Lure

• Designer: Satoru Nakamura
• Publisher: Allplay
• Players: 2-5
• Age: 7+
• Time: 15 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3Syyiv3
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Welcome to the world of competitive fishing! Will you play aggressively and use fewer dice? Or, will you count on your opponents to be too risky? Let’s fish!  In Lure, players compete to collect the most points by reeling in fish cards. To catch a fish, players roll their dice to beat the fish’s target number, as well as meet any specific requirements on the card. Whoever completes those requirements and is closest to the target catches the fish!  Players secretly bid on how many dice to use before the round starts. Bid less dice to go first, but use more dice to make it easier to catch.  Most points wins after the deck of fish cards runs out!

In setup, each player takes a screen and all 7 dice of their color – 5 regular d6, a d12 and a d20.  These dice are all placed behind that player’s screen.  The lure tokens are all mixed facedown on the table and each player draws one at random and then places it face up behind their screen.  These tokens allow you to adjust your die roll or perhaps give you an extra die value.  Finally, shuffle the deck of fish cards and place it on the center of the table. 

In each round, 3 new fish cards are drawn and added to any left on the table from previous rounds.  If a fish card has a splash effect in the upper left corner, it is resolved as soon as that card is drawn and revealed.

Now, each player chooses any number of dice from behind their screen as well as any lures they might wish to use.  These are placed in their hand, and when all players have chosen, the contents are revealed.

The player(s) with the fewest dice in their hand now roll to try to catch fish.  To do this, the dice are rolled and any lures are used to adjust the dice.  A player catches a fish if their roll adds up to at least the catch number shown on the card (yellow number) and you also meet all the requirements of the catch (white numbers).  All lures are discarded, though if you played a boast lure AND caught a fish, you keep that as a scoring token.  If you do not catch a fish, draw a lure as consolation.  Finally, if you used a special die, that now goes in front of your screen for the next turn.  All the regular dice are returned behind your screen.

In the event that multiple people had the fewest number of dice, they roll simultaneously and apply their lures.  Only one player can catch any fish.  If multiple players try to catch the same fish, the player with the lowest total (after lure adjustment) will catch the fish.  If there is a tie, no one catches the fish.

If there are any fish left on the table, then the player(s) with the fewest dice in their bid get a chance to fish.  Continue until either everyone has had a chance to fish OR there are no fish left to catch.  If you do not catch a fish in a round (whether you roll and fail OR you simply don’t get a chance to roll), you do get a lure as compensation.  Further, all special dice which are bid (doesn’t matter if they were rolled or not) still go in front of your screen for a turn.

The game goes until the turn in which the last card is drawn from the deck.  That round is finished and then players count their VPs. The player with the most points wins.  Ties broken in favor of the player with the fewest fish cards.

My thoughts on the game

So this is the new version of Dice Fishing – a game that originated in Japan.  The game challenges you to take risks (by bidding fewer dice) to get the first chance to collect fish cards.  Sure, you run the risk of not rolling the correct values to get the fish, but that is still a preferable outcome than playing it extremely safe and not getting a chance to roll your dice at all?

Players have to make a decision every round based on the cards available in the market – to figure out what is the right balance between turn order and the number of dice to roll.  Using your special dice (d12, d20) at the right time can also improve your chances – but, of course, once you have selected them for the current turn, you will lose the ability to use them on the next turn… 

Additionally, the lure tokens you have available at any time will also affect your decision making.  The +/- 1 lures are really good when you’re trying to nab a fish that needs particular numbers while the stand-in dice lures are really good for getting to the higher valued fish with a minimum of dice bid – thus making sure you get the first chance to roll for that fish.

The game comes in the fairly small square box that Allplay has been using recently, and this makes the game extremely portable.  Maybe not small enough to fit in your pocket, but it will definitely not take up too much room.  

The game doesn’t take long at all, and this is a great game for that filler spot.  Non-gamers may need a few rounds to pick up on the criteria needed to collect each fish, but most gamers should be able to get this in about one to two minutes.  Usually, I just set up an example round, roll some dice and we’re ready to play.   For a quick setup, teach and play, Lure is a great catch!

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Josiah Fiscus – Even on shelves brimming with board games, there’s always room for another solid filler. And Lure is certainly the best new filler I’ve played this year. Pick this one up, and get the expansion while you’re at it.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!
• I like it.  Dale Y, Josiah, Steph H, Alan H
• Neutral. John P
• Not for me…

Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3Syyiv3