Main Catalogue |  BOARD GAMES & CARD GAMES |  Rio Grande Games |  If Wishes Were Fishes

If Wishes Were Fishes Price: £24.99 Currently unavailable. RRP - £28.99 Board Game; 2-5 Players; Ages 10+ by Rio Grande Games In this game, the fishes really can grant wishes - but you have to throw them back. Players are fishermen, trying to catch the most valuable fish and sell them in the market for the best prices. With limited space for storing caught fish, players must use their wits to get the right fish to market at the right times. This is where the granting of wishes is most helpful. Just catch the fish who will grant the wish you want, throw it back, and you get your wish. Sounds simple, but the game does require a bit of thinking and planning. The wishes can help you increase the value of fish when sold, grant you extra storage space, and several other useful things. So, now we know that sometimes it is best to let the big one get away! ++++++++++++++++++++ Counter magazine review ++++++++++++++++++++ 3-5 players, 45 minutes designed by Peter Sarrett and and Michael Adams reviewed by Greg Schloesser ``If Wishes Were Fishes .....\'\' This quaint little phrase is a reasonably common enjoinder that is generally used as the opening of a rebuke for some outlandish desire or plan, or as a precursor to some fanciful wish or dream. Designers Peter Sarrett and Michael Adams have adopted the phrase as the name of their latest creation, and have actually integrated it into the game\'s theme and mechanisms. It is a clever turn of a phrase, so-to-speak. Players represent fishermen out to catch fish and sell them for a profit at various markets. However, these aren\'t just ordinary fish: in their desire to avoid becoming an entrée, they offer the fishermen enticements to toss them back into the ocean. Players will decide whether to keep the fish, or accept the benefits offered by the wily sea creatures. Ultimately, players will sell their fish to the markets, hoping to maximize their profits and gain majorities before the markets close for business. Proper timing and successful use of the wishes will determine who becomes the master fisherman. The board depicts seven markets located along a circular path. Each market will purchase a specific type of fish, and players will attempt to maneuver five buyers into a market in order to maximize their profits when selling their fish. Also depicted is a ``garbage heap\'\' where excess fish are disposed. A large deck of cards depicts a variety of fish, each of which offers a wish. Rounding out the components are an assortment of fish tokens in five colors, some boat and market cards, and a supply of rubbery purple worms. The worms are strangely appealing, and players seem to enjoy continually squeezing them throughout the game. Players begin the game with a supply of fish tokens, two boats and six worms. Each turn, players may select one fish from a drafting row of four fish. They may either keep the fish and load it into one of their empty boats, or accept the ``wish\'\' offered by the fish. There are numerous wishes that allow players to move the buyers, sell fish, collect money based on the worms they possess, acquire an additional boat, etc. When choosing a fish, players are free to select any of the four face-up cards. However, beginning at the left of the row, they must place one of their worms on each card they pass over. If a player takes a fish that has one or more worms upon it, they also take these worms. This mechanism is lifted from Phillipe Keyaerts\' Vinci. Since worms are needed during the game, and possibly earn victory points at game\'s end, they are valuable. So, players must be judicious when passing over fish. I wish the pressure was a bit greater, however, as I\'ve never suffered much angst when making a decision to pass over fish. Instead of taking a fish or accepting a wish, a player may opt to sell a single fish to a market. Alternatively, many wishes allow a player to sell one or more fish of the same type to the corresponding market. A player normally earns two dollars per fish sold, but this can be increased by the presence of buyers at the market. The value of buyers ranges from $2 to $5, depending upon the size of the buyer present. The idea is to maneuver the buyers into a market, then sell to that market for enhanced profits. This mechanism is very similar to the movement mechanism used in the recently released Colosseum, but has also been present in other games. For each fish sold, the player places one of his fish tokens onto the market. A market is filled when a specific number of fish have been sold to it. The number is dependent upon the current face-up market card, and can vary from 4 to 7 fish. Once filled, the current card is placed atop the market, signifying that it is closed. Any further fish sold to that market are instead placed onto the garbage heap. Money is still earned, but there is a slight possibility that the two players having the most fish in the garbage heap at game\'s end will lose points. When a market closes, the two players having the most fish in the market earn bonuses. These bonuses range from a high of $10 to a low of $3. Thus, players must keep an eye on where they sell fish so they are in competition for this bonus income. This ``majority\'\' mechanism has been used in, oh, about a thousand games. The game concludes when the fourth market has been closed, or when the garbage heap contains ten fish. We\'ve never come close to this latter condition in any of the games I\'ve played. Indeed, the garbage heap has been a non-factor. However, if this latter condition does occur, the two players having the most fish in the garbage heap will lose points. In any event, final points are earned for the two players having the most worms ($8 and $4, respectively), and the player having the greatest overall wealth wins the game and becomes the master fisherman. As you can likely tell, If Wishes for Fishes is a smorgasbord of mechanisms borrowed from a variety of other games. There\'s the drafting row of cards that has been seen in many games, the ``pass-over\'\' costs pioneered in Vinci, the dual use of cards that has grown in popularity with card-driven wargames, the movement of the buyers that is akin to Colosseum, the competition for majority status, and more. Fortunately, the mechanisms are assembled nicely, and the creation is more than the sum of its parts. The game works well and is pleasant to play. For me, the game falls short in that the decisions to be made simply aren\'t very taxing. There isn\'t much, if any, angst present. Choosing which fish to select, and whether to take the fish itself or the wish it grants doesn\'t generate knots in my belly or cause me to ponder a variety of mental ``what if?\'\' scenarios. Choosing one action doesn\'t translate into a costly lost opportunity elsewhere. As such, the game lacks tension, something I tend to seek in the games I play. That being said, If Wishes to Fishes seems a nice fit for light, casual gaming. It should fit nicely in a family or church environment, and is easy enough for children in middle-school or beyond to learn and play competently. It is likely beyond younger children, and there would be the persistent danger of them swallowing those yummy-looking worms! Adults will likely be content to simply squeeze and stretch them! More ...

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