How to Play OpenFishbanks
Welcome to OpenFishbanks, a multiplayer game where you manage a fishing company and try to maximize profit. This guide walks you through everything you need to know to get started.
Game Objective
In OpenFishbanks, you play as the CEO of a fishing company.
Your goal: maximize your fishery's value by fishing, buying/selling boats, and managing resources wisely.
But be careful! The ocean has limited fish, and overfishing can hurt everyone — including you.
Quick Start Steps
1. Join a Game
- Go to the home page.
- Create an account or log in.
2. View Your Inventory
- Once the game begins, you'll be assigned:
- A base fishing boat (ship)
- Starting cash
- Click "My Fleet" to view your ships and their stats.
3. Make Decisions Between fishing cycles
Ships return in cycles of 30 minutes in real life, or around 2 weeks in game,
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Fish | Assign your ship to a harbor. Catch amount depends on ship type, harbor location, & fish stock. |
| Buy Ship | Invest in a new boat to catch more fish. |
| Auction Ship | Liquidate a boat for cash if you need funds. |
| Dock | Rest your ship by assigning it to no harbor — it won’t fish, but it also won’t risk breaking. |
4. Review Results
At the end of each fishing trip, you’ll get feedback in the form of an invoice:
- How much fish you caught
- Revenue earned
- Gas and crew fees for each ship
- Harbor fees for each ship
Winning the Game
The game usually runs for a week.
The winner is the player or team with the highest total company value (cash + fleet + inventory) at the end.
Tips for Beginners
- Balance your fleet size with the health of the ocean.
- Watch your finances — new ships are expensive, and cash flow matters.
- Collaborate or compete — your choices affect others. Will you play sustainably or aggressively? Its in your interest to work with others through trading and communication
Multiplayer Dynamics
- You are not alone. Other players are making similar decisions.
- The ocean’s fish population is shared among everyone.
- Greedy strategies can lead to collapse — but cooperation is never guaranteed.
About OpenFishbanks
OpenFishbanks is an open-source and asycnhronous extension of MIT Sloan's Fishbanks designed to simulate the dynamics of a fishing economy. It is built using Django and Python, with HTML, CSS, and Javascript for frontend. All code and assets are avaliable on the projects github repository. Feel free to reach out to quinnryanwilliams@gmail.com with questions or concerns about OpenFishbanks.
Developers
Quinn Williams
Quinn Williams is a senior at Concord Academy