Braingle: Card Games

Card Games > Go Fish

Other Names:	Fish, Go Fish, Authors, Happy Families, Quartet
Fun:
Complexity:
Players:	3 - 6
More details:	Pagat.com (external link) Wikipedia (external link)
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5 cards are dealt to each player, or seven if there are only two players, and the remaining card pack is placed between the players.

The player whose turn it is to play asks another player for their cards of a particular rank. For example, "Liz, do you have any threes?". A player may only ask for a rank of which they already hold at least one card. The recipient of the request must then hand over all cards of that rank. If the call was successful, the same player has another turn. If the player who was asked has no cards of that rank, they say "Go fish" (or simply "Fish"), and the asking player draws the top card from the pack. The turn then passes to the player who was asked.

When one player has two of the same cards of a given rank, they form a pair, and the cards are placed face up on the table. The game ends when all cards in a player's hand are played down, and the player who won the most books wins.

If the player whose turn it is has no cards left in hand, the game is not over, but they simply draw the top card from the pack and the turn passes to the next player in the rotation, or, in the case of a two-player game, the other player. Whoever has the most pairs wins. [Wikipedia]