How to Play Go Fish

Go Fish is a card game that typically uses a standard 52-card deck.

• Number of Players: 3-6 players is ideal.
• Materials Required: A standard 52 card deck of playing cards.

Setup for Go Fish

One player acts as the dealer.  The dealer shuffles the cards and then deals five cards to each player.  The remaining cards are placed face down into a stack.

How Do You Play Go Fish?

To play Go Fish, a player asks another player for a specific rank of card. For instance, a player (Sarah) on his or her turn can ask another player (John), “John, do you have any Aces?” In order to ask, the player must already have one of the cards he or she is asking for.  If the player who is asked has any of the cards that were requested, he or she must give them to the asker.  In this case, if John has any Ace cards, he must give them all to Mary.  The asking player gets an additional turn and can continue the process of asking another player for any rank card.

If the person asked doesn’t have any cards requested, they say “Go fish!’ and the asker must draw a card from the stack.  If the card drawn is the specific card asked for, the asker shows the card and gets another turn.  If the card drawn is not the one requested, then the asker keeps the card and play now shifts to the player who said “Go fish!”

How to Win at Go Fish

Once a player collects a four cards of the same rank, he or she shows the cards and places them on the table.  This is a set.  The game resumes until one player has no cards remaining.  Whoever has completed the most sets wins the game.