Finspan Scoring

Overview

Finspan scoring has three weekly achievements and a final count after week four. Each player records the week 1, 2 and 3 achievements as they happen. At game end, score GAME END powers, visible fish, consumed fish, eggs, young and schools. Use the base-game rules for setup and turns; Sharks & Reefs adds coral and new achievement material.

Achievements: score weeks 1–3 only

At the end of each of the first three weeks, count the current achievement and write its points on the pad. Side A awards points per qualifying item. Side B uses its achievement tile and also gives three bonus points to the player or players who earned the most points on that tile. Retrieve divers and rotate first player afterward. Week four goes straight to final scoring.

Final scorepad categories

• GAME END points: resolve yellow powers on visible fish in your ocean. First resolve applicable non-scoring GAME END effects in an order of your choice, then award the scoring powers.
• Visible fish: add the printed points on the top fish card of each occupied slot. Consumed cards beneath another fish do not also receive their printed points.
• Consumed fish: one point per consumed fish card or printed forage fish beneath another fish.
• Eggs and young: one point for every remaining egg and one for every remaining young.
• Schools: six points per school token.
• Achievements: add the points you recorded in weeks 1–3.

A simple worked example

Suppose your visible fish show 24 printed points, GAME END abilities award 5, you have two consumed fish, four eggs, two young and one school. Your final count from those categories is 24 + 5 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 6 = 43. If your first three achievements yielded 3, 6 and 4 points, your total is 56. Use the exact card text to evaluate the GAME END amount in a real game.

Why hatching does not itself add final points

One egg scores one point, and one young also scores one point. Hatching changes what your powers and achievements can use, but it does not increase the token’s base final value by itself. Three young together score three; converting them into a school raises that slot’s base final value to six. The timing of conversion is therefore the strategic question.

Common scoring mistakes

• Scoring a fourth weekly achievement after week four.
• Counting a consumed fish’s printed points or GAME END ability instead of its one consumed-fish point.
• Forgetting that a consumed forage fish also counts for one point.
• Counting the eggs or young used to form a school in addition to the school token; those three young were replaced.
• Missing a side B weekly high-score bonus or a tie for that bonus.

Who wins a tie?

The highest total wins. If tied, the tied player with the most fish cards remaining in hand wins. If that is also tied, the players share victory. This is why the hand still matters after the final dive.

With Sharks & Reefs

Use the expansion’s replacement scorepad and rules to add coral, reef completion and its new cards or achievements to these base categories. The expansion guide explains what the box adds; do not invent a coral value from the base pad.

More Finspan guides

• Game guide
• How to play
• Strategy
• Sharks & Reefs expansion

Sources and scope

Checked September 2026 against the official Stonemaier rules and FAQ and publisher game page. This is base-game scoring; resolve individual card and expansion exceptions as printed.