Go Fish rules
Ask for matching ranks, collect sets of four called books, and finish with more books than your opponent.
Play Go Fish →Setup
- Shuffle a standard 52-card deck.
- Deal seven cards to each player in a two-player game.
- Place the remaining cards face down as the pond.
- Any four cards of the same rank form a book and leave the hand.
How to play
- Choose a rank that appears in your own hand.
- Ask the other player for every card of that rank.
- If they have any, they must give you all of them and you ask again.
- If they have none, they say “Go Fish” and you draw from the pond.
- If you draw the rank you requested, take another turn. Otherwise play passes.
- When all 13 books are complete, the player with the most books wins.
Example
If you hold a 7, you may ask Finn, “Do you have any 7s?” You cannot ask for a rank you do not hold.
Beginner strategy
If Finn asks for a rank, he holds at least one of those cards. Ask for it when you can.
Ranks you hold twice are closer to becoming a four-card book.
As the pond gets smaller, memory becomes more important than luck.