Or another way, is to simply keep playing. Who says you really need to end after everyone has had only 1 or 2 turns being the Guesser? The same can't be said for Sounds Fishy. Actually, there's a danger of learning the answers to each question if you overplay it. That means it has a more limited shelf-life. When you open the shiny box you will see the game includes some pretty nice components for a party game. There are 200 questions which should last quite a while, lots of points tokens, eight red herrings and one true blue kipper. These fish are the highlight of the components as they are beautifully drawn and shiny. They will definitely attract people to the table to play.

Whoever has the True Blue Kipper has to try and get caught as soon as possible (Image credit: Future) The game reminds us a lot of Balderdash and Beyond Balderdash, where players make up answers to factoids. Do you like party games like Just One, Codenames or So Clover? If the answer is yes you don’t need to read the whole review instead just get a copy of Sounds Fishy in your shopping basket and prepare for a hilarious time. This is a plastic free game. All of the contents and box itself are made from paper and cardboard. The insert, which holds everything perfectly, is made of recycled paper and it certainly has that smell which reminds you of its green credentials.As such, we’ve enjoyed games with 6 or 7 players the most. Though it is pretty fun in a 9-player game to have the Blue Kipper and get your fish flipped first so you score 7 points while everyone else scores nothing. I say “most everyone” because it requires bluffing. And we know not everyone enjoys games with a bluffing element (including a couple in our family). The recommended age is also 10+ and we think that’s a solid point of reference as well.

I played Sounds Fishy with different groups of varying sizes, and made sure I played each of its roles to get a better idea of what they were like. To start a game you take the true blue fish plus a number of red herrings so there are one less fish than players. Fish are randomly allocated to all players (except the guesser) and players secretly look at their fish to determine if they need to tell the truth (true blue) or a lie (red herring). Players keep their fish with the shiny side face down. Sounds Fishy reels you in with a great premise, but it doesn't always catch you - it needs just a little more substance to become a favorite in the long-term.Scoring in Sounds Fishy varies for each of the three roles. When playing as the guesser, players will score a point for every correctly guessed Red Herring. They’ll also win a bonus if they correctly identify everyone, without falling prey to the True Blue Kipper. But be warned, if the guesser calls the Kipper out as a Red Herring, they lose everything. Red Herrings will score one point for every flipped fish on the table, including the Kipper. That’s because of course, the questions have a hint of silliness to them in most occasions, so providing a slightly absurd answer is often within the theming, where hilarity then ensues. It’s easy to panic and struggle to provide an answer, but even some of those are labelled ‘that sounds so ridiculous, it might even be true’, meaning you’ll sometimes risk it for a biscuit on an entirely obscure answer. We giggled our way through the style of answer one player consistently gave, only to assume red herring – where miraculously, it was the one time she played blue. We questioned whether answers were based on video games, news pieces, strange stories, when they were true. We asked why in the world you answered that, debriefed the why’s afterwards, and found the game facilitated our fun perfectly. The guesser will gain 1 point for each red herring they flip plus 1 additional point if they guess all of the red herrings (hence only the true blue answer is left). However, the guesser will lose all of their points if they flip the true blue too early. The red herring players will receive 1 point for every flipped fish on the table if their fish remains unflipped. The true blue kipper will receive 1 point for every unflipped fish on the table if their fish is flipped. Sustainable Gaming The player who has the Blue Kipper says the correct answer and all the players with a Red Herring give a fake answer. They choose one of the answers they think is fake and flip over that player’s fish. If it’s Red, the Guesser gets 1 point. The Guesser can stop at any point and bank their points or they can keep guessing. However, if they flip over the Blue fish, they lose any points they’ve gained this round.

It certainly helps that the questions are bizarre enough to catch you off guard. Where is it illegal to fall asleep in South Dakota, for instance? A game like this lives or dies on the strength of its trivia, and Sounds Fishy passes the litmus test with gusto. Some answers are so strange that you couldn't make up anything weirder if you tried. Accordingly, it's quirky and has plenty of character. There's no confusion about what you have to do during a match either, so even board game novices are unlikely to feel lost. You could ask people to repeat their answer, but we’ve found that can give away if they were faking or not. So we have a house rule that players can’t be asked to repeat what they said.So if you have the Blue Kipper, you want to give the correct answer in such a way that the Guesser thinks it might be fake. And if you have a Red Herring, you want to deliver your answer like it’s the real thing. Which players gave fake answers? Those are the fish you want to flip. Overall, Sounds Fishy is a fun, simple party game that even those who don’t like bluffing games in our family enjoy playing. The point tokens have cool fishy symbols on them. The fun and hilarity in this game comes from the crazy answers people give and you are 100% sure they are lying only to be told it is the truth. People can really try to put you off by seeming unsure when they give an answer or look ‘shifty’ all with the aim of throwing the guesser off the scent. Seeing Red Then play passes to the next player to be the Guesser for the next round. The fish are again randomly dealt out face down and the new Guesser starts out with the next card in the card holder.

This game includes some lovely points tokens which look great on the table. Points are allocated to the guesser as well as the red herrings and true blue kipper depending on how well the round played out. If you have a Red Herring and it gets flipped, you get 0 points. If yours remains unflipped, you get 1 point for every flipped fish (including the Blue Kipper). First, players decide who will be the starting guesser. They then take the dispenser with the question cards in, making sure the side with the blue answer on is facing down. Then, the guesser will randomly dish out one fish to each player, keeping them face down. All of these fish should be Red Herrings except for one: the True Blue Kipper. If you have the Blue Kipper and it gets flipped, you get 1 point for every unflipped fish on the table. If you remain unflipped, you get 0 points. You'll also have a good time battling each other for points. The process of trying to weed out fibs from fact is engaging enough to keep you invested, and the same is true of those attempting to stay under the radar. Keeping players off your scent as a True Blue Kipper is an equally usual challenge; be too obvious and the jig is up, losing you the advantage.

Once all players have given their answer, the Guesser starts flipping over fish – trying to eliminate the fake answers. The questions are mostly so bizarre that we’re genuinely curious to just keep rattling through more of them. And since the game comes with 220 question cards, there’s plenty of fun to go. You play either The Guesser or The Fish in a battle of disguising and finding the truth. The Guesser reads out a Question card before guessing which of The Fish's answers is fake. The Fish are either True Blue hiders of the right answer or Red Herring inventors of fake ones. The Guesser gets a point for each fake answer guessed correctly, but loses all these points if they choose the true one. If you have the most points after everyone has had a round of guessing, you are the winner.