How to Play Go Fish
Deal seven cards to each of two players from a standard deck; the rest forms a face-down pond. On your turn, ask your opponent for a rank you already hold at least one of. A hit hands over every card of that rank and you go again; a miss sends you to draw from the pond. Collect all four of a rank for a book. Most of the thirteen possible books wins.
The rules, step by step
- 1Deal seven cards eachThe rest of the deck forms a face-down pond.
- 2Ask for a rank you already holdYou may only name a rank you have at least one card of in your own hand.
- 3A hit means the whole rank changes handsIf your opponent holds any cards of the rank you asked for, they must give you every one, and you go again.
- 4A miss sends you fishingDraw the top card of the pond. Draw the rank you asked for and go again; draw anything else and your turn ends.
- 5Four of a rank is a bookSet it aside face up the instant you hold all four — it is not refilled with a new card.
- 6Most books winsThe game ends when all thirteen books are claimed, or when no further ask can possibly succeed. Whoever holds more books wins; an equal split ties.
Try it — the rules above, running
Computer · 0 books
No books yet
Books completed
0 / 13
Your hand · 7 cards
No books yet
Ask for a rank
Ask for a rank you already hold at least one of — only those buttons are enabled. A hit hands you every matching card and you go again; a miss sends you fishing in the pond, and the three-dot menu explains the one rule every version of Go Fish agrees on.
Your statistics
- Played
- 0
- Won
- 0
- Win rate
- 0%
- Streak
- 0
- Best streak
- 0
- Best time
- —
A game counts as a win when you finish with more books than the computer. Kept in this browser only.
Keyboard
- H
- Hint — a rank worth asking for
- N
- New game
- F
- Full screen
What can you ask for?
Only a rank you already hold at least one card of. You cannot ask for a rank your hand has none of — this is the one rule that every version of Go Fish agrees on without exception.
What happens after you ask?
| Outcome | What happens |
|---|---|
| Opponent holds the rank | They hand over every card of it; you take another turn |
| Opponent holds none | You draw from the pond — draw the asked rank and go again, draw anything else and your turn ends |
How does the game finish?
When all thirteen books have been claimed between the two players, or when the pond runs dry and neither hand shares a rank the other could still be asked for successfully. Whoever holds more books at that point wins.
How do you win more often?
- Ask for ranks you hold multiples of firstEvery extra copy already in your hand means one fewer unseen copy could be anywhere else, so both the odds of a hit and the value of that hit go up together.
- Remember every rank your opponent has asked forAn opponent's ask proves they held that rank at the time — confirmed, guaranteed information you can use against them the moment you pick up a matching card yourself.
- Don't repeat an ask you've already proven can't succeedOnce the pond is empty and you've missed on a rank, every remaining copy of it must be sitting in your own hand — asking again wastes a turn that could extract new information instead.
- A run of extra turns from consecutive hits is worth chasingEvery successful ask lets you go again, so a hand with two or three ranks close to complete can turn into a run of several turns in a row — worth planning your ask order around.
Common questions about go fish
- Do you get a new card when you complete a book in Go Fish?
- No. A completed book is set aside and your hand simply has four fewer cards in it — it is only refilled if your hand empties out completely and the pond still has cards left.
- Is Go Fish a game of memory or a game of luck?
- Both. The deal is random, but remembering which ranks have been asked for — by you and by your opponent — turns later turns into genuine deduction rather than guessing.
Ready to stop reading? Play go fish on the full board, with controls and statistics tailored to that game.