Game: Hey! That's My Fish!

Thread: Re: Idea for Penguin Counters

ideogram — 2008-10-12T10:39:05+00:00

There's an entire store devoted to penguins???

Thread: Re: Idea for Penguin Counters

BigD145 — 2008-10-12T05:33:06+00:00

Daiso has wooden penguins sold by the pair.

Image

rsolow — 2008-10-11T01:31:46+00:00

Deluxe Box Cover

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

KenToad — 2008-10-09T02:32:48+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
KenToad wrote:
Wow, thank you. This is exactly what I wanted to say. And I'm glad I didn't give up on the thread during that overextended punny dialogue above.

I agree, Ian...I happen to think the setup time for H!TMF! is not that big a deal.

I apologize for the pun thing getting started...just couldn't help myself for continuing that thread...

As a matter of fact, I'm....having....a....hard....time....resisting....needling....you....about....it....even....now.

Get the point? (Yeah, I know, I'm just a knit-wit.)

A friend of the family is punny, as well. People usually groan when he comes up with some really bad ones. Maybe puns are more irritating to hear repeatedly than to read repeatedly, because I found a few of your comments funny.

But it was hard for me to spend so long waiting for a serious response to the OP's bizarrely negative review of H!TMF!, because I really like the game. (Of course, he explained himself later and I thumbed that.)

Download and print the setup board from the files here on BGG. Then just throw the entire pile of hexagons onto the board and push them into place, takes about half a minute.

Oh, yeah, and if a game takes five minutes, then probably someone just doesn't like the game or isn't giving it a chance. Chess can go that fast, too, if someone really just doesn't want to play.

It's a 20 minute game, if you care to give it a little thought. As a filler for four people waiting for the next game to begin, it's one of the best.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T21:31:00+00:00

tada wrote:
Chicken.

Why are you egging me on?

I tried to write a haiku about chickens, but I never was good at poultry.

And now a little diversion:

Farmer has problems

There was once a very influential farmer in a remote part of China, who had a problem. His chickens were losing their feathers and dying. H sought the counsel of the two wise men in town, Hing, who was scientist, and Ming, who was a sorcerer.

Hing, who has had man advanced course hours in poultry science, consults the classic text in poultry disease, "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Diseases of Chickens, But Were Afraid to Ask." In the book Hing finds a reference to the report of a study showing that feeding the chickens with an infusion of gum tree leaves is often a remedy for chickens losing their feathers. Meanwhile Ming reads obscure writings of ancient wise men, he meditates, and he reads tarot cards and examines the entrails of a pig. Getting no inspiration he uses his old standby, reading tea leaves. In a spark of discovery, it comes to him that an infusion of gum tree leaves is the cure.

So the two wise men report back to the influential Chinese farmer. Ming says, "As gum sticks to tables and chairs, so shall an infusion of gum tree leaves make feathers stick to chickens." Hing agrees, saying "Studies show that infusions of gum tree leaves alleviate feather loss in chickens." The influential Chinese farmer is ecstatic, for the two wisest men in town are of a single mind. He decides to follow their recommendation. It does not work.

Moral of the Story: "All of Hing's courses and all of Ming's ken couldn't get gum tea to feather a hen."

Yeah, I know....really fowl. (And no, I didn't write it.)

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

tada — 2008-10-08T20:53:00+00:00

Chicken.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T20:48:19+00:00

tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
No puns included, I swear.

Chicken.

Bacon.

Francis.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

tada — 2008-10-08T20:38:56+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
No puns included, I swear.

Chicken.

Bacon.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

ideogram — 2008-10-08T20:02:42+00:00

I would say most of the strategy is in the initial placement, the game tends to accelerate as it goes on, kind of like Through the Desert.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T19:30:17+00:00

tada wrote:
No puns included, I swear.

Chicken.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

tada — 2008-10-08T17:28:32+00:00

My games always lasted about 20 minutes, of course playing by the actual rules. The only way this game can take 5 minutes to play would be for everyone to rush their moves without any concern about strategy which would make it a total random mess. This game demands thoughtfulness in your choices of movement, unless young kids are playing, then it would be more of a toy than a game. Maybe because of the theme people think it is a child's game that requires no mental effort or tactical decisions, therefore the fast player turns. I'd suggest trying it with adults that all want to win the game despite the cute penguins and pretty ice floes.

No puns included, I swear.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

Genghis — 2008-10-08T14:44:59+00:00

eightbit wrote:
When you place your penguins at the beginning do you have to place them on one fish tiles? I must have missed that rule, we always place them anywhere we want which is usually on a 3 tile.
I missed that rule as well. Initial placements must be on one fish tiles.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T14:38:21+00:00

russ wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
I apologize for the pun thing getting started...just couldn't help myself for continuing that thread...

As a matter of fact, I'm....having....a....hard....time....resisting....needling....you....about....it....even....now.

Get the point? (Yeah, I know, I'm just a knit-wit.)
Sew just when the puns seemed clothed down successfully, the looming danger of warped jokes returns...

Iron-ic, isn't it, that such a pressing matter would be made light of, I hope the original poster doesn't get steamed over this, I never meant to offend hem.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

eightbit — 2008-10-08T13:58:59+00:00

If one person sets up the tiles it can take a few minutes. If everyone pitches in and helps line them up it takes a minute.

When you place your penguins at the beginning do you have to place them on one fish tiles? I must have missed that rule, we always place them anywhere we want which is usually on a 3 tile.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

feldmafx — 2008-10-08T13:08:52+00:00

I also agree the setup is not a big deal; our games last 15-20 minutes.

It is much simpler to teach than chess and "cuter" than either chess or Blokus, and multiplayer. That makes a difference when it comes to bringing in new gamers or kids. Blokus is multi-player, but generally is seen as a "math" game which can be a turn-off.

My experience is that it is (or can be), like a lot of abstract strategy games, very thoughtful. I don't know how many times I have seen someone playing to fast and realize, suddenly, that they were locked into a corner because someone else was thinking a little more.

Hive seems to be a good blend of the best attributes, but it is 2-player.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

russ — 2008-10-08T12:55:59+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
I apologize for the pun thing getting started...just couldn't help myself for continuing that thread...

As a matter of fact, I'm....having....a....hard....time....resisting....needling....you....about....it....even....now.

Get the point? (Yeah, I know, I'm just a knit-wit.)
Sew just when the puns seemed clothed down successfully, the looming danger of warped jokes returns...

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T12:12:14+00:00

KenToad wrote:
Wow, thank you. This is exactly what I wanted to say. And I'm glad I didn't give up on the thread during that overextended punny dialogue above.

I agree, Ian...I happen to think the setup time for H!TMF! is not that big a deal.

I apologize for the pun thing getting started...just couldn't help myself for continuing that thread...

As a matter of fact, I'm....having....a....hard....time....resisting....needling....you....about....it....even....now.

Get the point? (Yeah, I know, I'm just a knit-wit.)

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

zeeb13 — 2008-10-08T07:04:56+00:00

russ wrote:

Indeed, I think the amount of thought one puts into a game (any game, not just HTMF) is often affected by how the other player(s) are treating the game. If everyone else is playing very fast, the one slow person can feel implicit pressure to hurry up, even if no one explicitly complains. Similarly, if everyone else is making thoughtful careful moves, the player who's reacting on fast autopilot may realize that they're getting their ass kicked and decide to slow down and think a little more.

I think that this is the main difference I've come across when playing the game compared to the experience you've had. Having played with more non gamers they tend to spend less time thinking about their decisions.

I think that very much like your Chess comparison that a game of Chess against these same types of players would be less strategically involved, would take less time and would be ultimately less fulfilling.

I might just have to seek out some more hardcore gamers to get the full force of the Hey! TMF! experience.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

russ — 2008-10-08T06:24:01+00:00

zeeb13 wrote:
How long do your games take to play?
I haven't formally measured but I would say more like 15 or 20 minutes typically, depending on how seriously we're playing. I can say with certainty that it's never taken more time to set up than to play!

Cause I think for a game to take longer than five minutes you'd have to spending an awful lot of time thinking about your moves.
Thinking about the moves would be the main reason, yeah.

I have the feeling if you're playing with one player who is taking seconds to make their next move that that will force others to take less time with their decisions.
Indeed, I think the amount of thought one puts into a game (any game, not just HTMF) is often affected by how the other player(s) are treating the game. If everyone else is playing very fast, the one slow person can feel implicit pressure to hurry up, even if no one explicitly complains. Similarly, if everyone else is making thoughtful careful moves, the player who's reacting on fast autopilot may realize that they're getting their ass kicked and decide to slow down and think a little more.

I think the comparisons to Chess are a little off though, but then again I may just be missing all the strategic depth and decision making that Hey! That's My Fish! seems to offer.
I didn't mean to imply that it's as deep as Chess, just that like Chess, there really is some depth to it, and that if one player is making their moves in just a few seconds, they will lose to a player who takes a little more time to analyze the situation.

I have no idea actually how strategically deep HTMF is compared to Chess, or how easy it would be to make a good computer AI for it (one possible measure of how "strategically deep" a game is), but I can say that HTMF is a variation of Amazons, a game that's received a fair amount of analysis in the combinatorial game theory literature and which is not considered a trivial or easy game.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

zeeb13 — 2008-10-08T05:59:39+00:00

russ wrote:
I sea this has sunk into puns...

But seriously, the persistent criticism that it "takes as long to set up as to play" is just bizarre to me, and I really can't imagine it being literally true. A lot of people are either really incompetently slow at laying out tiles, or really carelessly fast players. 5 minutes to play the game? Man. It's analogous to playing Chess or Go or any other strategy game on fast autopilot - it can be great fast crazy adrenalin fun, and if you enjoy it that way, cool, but it's also missing out on a lot of strategic depth and interesting decision-making.

How long do your games take to play?

Cause I think for a game to take longer than five minutes you'd have to spending an awful lot of time thinking about your moves. I have the feeling if you're playing with one player who is taking seconds to make their next move that that will force others to take less time with their decisions.

I think the comparisons to Chess are a little off though, but then again I may just be missing all the strategic depth and decision making that Hey! That's My Fish! seems to offer.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

KenToad — 2008-10-08T05:38:05+00:00

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

russ — 2008-10-08T05:25:37+00:00

I sea this has sunk into puns...

But seriously, the persistent criticism that it "takes as long to set up as to play" is just bizarre to me, and I really can't imagine it being literally true. A lot of people are either really incompetently slow at laying out tiles, or really carelessly fast players. 5 minutes to play the game? Man. It's analogous to playing Chess or Go or any other strategy game on fast autopilot - it can be great fast crazy adrenalin fun, and if you enjoy it that way, cool, but it's also missing out on a lot of strategic depth and interesting decision-making.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T04:09:59+00:00

Shadowen wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

OK, I'm up to the gills with this comedy stuff.

Oh I don't know, I kind of find it a-luring myself, but then again, I may be crossing the line with that one. Perhaps this thread should be a-bait-ed, but then again, one good worm deserves another, so I could probably easily change my tuna.

Whew!

That's it! No more fish jokes!
I'm off for some wrestling, so I can try to pin Gwen.

Just don't knock her on her ice!

Sure, I'll be nice and just go with the floe.

You really crack me up! This is really getting out of hand with all the to-and-froze.

This is just the tip of the ice berg. There'll be waves of puns coming soon.

You guys are giving me a haddock. I might have to call the cods on you.

Sounds like you've already played all your cods.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

Shadowen — 2008-10-08T04:06:55+00:00

tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

OK, I'm up to the gills with this comedy stuff.

Oh I don't know, I kind of find it a-luring myself, but then again, I may be crossing the line with that one. Perhaps this thread should be a-bait-ed, but then again, one good worm deserves another, so I could probably easily change my tuna.

Whew!

That's it! No more fish jokes!
I'm off for some wrestling, so I can try to pin Gwen.

Just don't knock her on her ice!

Sure, I'll be nice and just go with the floe.

You really crack me up! This is really getting out of hand with all the to-and-froze.

This is just the tip of the ice berg. There'll be waves of puns coming soon.

You guys are giving me a haddock. I might have to call the cods on you.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T03:08:38+00:00

tada wrote:
Yeah, we need to keep things in balance.
Wheel talk at you later.

Touche!

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

tada — 2008-10-08T03:05:56+00:00

Yeah, we need to keep things in balance.
Wheel talk at you later.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T03:00:56+00:00

Well, I could go on and on, but it's late, so I'm just going to go....

Nope, no pun here...

I LOVE puns...I worked with a fellow for 6 years who was a master of the art of puns, he could just spew them out without even thinking about it. Anyway, he bounced puns off me 5 days a week for 6 years, and I really grew to love puns....

Anyway, this thread is really getting long, especially the quote boxes, so I'm going to have to give in and retire. (It HAS been a goodyear though.)

Sorry, I probably should not have tread there, I'm sure something will stem from it. I'm just flat out tired.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

tada — 2008-10-08T02:47:09+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

OK, I'm up to the gills with this comedy stuff.

Oh I don't know, I kind of find it a-luring myself, but then again, I may be crossing the line with that one. Perhaps this thread should be a-bait-ed, but then again, one good worm deserves another, so I could probably easily change my tuna.

Whew!

That's it! No more fish jokes!
I'm off for some wrestling, so I can try to pin Gwen.

Just don't knock her on her ice!

Sure, I'll be nice and just go with the floe.

You really crack me up! This is really getting out of hand with all the to-and-froze.

This is just the tip of the ice berg. There'll be waves of puns coming soon.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T02:39:15+00:00

tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

OK, I'm up to the gills with this comedy stuff.

Oh I don't know, I kind of find it a-luring myself, but then again, I may be crossing the line with that one. Perhaps this thread should be a-bait-ed, but then again, one good worm deserves another, so I could probably easily change my tuna.

Whew!

That's it! No more fish jokes!
I'm off for some wrestling, so I can try to pin Gwen.

Just don't knock her on her ice!

Sure, I'll be nice and just go with the floe.

You really crack me up! This is really getting out of hand with all the to-and-froze.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

tada — 2008-10-08T02:33:36+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

OK, I'm up to the gills with this comedy stuff.

Oh I don't know, I kind of find it a-luring myself, but then again, I may be crossing the line with that one. Perhaps this thread should be a-bait-ed, but then again, one good worm deserves another, so I could probably easily change my tuna.

Whew!

That's it! No more fish jokes!
I'm off for some wrestling, so I can try to pin Gwen.

Just don't knock her on her ice!

Sure, I'll be nice and just go with the floe.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T02:26:43+00:00

tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

OK, I'm up to the gills with this comedy stuff.

Oh I don't know, I kind of find it a-luring myself, but then again, I may be crossing the line with that one. Perhaps this thread should be a-bait-ed, but then again, one good worm deserves another, so I could probably easily change my tuna.

Whew!

That's it! No more fish jokes!
I'm off for some wrestling, so I can try to pin Gwen.

Just don't knock her on her ice!

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

eightbit — 2008-10-08T02:15:34+00:00

It's a great game to play with kids. My 6 yr old is starting to get cutthroat and planning moves ahead to drown my penguins.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

tada — 2008-10-08T01:43:40+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

OK, I'm up to the gills with this comedy stuff.

Oh I don't know, I kind of find it a-luring myself, but then again, I may be crossing the line with that one. Perhaps this thread should be a-bait-ed, but then again, one good worm deserves another, so I could probably easily change my tuna.

Whew!

That's it! No more fish jokes!
I'm off for some wrestling, so I can try to pin Gwen.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T01:37:41+00:00

tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

OK, I'm up to the gills with this comedy stuff.

Oh I don't know, I kind of find it a-luring myself, but then again, I may be crossing the line with that one. Perhaps this thread should be a-bait-ed, but then again, one good worm deserves another, so I could probably easily change my tuna.

Whew!

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

tada — 2008-10-08T01:27:43+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

OK, I'm up to the gills with this comedy stuff.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-08T01:22:50+00:00

tada wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Pretty crappie if you ask me.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

tada — 2008-10-08T00:45:23+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

I hear it scales well, also.

Sorry, I'm finished.

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

jrbentley — 2008-10-07T22:54:05+00:00

Then why play it?

Oh, I see - just for the halibut.

(As always, just couldn't resist)

Thread: Re: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

leroy43 — 2008-10-07T22:45:44+00:00

That's been everyone I've played with opinion as well - it's a great game, it's a lot of fun, it's super short... So short in fact, that it almost takes longer to get the game up than to play the game.

And that, in a nutshell, is the problem.

Thread: Hey! That’s My Copy Of ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’

zeeb13 — 2008-10-07T22:13:56+00:00

Inside the Mayfair Offices:

“We’ve got ourself a new game to get out there.”

“What’s it about? Please tell me it’s about trading goods. I love trading goods.”

“It’s about penguins.”

“Trading penguins?”

“Penguins eating fish.”

“Which they then trade?”

“There’s no trading. We just need a title.”

“How about ‘Penguin’?”

“No, that’s too simple, it would make too much sense, everybody would see it coming a mile away.”

“How about ‘Penguins’ as in the plural of Penguin?”

“Better, but I’m not feeling it. We need something punchier. Something with exclamation marks. Something like ‘You! Over There! Give Me Back My Fish!’”

“It’s a bit long, how about ‘Woah! You Took My Fish Away!’”

“No. I’ve got it. ‘Hey! That’s My Fish!’”

“That’s perfect, because we all know that if penguins did have the ability to talk they would definitely yell at each other.”

“Thumbs up.”

“Did you just say ‘thumbs up’ out loud?”

]]>

Daffy titles aside what’s actually going on in H!TMF!?

The game consists of a set of 60 top quality hexes that make up the playing area. Each hex has either 1 fish, 2 fish or 3 fish on it. Shuffle those bad boys around and set them up in a grid made up of a row of eight, a row of seven, a row of eight, a row of seven and so on and so forth until you run out of hexes.

]]>

You are given a number of little wooden penguins which are also what we in the biz call ‘top notch’ (4 penguins in a 2 player game, 3 in a 3 player, 2 in a 4 player.) You place your penguins on a starting space, which can be any hex with only one fish on it.

]]>

On your turn move your penguin as far as you want in a straight line in any direction. You can’t move past another penguin and you can’t change direction during the move. Pick up the tile you were just on and THAT’S IT. The person who picks up the most fish wins.

I know this is a complaint that’s been levelled at Hey! before but quite seriously it takes as long to set up as it does to play. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, but when the setting up also happens to be about as fun as the actual playing of the game, that’s when we hit troubled waters.

]]>

Yes, after the initial randomization of the tiles the game is “pure strategy” but no, that doesn’t translate to hours of fun. Minutes of fun, sure, but not hours.

Each game of Hey! That’s My … (damn that titles annoying to type a lot) … that I've played has lasted about five minutes. If you’re well aware of that fact going into the game then I think you’ll be okay with it. Don’t mistake my ‘five minutes’ as an exaggeration of a game that in real life takes about 15 or 20… no, it takes about five minutes to play and I’d rather spend my money on a longer game.

]]>

There’s nothing wrong with the game itself. The game works just fine, I’m not disputing that, I’m simply saying that it’s brief. If brief is your thing well then buy two tickets on the brief train cause you just bought yourself a house of brief… whatever that means. For me it was too brief, and that came as a bit of a surprise.

After reading a series of glowing reviews and seeing that it was ranked at 178 (one about Mu & More people! Mu! AND MORE! There’s not just Mu, there’s More than Mu.) this game was a must have for me, and I thought that when I opened up the box that I was going to be smacked upside the head with one heck of a game. Smacked upside the head I was not.

]]>

The components are swell, the game works but the whole thing whimpered out of the box rather than exploded and I’ve been left feeling that I’m missing out on something.

The game is a cinch to learn and to teach. It takes about six seconds. “You move your penguin in any direction and pick up the tile you were just on. You want more fish than me. GO!”

And again I have to stress that I don’t hate the game, I think it works quite well, I really like the components I just feel because of it’s short playing time that it lacks a bit of excitement and in the words of a William Shatner song from an album of his that I own, for some bizarre reason: “I can’t get behind that.”

Thread: Re: Hey! Set's my Fish!

Flashhawk — 2008-10-07T09:05:37+00:00

two possible answers to that question:

1. Nope. Its the other way around
2. Yes. Buts its a Set! version limited to only one dimension, namly count of fish. Either you collect "streets" (1-2-3) or
Triples (3x1, 3x2 or 3x3). Its possible but not a real challenge

Flashhawk

Thread: Re: Hey! Set's my Fish!

dsr15 — 2008-10-07T03:59:18+00:00

Does this mean I can play Set with my copy of HTMF?

Thread: Re: Hey! Set's my Fish!

Flashhawk — 2008-10-05T21:11:38+00:00

After a couple of hundred declined submittings of this picture: here is finaly the Setup of this Variant:
]]>

Thread: Hey! Set's my Fish!

Flashhawk — 2008-10-05T16:40:55+00:00

Haha, no that is not a Typo!
i came across htmf on BGG a few days ago, and suprisingly it was the day when i found a copy of Set! (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1198) in my evergrowing gameroom. After some playing around with the cards of Set! it came to my mind that the 1-2-3 pattern of Set! was the same HTMF uses. And Cards can be laid out on a table to resemble a hexpattern when using a brick-wall-layout. Quick said and done. With the 81 cards in a Set! game you can easily have an HTMF for 6 players. And the card-art themself leaves you with endless possiblities for variants. Just some Ideas:

-Movement is restricted. You can only go to another icefloe if it shares one or more parameters with the one you are standing on. Or you can only move there if it has no similiarites at all.

-In addition to that: you can allow doublemoves when you would create a SET! with the 3 tiles.

-you can use the collected cards as actioncards:rectangle is blocking, Oval is jumping, wave is swimming. The number could be interpretated as strenght, so that a 2 rectangle would block a 1xoval from jumping of another pinguin or something like that.2xwave would allow a penguin to cross a 2 hex gap. And so on. You can either say that used cards are not counted towards the total at the end or you can say that the other players can place the card back in the game.

-You could use dice to call for a move that matches the roll. Could be a 1D6(Red, Blue, Green, Oval, Wave, Rectangle) or 1D10(Red, Blue, Green, Oval, Wave, Rectangle,1,2,3,generic) or even 1D12(Red, Blue, Green, Oval, Wave, Rectangle,1,2,3,filled, blurry, empty)

-you could alter the way the penguins move by the card they are standing on. Color, form and count of forms on the cards could mean somthing if care enough to make something up.

As i said i have made a setup on our livingroom-table but don´t have a camera ready at the moment. Maybe i will photograph it tomorrow and upload it to both games

See ya
Flashhawk

Image

MrWeasely — 2008-10-04T20:39:46+00:00

Hey, that's my Fish Game with my Fish Woman at my Fish House!

Thread: Re: Playing with the kids

cvandyk — 2008-10-04T16:56:48+00:00

For the sequal, see http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2700596#2700596

Thread: Re: Playing with the kids (again)

cvandyk — 2008-10-04T16:55:51+00:00

For my previous session report, see: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/345213

Thread: Playing with the kids (again)

cvandyk — 2008-10-04T14:58:44+00:00

So yesterday I played a session of "the Penguin game" with my kids - my five year old daughter and four year old son - and since I lost I wanted revenge. You might say such emotions are inappropriate for a father, but to that I would respond that it's actually entirely in keeping with the theme of the game. Just check out this photograph:

]]>

Actually, the conversation this morning went something like this. Dad, can we play a game? Sure, what do you want to play? Son: Battlelore! Dad: well, that takes too long - but we'll play it soon again. Why don't we try Hey! That's My Fish again? (dad tried not to betray any feelings on revenge). Hmmm, said the kids, okay, we'll humour you ... this time.

Dad made them set up the game again - it's an important part of an education in boardgames he often suggests. The kids call it "patriarchal oppression," although they realize that in most hegemonies (or should we say "hexemonies") there is still usually some form of assent.

When the game was set up daughter quickly picked red. Dad thought of throwing a temper tantrum (red after all is his favourite colour - after blue, yellow, and green, roughly in that order), but he managed to contain himself.

Daughter number 2 (who is coincidentally two years old) got to set up one of dad's penguins (as before dad plays with three penguins and the kids with 4). Of course she put it entirely in the corner where there seemed little chance of escape.

Now, when you look at pictures of this game it sometimes seems that there is a great deal of room on the ice. Check out this one for instance:

]]>

Even worse is this one (my kids call it "a blatant lie!"):

]]>

And here's another lie:

]]>

And yet another one:

]]>

My kids have suggested that some of these people never actually play the game but spend all their time taking pictures. And my son, who is a rather draconian image modder himself says the system has to change to weed out all these creative pictures that have no relation to reality.

The point is that our game was infinitely more crowded. What complicated matters even further was that a large portion of the "board" was entirely composed of one-fish tiles, whereas the richest fishing grounds were very rich.

Once again, daughter went for all the three tiles right away, although she did try to stake out some territory too. Son went for the "block everybody but especially dad" strategy again. Wherever dad moved he shadowed him. If dad got stuck on the sides son was sure to pounce.

And he was terribly polite about it. Dad would say, in an anguished cry of frustration, "are you blocking me again?!!!" And son would reply, with a British accent of sorts, "Yes, my dear." And then he would giggle hilariously, and roll on the floor with laughter.

Daughter number 2 (the two-year old) thought the giggles were so funny that she soon joined in and thought it would be fun to run around the table, laughing like a maniac all the while.

After all the mayhem and noise the scores were counted up and they were as follows: dad, 31; daughter 31; son, 36.

Well, I guess revenge will have to wait...

Thread: Re: Playing with the kids

Grudunza — 2008-10-04T04:08:47+00:00

Nice.

Thread: Playing with the kids

cvandyk — 2008-10-04T03:10:37+00:00

Now my kids love penguins and they absolutely love to play "Hey! That's My Fish." They probably love it even more than their dad does (yours truly), because for some reason he's not a huge fan of games that tend towards the abstract. Of course, for them (my five year old daughter and my four year old son) this game is not abstract at all. You have to feed your penguins and you have to block, capture territory, isolate the other player, count up your score, and do all those other things that any regular penguin would do.

Still, as a parent I sometimes wonder if this game is not a bit beyond their age, despite the fact that they regularly play it by themselves. Even though they've seen March of the Penguins (the movie based on Hey! That's My Fish), the romance element is quite high:

]]>

And then there are these strange rituals these penguins perform:

]]>

And then there's the problem of global warming that not only requires special rule adaptations but is also a bit of a traumatic prospect for kids to consider:

]]>

But despite these worries we still play occassionally. Today we had a three player game between the colours red, yellow and blue. The game almost didn't happen, because daughter really wanted the red pieces. She's saving up for an "I only play red" microbadge - if you want to donate, just send the GG to me and I'll manage it for her... **

Unfortunately, the red pieces were taken already, and we can't have kids discriminating against penguins of another colour, so dad made a stand and insisted she get with the program. Daughter finally gave in and played yellow.

In an effort to even out the game a bit, dad played with three penguins, and the kids with four each. We played with all the tiles and the kids had fun setting things up. They don't bother leaving gaps between the tiles because with their little fingers they easily pick them up. Since I find setting things up rather tedious I was glad to let them do it. Whoever thought that it's the kids who have to learn patience?

Things were tight right away. I managed to gain a corner of the board but everywhere else the kids were eagerly blocking me and each other off. Don't think kids can't understand strategy. They might not be able to calculate exactly how much territory they can stake out (like a Go player might), but they sure know how to cut other people off from the best fishing grounds.

My son is especially devious. He doesn't even look if a tile has one, two, or three fish - if he can block you he'll do it. My daughter is less sneaky - but she moves all her penguins to the three tiles as soon as she can.

As it turned out all the penguins had a good time - as did the players. The final scores were as follows. Dad: 30, Son: 35, Daughter: 31. A close game and one enjoyed by all. Happiest of all were the fish, now safely back in the box:

]]>

** Please don't give me any GG - I'm just kidding.

Image

franchi — 2008-10-02T12:17:19+00:00

My penguins on poker chips (with the fish/color code).

Image

garygarison — 2008-10-01T00:09:25+00:00

Fish and chips, the best of both worlds. Homemade, with penguins from Polar Dare.

Thread: Re: Deluxe Edition?

bran — 2008-09-30T00:32:03+00:00

mintcar22 wrote:
how much is the "deluxe" version going to be? the regular is $20 right?

this baby is going to $49.95

Thread: Re: Deluxe Edition?

bigchief — 2008-09-30T00:25:33+00:00

This is ridiculus. That box is enourmous! Each penguin must have it's own oversized insert. Seriously, I hate seeing big price tags for big boxes, big inserts and few components. For god sakes, if you want to improve the game, create a damn board! The set up time for the length of the game is the only knock on it for me. I'll keep my original.

I don't usually get this excited around here, but for some reason, this just hit a nerve.

Image

Venga2 — 2008-09-14T13:12:59+00:00

In this exclusive footage we see a rare glimps of Penguin rituals: The holy dance of worship around the sacred burning ice.

Image

eevans24 — 2008-09-08T02:21:44+00:00

My Fish, No-My Fish

Image

cloink — 2008-09-02T08:20:44+00:00

Atteeeeeeention !

Image

spearjr — 2008-08-11T22:39:05+00:00

Custom Hey! Those Are My Nuts! tiles and Fimo Squirrels

Image

trioker — 2008-08-10T09:25:08+00:00

Revenge!

Image

trioker — 2008-07-11T12:21:43+00:00

"hey, that's a fish !"