Game 65: Hey, That's My Fish!

 David, Jacob and I got to go away this weekend, since I had a math conference to attend (California Mathematics Council Community Colleges, or CMC^3).  We packed games to take along, as we always do, and I came back to the hotel room the first evening to find David and Jacob playing Hey, That's My Fish!  For better or for worse I was at conference sessions while they took advantage of the hotel amenities (hot tub, ping-pong, etc.), beautiful downtown Monterey, California, and gaming!  That's cool with me, though, as I love to give them opportunity to have time away, and I actually really enjoy math conferences, as they get me fired up again for my classroom work!  A particular highlight of this conference was getting to know the keynote speaker who is also a gamer and who has created a freshman-level problem solving class based on board games, but more about him in my next post.
 I'm really surprised we hadn't played Hey, That's My Fish! since I started my blog earlier this year, as this is quite a favorite.  As with many of the games we have, you can explore the strategy deeply, or you can play very casually, and it's fun either way.  (David takes every game seriously, as you can see above!)  Clearly David and Jacob made the best use of the space available to them in the small hotel room that the three of us were sharing.
 To begin with, a full array of hexes is randomly laid out - various hexes having various numbers of fish on them.  The winner is the player whose penguins collect the most fish.  Players take turns placing their penguins at the beginning of the game.  After set-up has taken place, players take turns moving one of their penguins in a straight line; the player then picks up and keeps the hex that their penguin started on.  There's an interesting balance between going for the hexes with the most fish and trying to limit the territory available to other penguins without allowing yourself to get isolated on a small ice floe.  Being isolated on your own large ice floe is a good thing, however!
I love the pieces.  Each penguin is unique and has its own attitude.  This is a game that we do come back to often, and I am astonished that we had gone this many months (and had played 64 other games) without playing this one!

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