How to Play Finspan

Game Objective

In Finspan, you take on the role of a marine researcher. Your objective is to discover and observe a great diversity of aquatic life in the different ocean zones: the colorful Sunlight Zone (Epipelagic), the ghostly Twilight Zone (Mesopelagic), and the dark Midnight Zone (Bathypelagic). Over 4 weeks, the fish you discover will bring benefits that will help you deepen your research, whether by growing your fish collection, discovering newly laid eggs, or hatching eggs to form Juvenile Fish and gathering them into Schools.

The winner will be the player who accumulates the most points for their Fish, Eggs, Juveniles, Schools, and Objectives at the end of the game.

Setup

General Components

1. Place all Egg/Juvenile and School Markers on the table, within reach of all players, to form the general supply.
2. Shuffle the 10 Starting Fish Cards (with dark gray corners and a different back) and place them face down near the general supply.
3. Shuffle the deck of 125 Fish Cards and place it face down near the Starting Fish Cards.
4. Place the Objective Board near the general supply.
   • If there are any new players, use side A.
   • Otherwise, you can use either side. If using side B, randomly select one Week 1 tile, one Week 2 tile, and one Week 3 tile and place them on the Objective Board, ensuring the week number lines on the tiles match the lines on the board.

Individual Setup

1. Each player places an Ocean Board (their "Ocean") in front of them.
2. Each player chooses a color and takes the 6 corresponding Divers.
3. Place 1 Egg Marker on each of the 2 starting Egg spaces (printed on the Foraging Fish) of your Ocean. The Foraging Fish are the three fish printed on your Ocean Board.
4. Place 1 Juvenile Marker on the starting Juvenile space.
5. Gain 2 random Starting Fish Cards. Place them face up in a vertical line next to your Ocean Board to form your hand. Return any remaining Starting Fish Cards to the box.
6. Draw 3 Fish Cards from the deck and add them face up to your hand. All cards in your hand are public information.
7. Randomly select the starting player and give them the Starting Player Marker.

Game Flow

The game is divided into 4 Weeks. In each Week, each player will take 6 turns, using all their Divers, totaling 24 turns per player throughout the game.

On Your Turn

On your turn, you will place an available Diver on your Ocean Board to perform one of two actions:

1. Play a Fish Card into your Ocean.
2. Dive into a Dive Area to gain various benefits.

End of Week (Weeks 1 to 3)

At the end of Weeks 1, 2, and 3, players simultaneously perform the following steps in order:

1. Score points based on this week's Objective, recording the points on the Score Pad.
2. If using side B of the Objective Board, the player (or players) who scored the most points for the week's Objective will also gain a 3-point bonus (in case of a tie, all tied players gain 3 points).
3. Retrieve all Divers from your Ocean.
4. If you have the Starting Player Marker, pass it to the next player clockwise.

The Week Marker indicates the current week. At the end of Week 4, proceed directly to the End of Game steps. Otherwise, the player with the Starting Player Marker begins the next week.

Actions and How to Play

Play a Fish Card

This action represents you discovering a Fish in an area of your Ocean. Follow these steps:

1. PLACE A DIVER: Place an available Diver in the gray space in the upper left corner of your Ocean.
2. PAY THE COST: Choose a Fish Card from your hand and pay the cost indicated in the upper left corner of the card.
   • Various costs include discarding 1 or more additional cards from your hand as payment. Discarded cards are placed face up in your personal discard pile.
   • Some costs include paying Eggs or Juveniles from anywhere in your Ocean (return the markers to the general supply).
   • Other costs involve consuming a Fish from your Ocean. When you play a Fish with this type of cost, it must cover a smaller Fish (Fish Card or Foraging Fish) already in your Ocean. The played Fish must have a greater length than the Fish it consumed. Any markers (Eggs, Juveniles, or Schools) on the consumed Fish are transferred to the played Fish. Any Fish Cards below the consumed Fish remain where they are. The consumed Fish remains below the Fish Card that consumed it and no longer counts as a Fish in your Ocean.
3. PLACE THE FISH: Choose an empty or occupied space in your Ocean and place the Fish there, following these rules:
   • ZONES: Each Fish specifies 1 or more Zones where it can be placed (Sunlight, Twilight, and/or Midnight), indicated in the bar on the left side of the card.
   • DIVE AREA: Fish with blue, purple, or green color bands can only be placed in the corresponding Dive Areas (columns). Fish without a blue, purple, or green color band can be placed in any Dive Area.
   • COVERING EGGS AND JUVENILES: If a Fish is placed over Egg, Juvenile, or School Markers, transfer those markers to the new Fish.
4. RESOLVE "WHEN PLAYED" ABILITIES: If the Fish has a "WHEN PLAYED" ability, you may gain the benefit. If there is more than one benefit, you may choose the order in which you receive them. If the benefit says "all," each player decides whether to gain the benefit or not.

Dive

This action represents observing and studying Fish in their habitats. Follow these steps:

1. Choose a Dive Area: Place an available Diver at the top of a column.
2. Check the top Dive Bonus: You may gain the bonus printed at the top of the column if you have at least 1 Fish (Fish Card or Foraging Fish) within the Sunlight Zone of that column.
   • : Draw a Fish Card from the deck.
   • : Place an Egg on a Fish (in your Ocean) that does not yet have an Egg. Each Fish can have a maximum of 1 Egg.
   • : Hatch one of your Eggs (flip the Egg Marker to the Juvenile side). If, when hatching an Egg, there are 3 or more Juveniles in the same space of your Ocean, form a School (unless there is already a School in the space).
3. Descend through the Dive Area: As your Diver descends — one row at a time — you may gain the benefits of "IF ACTIVATED" abilities of Fish Cards, as well as other Dive Bonuses. You always move your Diver through all three Zones to the bottom of the Ocean, even if there are no fish in one or more Zones of the Dive Area.
   • "IF ACTIVATED" BENEFIT: If the Fish has an "IF ACTIVATED" ability, you may gain the benefit. If the benefit says "all," each player decides whether to gain the benefit or not.
   • DIVE BONUS: Similar to the top Dive Bonus, there is a Dive Bonus you can gain above the Twilight Zone (if there is at least one Fish within that Zone in the column), and above the Midnight Zone (if there is at least one Fish within that Zone in the column).
4. Gain the Deep Bonus: One of two things happens when a Diver reaches the bottom of your Ocean Board.
   • If this is the first time a Diver has reached the bottom of that Dive Area during this week, place it in the space and you may gain the Deep Bonus.
   • If this is not the first time a Diver has reached the bottom of that Dive Area during this week, place the Diver in the gray space below the Dive Area. You do not gain the Deep Bonus.

Ability Iconography

• : Play a Fish from your hand into an empty or occupied space on your Ocean Board after paying its costs.
• : As a cost, the card being played must be placed over a smaller Fish (Fish Card or Foraging Fish).
• : As a benefit, this Fish consumes a smaller Fish from your hand (place it underneath this Fish).
• : Take any card from your discard pile into your hand. If you have no cards in your discard pile, draw the top card of the deck instead.
• : Place an Egg on each of your Fish that is in the indicated location or possesses the indicated characteristic (at least one icon), and that does not yet have an Egg.
• : Move 1 Juvenile or 1 School any number of spaces in a straight line in your Ocean. A School cannot enter or pass through a space that already has another School.
• : Each player may gain the benefit (even if the active player decides not to gain the benefit).
• : As a cost, discard a Fish Card from your hand. As a benefit, draw a Fish Card from the deck.
• : As a cost, discard an Egg from a Fish. As a benefit, place an Egg on a Fish (in your Ocean) that does not yet have an Egg.
• : Hatch any of your Eggs (flip the Egg Marker to the Juvenile side).
• : A School is formed when 3 Juveniles are in the same space (replace the Juveniles with a School Marker).
• : As a cost, discard a School from your Ocean.
• : As a cost, discard a Juvenile from your Ocean. As a benefit, place a Juvenile in any space with or without a Fish in your Ocean.
• : You can only play this Fish in the Dive Area corresponding to the color band of its ability (blue, purple, or green).

Fish Ability Types

• WHEN PLAYED: Gain this benefit when you play the Fish (after all other "Play a Fish" steps).
• IF ACTIVATED: Gain this benefit when your Diver moves to this Fish during a dive turn.
• END OF GAME: Gain this benefit at the end of the game.

School Markers

A School is formed whenever 3 or more Juveniles share the same space in your Ocean. When