How to play Go Fish
Go Fish is a card game for two to six players. You try to collect books: all four cards of one rank, such as the four kings. You get cards by asking other players for them, one rank at a time. If the player you ask has none, they say “Go fish!” and you draw a card from the pile instead. Whoever has the most books at the end wins.
Practice this game. Learn faster by playing: practice Go Fish against two computer players, with a coach beside the cards explaining what each question tells you.
Practice Go FishGo Fish at a glance
- Players: Two to six, each playing for themselves.
- Cards: A standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Only a card’s rank matters, not its suit.
- Deal: Five cards each, or seven each when only two play. The rest of the deck is the draw pile.
- Goal: Collect books: all four cards of one rank. The most books wins.
- How play goes: On your turn you ask one other player for a rank you hold: “Mary, do you have any jacks?” If they have any, they hand over all of them and you ask again. If not, they say “Go fish!” and you draw a card.
- The end: The deal is over when all 13 books have been made.
What you need
You need a standard 52-card deck with no jokers, and two to six players. The rank of a card is its number or letter: ace, 2 through 10, jack, queen or king. There are 13 ranks, with four cards of each. In this game the order of the ranks does not matter, and neither do the suits. The 7 of hearts and the 7 of spades are both sevens.
Cards for Go Fish
Go Fish needs only an ordinary 52-card deck, so if you have one, you do not need anything here. If you are buying for a family with young children, there are three things to look at: a plain Bicycle deck, a pack of six children’s card games, and a card holder for small hands. Our guide to the best family card games has more for a table of mixed ages.
See the three options
We have not handled any of these ourselves. What we say comes from the Amazon listings, Bicycle’s own rules pages and the few independent reviews we could find. The plain deck is first because it is all the game needs.
Bicycle Rider Back Playing Cards
Best if there is no deck in the house: it is all Go Fish needs
Bicycle’s everyday 52-card deck. Take out the jokers and you have everything this page uses; Bicycle’s own Go Fish rules use the same standard deck. It plays most of the other games we have written up too, such as Crazy Eights and Rummy.
Gives up: nothing in it is made for a young child. The cards are the usual size, the corner numbers are small, and there are no pictures to help. The listing says the color varies, so you cannot choose one.
Hoyle 6-in-1 Kids Card Game Pack
Best for a family with young children who want to try several games
One pack with six decks for classic children’s games: Go Fish, Old Maid, Crazy Eights, Slap Jack, Memory and Matching. It is an easy way to find out which games a child enjoys. We have written up Crazy Eights too.
Gives up: the cards are made small, for small hands, and we found no independent review of how long they last. We could not see how its Go Fish deck is laid out, so it may not match this page card for card; an ordinary deck always does.
Gamewright The Original Little Hands Playing Card Holder
Best for a child who cannot yet hold a fan of cards
A plastic holder that keeps a small hand of cards upright, so a child does not have to grip them in a fan. In Go Fish your hand is meant to stay hidden, and young players tend to drop their cards or show them to everyone.
Gives up: room for a big hand. The maker gives no card count, and one review site lists it as holding four to five cards, while a Go Fish hand starts at five or seven and can grow. It has also been hard to find at times, so check that the listing can be bought.
The deal
A deal is everything played with one dealing of the cards. In Go Fish, one deal is the whole game.
Any fair method decides who deals first. The dealer shuffles, then deals the cards one at a time, face down, clockwise, starting with the player to the dealer’s left. Deal five cards to each player, or seven each when only two play. Put the rest of the deck face down in the middle of the table. This is the draw pile. When you play again, the job of dealing usually passes one player to the left.
The cards a player holds are that player’s hand. If the dealer shows a card while dealing, or a player is given too few cards and says so before looking at them, the dealer deals again. If a player drops a card or shows it by accident, there is no penalty: it goes back into the hand. If anyone is dealt all four cards of a rank, they put them down as a book at once (see Books below).
Playing a turn
The player to the dealer’s left goes first, and play passes to the left. A turn is a question: you ask one other player for one rank.
- Choose a player and a rank. Pick any other player. Name a rank that you already hold at least one card of. You may not ask for a rank you do not hold. Say it out loud, naming the player: “Mary, do you have any jacks?”
- If that player has any, they must hand over all of them. That means every card of the rank, not just one. You add them to your hand and you ask again: the same player or a different one, for any rank you now hold. You keep asking for as long as the answer is yes.
- If they have none, they say “Go fish!” You take the top card of the draw pile into your hand. If it is the rank you asked for, show it, and ask again. If it is any other card, keep it without showing it. Your turn is over, and play passes to the player on your left.
Some groups end your turn after every “Go fish”, even when you draw the rank you asked for, and some give you another turn when the card you draw completes a book. See Common variations. The practice game plays it as described above: the extra turn comes only when you draw the rank you asked for.
A turn, step by step. You hold 7♠ 7♥ K♦ 3♣ 9♣. You ask West: “Do you have any sevens?” West has the 7♦ and hands it over. You now hold three sevens, so you ask again. This time you ask East for sevens. East has none and says “Go fish!” You draw the top card of the draw pile. It is the 4♥. That is not a seven, so you keep it, and your turn is over. West goes next.
West and East heard both of your questions. To ask for sevens you must hold a seven, so they now know you do.
Books
When you hold all four cards of a rank, show them and put them down in front of you, face up. This is a book. Do it at once, whether the fourth card came from another player or from the draw pile. A book is out of the game: nobody can ask you for those cards, and you cannot ask for them either.
Making a book does not change whose turn it is. If you were asking again, you carry on. If your turn was already over, it stays over.
When you have no cards
If you have no cards when it is your turn, draw one card from the draw pile and ask for that rank, which is the only rank you now hold. The same happens if your last cards go into a book in the middle of your turn: draw one card and carry on. If the draw pile is empty, you are out of the deal. You take no more turns, and the others play on without you.
When the draw pile runs out
With the draw pile gone there is nothing to draw. A player who hears “Go fish” simply ends their turn, and play passes to the left. Every card still in play is now in somebody’s hand, and any rank that is not yet a book is split between players. So someone can always ask for the cards that are missing, and play carries on until all 13 books have been made.
Who wins
The deal ends as soon as the 13th book has been made. Count your books. Whoever has the most books wins. If two or more players have the same most books, they share the win. Some groups play several deals and add up the books (see Common variations).
If someone breaks a rule by mistake
Asking for a rank you do not hold, asking out of turn and keeping a card you should have handed over are mistakes. The rule books we checked name no penalty for them. Most groups simply put things right and carry on: the card goes back, the question is asked properly, or the card that should have been handed over is handed over. Some groups also make the player miss a turn. Agree before you start which you will use.
Practice Go Fish
Go Fish takes a minute to learn, and it rewards remembering what the other players ask for. The practice game deals you in against two computer players and, as you play, points out what each question tells you.
Free, in your browser, with the rules and the common beginner mistakes beside the table while you play.
Play a practice gameWhat the questions tell you
Luck decides a lot in Go Fish, but not everything. What other players ask for tells you what they hold.
- Asking for a rank means holding it. A player may only ask for a rank they have, so when West asks East for jacks, West holds at least one jack.
- They keep it until it is taken. A player keeps a card until they hand it over to someone who asks for it, or put it down in a book. So if West asked for jacks and nobody has taken West’s jacks since, West still has one. If you hold a jack too, ask West for jacks: you cannot hear “Go fish”.
- “Go fish” tells you something too. A player who says it had none of that rank. They can have one now only if they have drawn a card since.
- Your questions give you away. If you ask for sevens and another player holds a seven, that player can ask you for sevens and take every one you have.
- Otherwise, ask for the rank you hold the most of. Every card you collect brings you closer to a book. In practice-game tests, computer players that asked for the rank they held the most of won clearly more games than ones that asked for the rank they held the least of.
- When nothing tells you who has the rank, ask the player with more cards. A player holding more cards is more likely to have one of the rank you want.
Questions people ask
Do I have to hand over every card of the rank?
Yes. In the standard game you hand over all of them. Some groups let the player hand over just one: see Common variations.
Can I ask for a rank I do not hold?
No. You must hold at least one card of the rank you ask for. That is what makes every question give something away.
Can I ask a player who has no cards?
The rules we checked do not forbid it, but the answer can only be “Go fish”. The practice game does not offer a player with no cards unless nobody else has any, because then you could not draw otherwise.
What if I draw the card I asked for?
Show it and ask again. That is the standard rule here. A few groups do not allow it: see Common variations.
What if the card I draw completes a book, but it is not the rank I asked for?
Put the book down. Your turn is still over. Some groups let you go again: see Common variations.
Is it cheating to remember what people asked for?
No. Paying attention to the questions is part of the game.
What if someone says they have no cards of a rank, but they do?
Go Fish runs on honesty, because nobody else can see your hand. A player who keeps a card they should have handed over has broken a rule. See “If someone breaks a rule by mistake” above.
Common variations
Printed rules and house rules differ in a few places. These are the ones you are most likely to meet.
- Seven cards for three players — some rule books deal seven cards each to two or three players, and five each to four or more. Others deal seven only to two players. The practice game deals five to each of its three players.
- No extra turn for a lucky draw — some groups end your turn after every “Go fish”, even when you draw the rank you asked for.
- An extra turn for completing a book — some printed rules let you go again whenever you complete a book, even with a card you drew that was not the rank you asked for.
- Draw five — when you run out of cards, you draw a new hand of five (or all that are left in the draw pile) instead of one card.
- The turn passes to the player who said “Go fish” — instead of to the player on your left.
- The game ends sooner — some rules end the deal as soon as someone has no cards left or the draw pile runs out, and the most books wins. In others, the first player to get rid of all their cards wins outright.
- Asking for a specific card — you name the rank and the suit: “Tom, do you have the seven of diamonds?” You must still hold a card of that rank. If you draw the card you named, you go again.
- Handing over one card — some groups let the player hand over just one card of the rank.
- Asking for a rank you do not hold — the printed rules we checked do not allow it. A group that does allow it plays a different game, because a question no longer tells the others that you hold the rank.
- Several deals — score one point for each book, and play until someone reaches an agreed total.
- Authors and Happy Families — related games where you often ask for one named card instead of a rank. In Authors, the American game, all the cards are dealt out and there is no draw pile, so a player with no match simply ends their turn. Happy Families, the British game, is played with special picture cards.
- Old Maid — another game of matching cards, where you put down pairs and take cards from each other’s hands. See the Old Maid rules.
Other names you may hear
At a card table and in older rule books, players use their own words instead. Here is our plain word, then theirs:
- draw pile — the “stock”. Some websites call it the “pond”.
- rank — sometimes called the “denomination” of a card, as in four cards of the same denomination.
- book — four cards of one rank are also called a “quartet”, and games like Go Fish are called “quartet” games.
- asking and drawing — a player who hears “Go fish” is “fishing”, and a card won by asking, or by drawing the rank you asked for, is a “catch”.
- deal — often called a “hand”. Here “hand” means only the cards you are holding.
More card-game words are in our glossary. For the games we have not written up yet, the four reference books we recommend cover several hundred between them.