The Start Screen, the Game Goal, and the Strategies
The Main Game Control Actions
Touch a free cell to add food from the plate below the bottom edge of the place.
Touch a spice to trade it for a chip -- it works only if the spice is located between matched chips (of the same color, for example), otherwise the spice disappears.
Touch a fish or an egg to advance the game when there is no free cell.
Touch the × button to abort playing.
PRINCIPLES
The Fish and Chip Universe
The universe consists of party places,
where one can find fish, chips, and spices.
You can enter a party place and run a party.
The goal of the party is to fill the place with chips!
You can achieve the goal by thoughtfully distributing chips and spices.
But beware of fish!
They have free will and can join and leave the party as they wish.
And they also love chips!
Adding Food to the Party
Party place
☝
=>
Plate
When the food appears on the plate,
☝ touch any empty cell in the party place
and the food will go to the cell.
Types of Food Coming from the Plate
Chips:
Spices:
carrot
ketchup
potato
salt
zucchini
beet
Fish Can Come Anytime
=>
... and leave when they get bored.
=>
Touching fish causes them to move.
=>
Fish cannot join the party if there is no empty cell.
=>
Fish Eat Chips
=>
Fish Avoid Salt
=>
Fish Can Eat Ketchup
=>
... but they dislike it so much, they leave the party.
=>
However, being stupid, they keep doing this again and again.
Fish Can Spawn Eggs
=>
These eggs hatch into fish.
=>
Spices Can Be Traded for Chips
... so long as the spice lays between chips of the same color. You must touch the spice to trade it.
=>
Touching the spice inappropriately dissolves it.
=>
Some party places have a different 'house rule' for the spice-to-chip trade:
the spice must lay between chips of opposite colors:
yellow and purple or orange and green.
This opposition rule is similar to that of the real-life color spectrum.
The same/opposite matching is defined by
the match property of the party place (the properties are explained below).
=>
GUIDANCE
Basic Strategy
To achieve the game goal -- fill the place with chips --
you have to arrange food balancing two main objectives:
(1) use spices to protect chips from being eaten by the fish,
(2) place spices between chips to allow for spice-for-chip trading.
Endspiel or Reckoning
This is the situation when the place is filled with chips and spices.
At this point, you have to trade spices for chips to complete the party.
In the case when all spices are arranged properly between chips,
trading them for chips is simple and a happy ending is guaranteed!
However, if the spices are misarranged, then instead of being traded for chips,
the spices get dissolved and fish can enter the party again and start eating chips.
Tip: If there is no free cells, but fish or eggs are present,
you can continue playing by touching fish or eggs (causing them to move or hatch).
Points
You are awarded points only if you win -- when the place is completely filled with chips.
The points indicate how effective you were at the party -- your efficiency quotient.
It equals to the amount of chips currently in the place
divided by total amount of used chips (included eaten by fish).
Then the result is multiplied by 100 to get a percentage.
Your record points at each party place are shown as the last number in the place title.
During the party, your current efficiency quotient
is displayed beneath the party area, to the left.
The number of moves you have made is to the right.
General Game Control
The party starts as soon as you touch the Start party button
on the Home screen.
The party stops (1) when the place is completely filled with chips or
(2) when you leave the party by touching the × button
(no points awarded in this case).
After the party stops you can return to the Home screen by touching
the < button.
Touching the result indicator ('Deserted', 'Victory', 'Record')
below the party area will also open the Home screen.
Place Topology
The party area is actually a torus --
a plane where the opposite sides are connected.
It means that the fish can travel through the right edge straight to left edge,
and through the top to the bottom. Or left to right and bottom to top.
The same connectivity applies to the chip matching in trading spices for chips.
Place Properties
Species: Which fish species the place is devoted to (Cod, Shark, etc.).
Parlor: The type of the establishment (Tavern, Bistro, etc.).
Level: How sophisticated the place is (or how difficult to win).
Standard/Edited/New: 'Standard' -- the place has its properties predefined.
You can modify them -- then it becomes 'Edited'.
Or create a completely new place -- then it becomes 'New'.
Record: The best points you scored at this place.
Vitality: How often fish can enter the place and how long they can stay.
Agility: How fast and smart fish are
-- in terms of (1) the reachable neighborhood in single move and (2) the ability to find chips.
Temper: Not-partying fish are hungry and losing fish are angry.
Temper defines how hunger and anger affect fish behavior.
Fertility: How often fish spawn and eggs hatch.
Match: Whether spice must be between
2 chips of same or opposite color to be traded for a chip.
Seasoning: How much spice you can add.
Dimension: The number of cells across the place, followed by the cell size:
S, M, or L.
The top 5 properties
(Species, Parlor, Level, Standard/Edited/New, Record)
are combined into the place title.
The rest of the properties are displayed (verbally or symbolically) as the place signature beneath the title.
For example:
Cod Tavern • 1st S • 20
★ lazy calm ◔ light less ✪ 10 S
Place Management
Use place management to select a place to party, modify the place properties, or create a new place.
When you touch the Manage places button the place directory will appear.
There you can touch the Home button to return to the Home screen,
the New button to create a new place, or you can select any place from the directory.
In this case the selected place will become the current party place
and all its properties will be listed on the next screen.
There you can touch the Done button to return to the directory,
the Home button to return to the Home screen, or select the place property.
In the latter case, all its available values will be listed on the next screen,
where you can select new values for this property.
A few tips regarding place-creation and modification:
When you create new place it will be a copy of the current place,
but it will get a new randomly assigned name.
Any modification of 'Standard' place will make it 'Edited'.
You can edit this property (revert to 'Standard'), but then all modifications will be lost.
carrot
ketchup
potato
salt
zucchini
beet
