating aspect of the game is that players are required to remove tiles as they claim them. Often these tile are interior tiles, and they require care in lifting them without upsetting the other tiles.
The smallish tiles make keeping the game neat and tidy a chore. This is a rare instance where a digital version could be an improvement over the tabletop, and here is why. The “board” is continually changing, as players move their pawns and remove the tiles they claim. An electronic version would eliminate the unwanted shifting in the tiles.
Perhaps the original, larger version (out of print) of Hey That’s My Fish will be reprinted. I think larger, thicker, and heavier pieces would make the game work more smoothly. It is a surprisingly simple and fun game that would likely benefit components that were easier to handle and manipulate. I still enjoy and play my copy, and it only cost me five dollars. How can I complain?
Hey, That’s My Fish! is a quick abstract strategy game that plays 2-4 players. Really, though, the 2-player game is different enough from the 3-4-player game that its almost like two games in one. The rules aren’t any different (only the number of penguins per player changes), but the play experience very much is.
For 2 players, Hey, That’s My Fish! is a solid positional strategy game, as you move your penguins around to block your opponent onto smaller and smaller bits of the ice. It is luck free past the initial setup, and rewards advanced planning and careful, aggressive play. Think Chess, but with penguins and a hexagonal board.
With 3-4 players, the game becomes much more chaotic, as other players’ actions can ruin the best-laid plans. This might be expected to lead to a lot of politicking, but in my experience it doesn’t, just because the game is so short and light that it doesn’t seem worth it to start negotiating. Instead, it becomes a light filler – quick, easy, fun, yet still with some strategy to think about. You have to play much more defensively, worrying less about blocking others and more about not getting blocked yourself.
So the 2-player and the 3-4-player games are very different, but both are fun. 2-player is better, of course, but we also play it quite often with 3-4. It is the perfect game to whip out while waiting for something longer to start; short, but not mindless like some other games that get “filler” billing. It is this utility that makes it one of our most-played games.
(Note – I have the Mayfair version, so my rating of the quality of the components for this version is irrelevant, but the system forced me to choose something).
This is an older game that has recently received a reprint by Fantasy Flight Games. And by this you can be sure of one thing: great components! They have tokens for everything and plastic molds of other things that aren’t really needed. And now with a reprint of Hey, that’s my fish, it just proves my point further.
The game is very easy to learn, even for a younger audience. The board is actually just loose tiles which are randomly placed so that is makes a symmetric pattern. Each tile has fishes on them from 1 to 3 fishes. The game starts with all players placing a penguin on a tile, one by one, and only on tiles with 1 fish on it.
A game turn consists of 1 thing only: move a penguin. It’s that simple. But here’s the catch: when you move a penguin off a tile, that tile is removed from the game and placed in your score pile. No penguin may cross there any more. Also: no penguin may cross another penguin. So the placement and moving of your penguins is heavily decided on how you also want to hinder your opponents!
This game is a lot better with 3 or 4 players than it is with 2. You never know whom to trust or who will stop you the most. And before it’s your turn again, a lot can happen since the game board is fairly small. This way, the game is both deep and shallow, since you may manipulate other players with table talk, or you can just wait until it’s your turn and do what you feel for at that moment.
Pros:
– Nice components with strong colors
– Funny looking figures
– Encourages rematches
– Fast played
Cons:
– Long setup-time
– Prone to analysis paralysis
Hey, That’s my fish, Fantasy Flight edition.
Unboxing.
Light, that’s the first word that springs to mind. For a box almost as big as the Talisman box there is a distinct lack of weight! The reason for this shall soon become apparent.
The artwork on the box is well done and in keeping with the humorous nature of the game within and the usual FFG vinyl effect is present too giving the box a good sturdy feel.
When opening the box the reason for the weight issue become apparent, FFG seem to have begun shipping fresh air around in their boxes! The contents would easily fit inside a box half the size, if not smaller, the card insert to hold the components takes up more room than they do! But this is only a minor quibble (if a daft one).
The rules are simple and well presented on a double sided page explaining the simple, but addictive, game format of move, take fish, win game. Bonus points there for not using an unnecessary amount of paper for such a simple concept unlike some games companies.
The ice flow tiles are of the same sturdy vinyl effect card as the box so they will stand up to a lot of play without damage.
The penguins themselves are brilliant! Quite small but well sculpted, molded in an assortment of amusing poses (my favourite being the one raging into the sky!)
Gameplay.
The game is simplicity itself to play and takes seconds to set up, in fact it took me longer to get the box open than it did to set the first game up!
The rules are so simple that a full group of four were taught the rules before turn two of the first game and were penguin strategists extraordinaire by the third!
A fantastic way to spend ten minutes or many hours afloat on the ice and I would recommend this to any and all as a brilliant and inexpensive game for all tastes, from the hardcore to the casual.
9/10 and well deserved.
Hey, That’s My Fish! is a wonderful little family friendly game that plays great with 2 or 3. It appears to handle 4, too, but I haven’t tried that yet.
For your $12 you get a small box with 60 little hexagon cardboard tiles, each one depicting ice and 1, 2, or 3 fish. You also get 4 adorable little penguin minis in each of 4 colors.
The game play is fast and smooth. You lay out the 60 little tiles randomly in alternating rows of 7 and 8. Then you take turns placing penguins (4 each for 2 player, 3 each for 3 player, 2 each for 4 player) on 1-fish hexes. After the penguins are all placed, you take turns moving them. Penguins move, queen-like, as far as they wish in straight lines, stopping only for opposing penguins or voids in the ice. After you move a penguin, you take the hex it had been standing on and add it to your score pile.
So at game start the network of hexes looks more or less like:
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
After you move from your hex you take the tile you’d been standing on, thusly, where the “-” signifies a void:
. . . . . . . .
. . . – . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
And after taking a bunch of turns the board starts to look like this:
. . – . . – . .
. – . . – . – –
– . – . – – – .
. – . – – . . .
And penguins get separated from each other and trapped on different bits of the ice, each trying to gather as much fish as possible while using the board-destruction mechanic to isolate the opponent’s penguins on small ice-islands.
The two player game is very abstract and chess-like. After the initial harvest of some of the tiles the game very quickly turns into a battle to limit the opponent’s available space, constantly seeking the zugzwang that will force your opponent to move backward instead of forward.
The three player game is very different and much more friendly to my 8 year old. There’s a lot more give and take with opponents not coordinating in any meaningful way, so you have more space in which to harvest the more valuable tiles before it becomes time to look for ways to clip your opponent’s wings.
So. I have two kids: a 12 year old intense gamer, and an 8 year old who is just not that interested. They both like this game, which is a big plus in my book. And it plays very fast, maybe 15 minutes for the 3 player, which is also a big plus because you know how it is finding time to do anything.
The downside is the little cardboard chits are annoying. They’re small, and there are a lot of them, and they aren’t much to look at. And setup takes awhile, though not as long as some others have suggested.
For $12, it’s just silly not to have this game. In this price range there’s Zombie Dice, which gets old fast, Bang!, which needs a lot of people and a lot of time, Forbidden Island, which is coop and needs a lot of time, and Fluxx, which I despise. So at this price point this might be the most complete game I own.
This game is super accessible for all ages. My 4 year old demoed this game at CHI-TAG this year and loved it so much that he had to have it (over Catan Jr. and Mario Chess).
The set up is simple line the tiles up alternating 7 and 8 until you run out. Each tile has from 1 to 3 fish on it. The goal is to have the most fish and you win. There are two main ways to accomplish this task, 1, after you move your penguin from a space that tile is yours, and 2, “break off” a piece of iceberg. Once all pieces of a chunk are separated from the rest of the board you collect all the pieces.
This game is literally easy enough for my four year old but can have some pretty cut throat strategy components. We have loved the game and truly enjoy playing.
Pros
– easy to set up and easy to play
– helps the younger crowd start to develop strategy
– quick and fun!
Cons
– often a two player game ends in a tie
Overall we love the game and have played it quite a few times.
Yes, I admit, I did buy this game because it has penguins. But it is a ton of fun, too! This is one of the fastest learning games I have ever come across. It only has two steps – move penguin, pick up fish. I do agree that the game has a different feel depending on the number of players. With two players, it is much more of a strategy game, but with four, it is basically a free-for-all and plays even faster. In fact, it goes so fast that it takes longer to set up the tiles than to play the game. This is the only drawback. It is fun, competitive, and with its small size, easy to take along.
I first played this game at a gaming club that I run at the school I work at. One of my students got it as a birthday present and brought it to the club eager to give it a try.
I have to say that at first I had my doubts about the game. While the production quality was the usual top notch level that most have come to expect from Fantasy Flight I initially thought that rules were a little too simplistic.
After a few play throughs I realized that this was not the case. Packed into this neat little game was a surprising amount of room for strategy and skill. I liked the game so much I went out and bought it for my iPad!
Players move their penguins in straight lines to other ice floes so they can collect the fish on them. The spot your bird just left is removed from the board, hopefully cutting off your opponents from getting more fish than you.
This is an easy game to play and teach. Setup isn’t to long and its a nice filler between heavier games. I’ve only played this four player, but with less players you get more figures to move around. Considering the low price, its a great addition to any gamers collection.
-Chip
We played a few rounds last week at a Boy Scout game night. Everyone liked it, but the arrangement of the hexes gets shuffled up a lot. We spent a lot of time pushing stuff back into place. But overall – it’s a green light. (Mine is the tiny version – maybe the bigger one doesn’t get pushed out of shape so easily.)