Reel-Time Pro Fishin' Game

Let’s go fishin’! Our 2024 holiday game is back, ready to give you all the all the fun of fishing, right on your game table! No mess, no fuss, no hassle--just pure fishin' FUN!

Reel-Time Pro Fishin' Game is designed to re-create the feel of real-life fishing. At its core, the game is about catching fish, by yourself or with others. The bigger the fish, the bigger the thrill. The more fish you catch, the bigger your boast! Use the items in your tackle box wisely in order to maximize your catch.

How This Game Came About

For a number of years, I'd gotten e-mails from folks suggesting we make a pro fishing game. Truth is, I'd actually been rather cool to the idea of playing a board game about fishing. "How exciting could this be?" (Maybe you're feeling that way right now yourself!)

This changed back in April of 2024 when I visited Milwaukee for the "WIS-CON" PLAAY Games event. We had a night-before get-together at Travis Jansen's home in Mukwonago, and among the games he had out was a big-box hobby fishing game---the hobby standard, over-the-top, Kickstarter stretch goals kind of game. I was curious, remembering the e-mails I'd gotten, so I asked if we could try it out. Although it wasn't my kind of game--a complex rules book, zillions of pieces, multiple, multiple, MULTIPLE cards, long set-up and tear-down, etc.--it it did suddenly awaken me to the realization that a fishing game could actually be quite fun!

I was reminded of the 1980s classic board game "Dungeon," where you basically go from room to room battling monsters and capturing treasure. Simple, pure fun. Couldn't this philosophy be applied to fishing?

The moment I got back to Denver, I started working on this game. Mainly, I wanted to capture what's fun about fishing and translate it to an easy-to-play board game context--the anticipation of getting a bite, wondering what you've got on the line when you DO get a bite, the uncertainty and excitement of trying to reel it in, and the satisfaction of putting the caught fish in your bucket. I think Reel-Time Pro Fishin' hits this mark, and, after playing it, I hope you agree. Especially if you, like me, have been skeptical that a board game about fishing could actually be fun to play.

I'll save the game development design notes for later, except to say that it was a somewhat winding path to get to the game's final presentation, as it often is when designing a new game. Instead, let me spend a few paragraphs talking about how the game works...

First of all, this game is about choices. You WILL be able to catch fish, especially early in the game, but the "game" is in wisely using your resources. You want to use as few resources as possible to catch as many fish as possible.

Choosing your lure is important in real fishing, and so it is in this game. You'll also have to choose whether to cast "near" or "far." Each choice is impactful--and that's even before you roll the dice!

I wanted it to feel like you were casting a reel as you cast the dice, there's a certain flowing movement that's similar between the two. I feel like the game succeeds in this. The black die represents whether you're getting a nibble, a bite, or nothing. The white die tells you which fish is in the area of your cast. The colored die represents the lure, and the numbered results are matched with the characteristics of the individual fish, every fish is unique.

Once you've cast, there are more choices to be made. You'll use the items in your tackle box to craft a strategy to catch fish, ideally with as little a struggle as possible--again, just like real fishing. This is where the fun of the game is. Often it will come down to a judgement call, frequently it'll be a SERIES of calls--should you spend more resources to better ensure a catch? How much uncertainty are you comfortable with? Should you just let this one go, reel in your line and cast again?

When the game was released (digitally) at Christmas, we posted this demo video—the game components look a little different, but the game plays the same…

Many thanks to the folks who play-tested this game, starting with the afore-mentioned Travis Jansen who got me on this track in the first place. Marco Scola and Dan Garlick also provided play-test feedback, as did the gang at our 2024 "UTAH-ctober" event, Erik Holdaway, David Santistevan and Grant Fines, to name a few. It's noteworthy, I think, that a common comment after play-testing this game was something like, "when you said it was a fishing game, I was thinking 'how much fun could THAT be?' But after playing it, it really IS fun!"