Shallow Regrets is a 2-3 player card game where players are setting sail on “the worst fishing trip of your life!” Players will take turns capturing fish out of the 6 shoals (piles of cards) and adding them to their play area if they have enough strength (represented by fish hooks) to catch them. So, is it a fishy tale made longer and more fun, or should you have just stayed on shore? Read on for the preview!
Content Guide
One of the cards is a cartoonishly severed foot with 4 toes. Another one is a Mass of Eyes. One of the other Foul fish is a Rotfish and is mostly decayed. Some of the other Foul fish seem to be wearing the skin of other fish, and the Lamprey is pointing its mouth directly at the player to an unsettling effect.
Preview
Shallow Regrets may feel like a push-your-luck game, but really you’re just adding the best fish possible to your play area and trying to end the game with the most points. Players can use each Fish’s ability once per game, so if someone passes a fish to you that has already been used, it can’t go again. Many abilities allow you to draw extra cards or swap fish with someone else, but none of them let you take more than one card per turn.
It makes for a quick game with light strategy—many of the Foul fish give you 2 hooks early on in the game, which can let you catch some bigger fish sooner; however they also come with negative scoring bonuses for the endgame, so it would make sense to trade them away after using their abilities. Out of the eighteen cards, half are Fair and half are Foul, eight are small, eight are middling, and four are large. Foul fish are also used to break ties—in the event of one, the player with the least Foul fish wins.
Shallow Regrets packs a lot into just eighteen cards. It’s easy enough to explain and set up that kids on the low end of the 8+ age suggestion can pick it up and win easily, but there’s enough strategy with the cards’ special abilities to possibly hook (heh) even the most die-hard strategy nerds if you need a palette cleanser or in-between game. The copy provided to review didn’t have a sleeve or final-edition rules (just a preview printed page), but the cards provided were all nicely done and feel like they’re up to Button Shy’s usual quality. The art is nicely unsettling, fitting the theme well, even some of the Fair fish look gross. If you’re looking for a solid quick or filler game that will easily fit into your bag or back pocket, you should definitely check out Shallow Regrets when it comes out later this year.
A preview copy was provided by the publisher.