Quartet game · Game 154 of 388 ♦
Go Fish
"Got any sevens?" – ask the others for cards, collect all four of a rank, and when they say "Go fish!", try your luck in the pond.
- Players
- 2–6
- Duration
- 15 min
- Age
- 5+
- Difficulty
- easy
- Cards
- 52 cards, no jokers
- Skill – Luck
- SkillLuck
- Everyone for themselves – Lots of interaction
- Everyone for themselvesLots of interaction
- Simple – Complex
- SimpleComplex
- Quick – Long
- QuickLong
Mood livelylearned in 5 minutes
Collections: First games · Games for two · Games for three · Games for four · Games for five · Games for six or more · Games for kids
Score pad
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Full rules
Overview
Go Fish is a classic first card game for children. You collect books – all four cards of one rank, such as four 7s or four Kings – by asking the other players for the cards you need. If they don't have any, they tell you to "Go fish!" and you draw from the pond. Whoever has the most books at the end wins.
- Players: 2–6 – best with 3–5.
- You need: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers.
Setup
- One player shuffles and deals the cards face down, one at a time: 7 cards each with 2 players, 5 cards each with 3 or more.
- Spread the rest of the cards face down in the middle – this is the pond (or put them in a neat pile as the stock).
- Everyone picks up their cards and looks at them without showing them.
Playing a turn
The player to the dealer's left starts; play goes clockwise.
- Ask one player for a rank, for example: "Anna, give me your Jacks." You may only ask for a rank you already hold at least one card of.
- If they have any: they must give you all their cards of that rank. You then ask again – the same player or someone else, for the same rank or another.
- If they have none: they say "Go fish!" You draw the top card of the stock (or any card from the pond). - If it is the rank you asked for, show it – you get another turn. - Otherwise keep it; your turn ends and the player on your left goes next.
Example: Dan holds 7♠ 7♥ K♦ 3♣ 9♠. He asks Anna: "Do you have any 7s?" She hands over 7♦. Dan asks Ben: "Any 7s?" – "Go fish!" Dan draws the 7♣: a 7! He shows it and has another turn.
Books
As soon as you have all four cards of one rank, show them and put them face down in front of you. That is one book.
End of the game
The game ends as soon as someone has no cards left in their hand or the stock runs out. Count your books: whoever has the most books wins (a tie is a shared win).
Tips for beginners
- Listen carefully: when someone asks for 9s, you know they have at least one 9.
- Ask for the ranks you have the most of – you're closer to a book.
- If a player has just taken your cards, they may ask you again – better not to give away with your face what you still have!
Variants
Optional – agree before you start.
- Play to the end: the game only ends when all 13 books are made. If your hand runs out, draw a card from the stock and keep playing; once the stock is empty, you're out.
- Pairs (Australian Fish): deal 7 cards each and collect pairs instead of books; put each pair down straight away. Play until all cards are gone; each pair scores 1 point.
- Authors: no stock – deal all the cards out. If the asked player has none, the turn simply passes on. Play until all 13 books are made.
Background & history
- Family: Quartet game (collect sets by asking other players for cards)
- Origin: Britain and America, mid 19th century (as games with special cards)
- Also known as: Fish, Fishing; Fischen (Germany), Pêche (France), Fisk (Denmark)
- Related games: Authors, Happy Families, Quartett, Spade the Gardener, Literature
Go Fish belongs to the quartet games, in which players collect sets of four by asking each other for cards. According to pagat.com, games of this type first appeared in the mid 19th century and were played with specially printed cards: in Britain Spade the Gardener and Happy Families, in the USA Dr Busby, first published in 1843, and Authors from 1861. According to Wikipedia, Go Fish might be similar to an Italian game called Andare e piscere, current at the end of the 15th century – but no contemporary description of that game survives.
With an ordinary deck the game became Go Fish, today one of the best-known card games for young children in English-speaking countries. Its rules vary a lot from family to family: whether you get all cards of a rank or only one, whether you collect fours or pairs (the Australian "Fish"), and when the game ends.
In German-speaking countries the same idea is best known as Quartett, played with themed decks – cars, animals, planes – often with numbers on the cards. With an ordinary deck the game is called Fischen. A much trickier partnership game with a standard deck, Literature, is sometimes also called "Fish".