Playing Go Fish is a classic and enjoyable card game where the goal is to collect the most "books" of four cards of the same rank.
How to Play Go Fish
Go Fish is typically played with a standard 52-card deck and is suitable for 2 to 6 players, though the initial dealing strategy might vary slightly based on the number of participants.
1. Setup
To begin a game of Go Fish:
- Dealing Cards: If 2 to 4 people are playing, deal each player 7 cards. For more than 4 players, deal 5 cards to each player.
- Creating the Draw Pile: Place the rest of the cards face down in a neat stack in the middle of the playing area. This pile is often referred to as the "ocean" or "fish pile."
2. Gameplay
The game proceeds in turns, following these steps:
- Starting the Game: The player to the left of the dealer starts the game.
- Asking for Cards: On your turn, you must ask another player for cards of a certain rank. For example, you might ask, "Do you have any Queens?"
- Prerequisite: To ask for a specific rank, you must already have at least one card of that rank in your hand.
- Recipient: You can ask any other player at the table.
- Receiving Cards:
- Success: If the player you asked has any cards of the requested rank, they must give all of those cards to you. When you get cards from another person, you get another go, meaning your turn continues.
- "Go Fish!": If the player you asked does not have any cards of that rank, they must say "Go Fish!" You then draw one card from the top of the draw pile.
- If the card you draw is the exact rank you just asked for, you show it to the other players, and you get to take another turn.
- If the card you draw is not the rank you asked for, your turn ends, and play passes to the next player to your left.
- Forming Books: As you collect cards, if you accumulate all four cards of the same rank (e.g., all four Jacks), you have made a "book." Declare it, show the four cards to everyone, and place the completed book face up in a separate pile in front of you. Books are out of play for the rest of the game.
3. Winning the Game
The game continues until one of two conditions is met:
- All 13 books (Aces through Kings) have been formed and laid down.
- A player runs out of cards and there are no more cards left in the draw pile to replenish their hand.
Once the game ends, players count the number of books they have collected. The player with the most books wins the game!