Gone Fishing with Some Expansions for Fishing Lessons
Drift across sunlit waves as new challenges and unexpected fish emerge from the depths on an outing with Fishing Lessons.
Part of me felt like I wanted to move onto something new, yet Fishing Lessons drew me back in! I suppose one could say… It lured me back? Ha ha! With a couple of expansions to try out, I had new ways to play. Also, there were some ideas about how to remove the memory element, which wasn’t my favorite part of gameplay. Back to fishing I went!
Game Overview
Game Name: Fishing Lessons
Publication Year: 2022
Designer: Scott Almes
Artist: Nivea Toliver
Publisher: Button Shy
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Reel in the desired assortment of fish using a series of lessons that create a programming sequence. Characters provide various goals, and the difficulty can easily be scaled. Expansions add on new challenges, along with more ways to play. Never a dull moment out on the lake!
First Play
January 1, 2024
Complexity
2
Latest Play
January 3, 2024
Expansions
2
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
4
Play Time
10 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
22" x 12"
Low Score
N/A
Skipping the Memories
I absolutely love this theme that ties into remembering the lessons learned from lost loved ones… But that doesn’t mean I want to use actual memory elements during play!
Flipping cards adds a memorization aspect that can take away from the experience, depending on the player.
While trying to work around this myself, I came across some wonderful ideas to reduce memory requirements.
So easy! I ended up with an offset row of lake cards. I slid up the face-up cards, and anything face-down was under the water. I only revealed a card when it initially flipped.
The Fabled Mystery
This offset row really improved gameplay for me! Previously, I felt like a lot of my effort was in just remembering what I had already seen. Not my cup of tea.
In a pretty interesting twist, I didn’t even flip over the card that turned out to be a special fish! This expansion provided a random, new fish with a special ability.
They can be helpful or not, depending on the situation, yet that level of uncertainty adds an air of real mystery!
Note that there is an error in an early version of the Alligator Gar: Make sure you note the corrected ability!
Programmed to Win
With the memory element out of the way, I found myself drawn to figuring out the sequence and enjoying how it evolved over the course of play a lot more. Noticeably so!
Now, a big part of the strategy is to simply scrunch over to an edge of the lake since that provides a way to avoid moving and flipping a lot of lake cards. But not always…
I actually found myself moving away from the boring 1-2 lesson sequences I initially used. Look at that: 4 cards!
And I won! It was very challenging right near the end, and I almost ended up reeling in too many carp. But I did it!
Remembering Leland
That little adjustment to remove the memory element really made a huge difference for me… I decided to play again, and this was anything but an easy time.
A fabled fish showed up to spoil my plans for a really cool sequence, and I thought it was going to be a disaster.
Then, by some coincidence, it all worked out for me! The maximum number of lesson cards in a sequence is 6, and I nearly pulled it off. That’s right: This was a victory!
I loved the new lesson cards from the other expansion, too, as I always had a slightly different set to work with.
The Amazing Benefits of House Rules & Changes
So many solo games out there! I’m often one who doesn’t want to fiddle around with making any adjustments for games that feel mediocre… I have so many on my shelves, that I look for any reason to part with ones that don’t quite work for me. Yet every now and then, I find something that deserves a little effort to try to have some fun.
Adjusting this memory element was an easy thing, and took all of about a minute to implement! That’s the sort of commitment I usually look for. If it works, great! But if not, then I feel like I’ve tried without investing a ton of my time. First impressions are important in this way, yet I know I will sometimes move on a little sooner than I intended.
This one turned out to be excellent! I don’t think I’ll ever play with the requirement of memorizing cards. That’s just me, of course, but small adjustments can make all the difference. I’m trying to learn something from each solo game I play this year, and this one taught me a lot. Simply a delight to have in my collection. I need a “Gone Fishing” sign!
Session Overview
Play Number: 3 & 4
Expansion 1: Fishing Lessons: Fabled Fish
Expansion 2: Fishing Lessons: Family Friends
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Play Details: Hard Difficulty Level with Night Fishing
Outcome: 2 Wins
Watch out for unexpected fish! I loved the way gameplay changed when I cut out the memory elements, and these expansions certainly made gameplay even better. I can honestly say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one… Just a delightful and fresh sort of catch!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
5
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- Although the expansions aren’t required, they add a lot of variety and content that noticeably improves gameplay.
- Fortunately, the memory aspect can be ignored by offsetting the lake cards or using tokens to mark revealed cards.
- Figuring out the programming sequence is a very fun experience that goes along with the relaxing atmosphere.
- The theme is simply wonderful and teaches its own lesson beyond the game, which uses charming mechanics.
- Gameplay moves along smoothly with a simple sequence, yet the decisions and lesson cards are tricky to master.
- Different difficulty levels and variants help adjust the challenge so it never needs to feel like a chore to play.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Character goals feel pretty static, although this looks like it may be improved by the pair of expansion characters.
- At first glance, the memory element could seem frustrating, and it would have been nice to include a variant.
- The expansion card error isn’t the end of the world, yet it’s something that might not be apparent immediately.
- Some long programming sequences are easy to lose track of without paying close attention to the current step.
Victory Conditions
Complete the Goal
- Overall Goal Progress 83%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game at the hard difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game with the Night Fishing variant.
Win at least 1 game with a sequence of 5 lesson cards.
Win at least 1 game with the Fabled Fish expansion.
Win at least 1 game with the Family Friends expansion.
Win at least 1 game with a sequence of 6 lesson cards.
Continue the Conversation
What do you like about Fishing Lessons? Do you enjoy playing with any of the expansions? Such a fun time! I’m so glad I gave this one a chance and went a little deeper into the ways to improve it. Although it won’t work for everyone, there is a lot more here, and a few adjustments made it substantially better. Now to hope I can reel in more big catches!
0 Comments