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Go Fish Rules in Plain Words

Go Fish is a card game about asking and fishing. You ask other players for cards. If they do not have them, they say "Go fish!" and you take a card from the pond. This game has no money, no sign-up, and nothing to buy. Just cards and friends.

What the game is

You try to make books. A book is all four cards of the same number or face. Four 7s is a book. Four Kings is a book.

The player with the most books at the end wins.

Players: 2 to 6. What you need: one deck of 52 cards.

Setting up

  1. If 2 or 3 people play, each player gets 7 cards.
  2. If 4 or more people play, each player gets 5 cards.
  3. Put the rest of the cards face down in the middle. This is the pond. Some people call it the ocean or the stock.
  4. Look at your cards. Keep them secret. If you already have all four of one kind, lay that book face up in front of you.

How a turn works

  1. Pick one player. Ask for one kind of card. Say: "Do you have any 9s?"
  2. Big rule: you can only ask for a kind of card that is already in your hand. If you have no 9s, you cannot ask for 9s.
  3. If that player has any 9s, they must give you all of them. They cannot keep one back.
  4. If you got cards, ask again. You can ask the same player or a new player.
  5. If the player has no 9s, they say "Go fish!" You take the top card from the pond. Your turn is over. The next player goes.
  6. Any time you make a book of four, lay it face up in front of you.

How you win

The game ends when all 13 books are made. Count the books in front of each player. The most books wins.

Near the end, some players run out of cards. If it is your turn and you have no cards, take one card from the pond and ask with it. If the pond is empty too, you sit out and watch.

Official rule, house rule, or schoolyard rule?

The lucky fish: Rule books do not all agree here. Bicycle's rules say: if you go fishing and the card you draw is the kind you just asked for, show it to everyone. Then you get another turn. Other books say your turn just ends, lucky or not. Pick one way before you start, and play that way the whole game.

Playing for pairs: This is a kids' way to play. Instead of books of four, you match pairs of two. When you make a pair, lay it down. The pond lasts longer and the game is faster. It is a fun house rule for young players.

Asking anyone instead of one player: Schoolyard rule. In the book rules, you ask one player at a time. Some kids shout the question to the whole group. That is fine if everyone agrees first.

Words to know

Book — all four cards of the same kind, like four Jacks.

Pond — the pile of face-down cards in the middle that you fish from.

Rank — the number or face on a card. 7 is a rank. Queen is a rank.

Common questions

Can I lie and say "Go fish" when I have the card?

No. If someone asks you and you have that card, you must hand it over. That is a rule, not a trick.

I asked for 5s and got two. Now I have four 5s. What do I do?

Lay the book of four 5s face up in front of you. Then take your extra turn and ask again.

Can I ask the same player three times in a row?

Yes, if you keep getting cards. Your turn only ends when someone tells you to go fish.

Source: Bicycle Cards, "Go Fish" — bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/go-fish/ — read in full and rewritten in our own plain words. The lucky-fish rule is printed both ways because the books differ.