Fish Eat Fish

Observed in play

You start as one of the smallest fish in the water. Anything smaller than you can be eaten; anything larger will eat you. Each meal adds size, and size changes which fish are food and which are a problem.

The danger does not go away as you grow. It just moves. Early on you are dodging almost everything. Later there are only a few fish left that can still take you, and they are the ones easiest to stop watching for.

With two or three players the game changes completely, because the other players grow on the same schedule you do. A player who is barely ahead of you in size is more dangerous than any fish in the round.

Rounds are short and self-contained. There is nothing to carry between them and nothing to unlock, so a round costs only the few minutes it takes.

Size is shown plainly, which is what keeps the rule readable at speed. You are judging one fish against another rather than reading a number. The mistake almost everybody makes in their first round is trusting a glance at a fish that is a shade larger than they are.

As a multiplayer game it is best understood as a race that also happens to be a fight. Two players who avoid each other entirely will both grow. Two players who chase each other early will both stay small, and a third player will quietly eat the pond.

Notes for a first attempt

• Hug the edges while you are small. The middle of the water is where the big fish cross.
• Compare sizes before you commit. A fish that is only slightly larger still eats you.
• Eat two or three small ones in a row rather than chasing the biggest thing you can safely take.
• In a two-player round, watch the other player’s size, not the fish. They will pass you quietly.
• Once you are near the top, slow down. Almost every late loss is a big fish someone stopped checking for.