Decide
Draw cards at the start of your turn. You'll receive rod cards and bait cards to add to your hand. These are your tools for the turn ahead.
How to Play
Learn the ropes before you hit the water.
Tight Lines is a tactical card game played in turns. Each turn has 5 phases. Read the pond, pick your gear, and hope the dice are kind.
Overview
The goal
You and your opponent (currently AI) take turns fishing from a shared pond of 9 fish. Outscore your opponent by catching fish worth the most points — or land a Legendary fish to win instantly.
The pond shrinks as fish are caught. When a surfaced fish escapes your cast, it leaves the pond entirely — so every miss counts.
Turn Phases
Each turn in 5 steps
Equip
Choose a rod and/or bait from your hand. Each card gives a bonus that adds to your cast roll. Some rods and baits combo together for extra power. You can also cast with no equipment — but good luck with that.
Target
Pick a fish in the pond to cast at. Some fish are face-up (you can see their stats), others are hidden. Targeting a hidden fish is a gamble — it flips when you cast, revealing what you're up against.
Fate
A fate card is drawn automatically. It might boost your cast, sabotage it, or change the rules entirely. Fate cards are the wildcard — you can't control them, only react.
Cast
Roll the dice. Your total = dice roll + rod bonus + bait bonus + combo bonus + fate modifier. If your total meets or beats the fish's difficulty, you catch it and score its points. If not, it escapes the pond.
Cards
Rods, baits, and fate
Rod Cards
Add a flat bonus to your cast. Some rods have special abilities — targeting hidden fish, re-rolls, or bonuses against specific tiers.
Bait Cards
Also add a bonus, but many have conditions — extra power against heavy fish, bonuses when you're behind, or effects that trigger on specific pond states.
Fate Cards
Drawn automatically each cast. Can be positive, negative, or neutral. Some give massive swings — double dice, guaranteed catches, or penalties that punish risky plays.
Fish
Tiers and difficulty
Every fish has a tier, a difficulty score (how hard to catch), and a point value (how much it's worth). Higher tiers are harder but score more.
Light
Easy catches, low points. Good for building momentum.
Medium
Balanced risk and reward. The bread and butter of most games.
Heavy
Tough to land but worth serious points. Needs good gear.
Trophy
Rare and powerful. High difficulty, high reward.
Legendary
Catch one and you win the game instantly. Extremely hard to land.
Pond Interactions
Throwables
Between turns you can throw items into the pond. In the trial you can toss rocks and a few other items. The full game will include many more throwables with different effects on the pond wildlife.
Win Conditions
How the game ends
Pond runs dry
When all fish have been caught or escaped, the game ends. Highest score wins.
Legendary catch
Land a Legendary-tier fish and you win immediately, regardless of score.
Escapes matter
When you fail to catch a surfaced fish, it escapes and the pond shrinks by one. Every miss brings the game closer to ending.
Ready to fish?
Jump into the free trial and put your tactics to the test.