ASK FOR A RANK. COLLECT ALL FOUR.↝SUITS DON’T CHANGE THE SCORE.
ASK. CATCH. COLLECT.
YOUR HAND — CARDS
A FAMILY FAVOURITE. ONE GOOD QUESTION.
7♠♠7♥♥7♣♣7♦♦
Have you got what I’m looking for?
Learn to ask, fish and collect books. Three prepared tutorials, then a full game against the computer.
Choose a tutorial or start a shuffled game.
YOUR COLLECTED BOOKS
No books yet.
COMPUTER’S COLLECTED BOOKS
No books yet.
Follow the requests & catches
Your requests and catches will appear here.
FOUR OF A KIND = ONE BOOK
♧ Browser-based practice · No downloadBooks of four · Play to all thirteen
THE IDEA IN ONE MINUTE
A good question. A better collection.
Go Fish is about collecting the most books: sets of all four cards of one rank. Ask the opponent for a rank already in your hand. No match? Go fish from the stock.
If you hold a seven, you may ask for sevens. The opponent gives you all their sevens.
02
A catch keeps your turn.
Receive cards from the opponent, or fish the rank you asked for, and you ask again.
03
Four of a kind is one book.
Put all four aside. Collect the most books by the time all thirteen are complete.
GO FISH RULES, MADE VISIBLE
Know what to ask. Know what counts.
How to play Go Fish from the starting hand to the final book. These rules match the two-player practice table.
01
BEFORE THE FIRST REQUEST
How many cards do you deal in Go Fish?
At our two-player table, use one standard 52-card deck without jokers and deal seven cards to each player. The other 38 cards form a face-down stock. Keep your own hand private. You start the first turn against the computer.
OPPONENT
▥ ▥ ▥ ▥ ▥ ▥ ▥
7 private cards
THE STOCK▥38 cards face down
YOU7 private cards · ask first
Go Fish can also be played with more people. Larger groups often deal five each, but deal sizes vary by version. The practice game here stays with two players and seven cards each.
If a starting hand already contains four of a rank, our table places that book in the player’s collection automatically. The remaining hand is then used for requests.
02
ONE RANK. EVERY MATCH.
How to ask for cards in Go Fish.
Choose a rank you already hold and ask the opponent for it—for example, “Do you have any sevens?” You ask for the rank, not a particular suit. If they hold any sevens, they must give you all of them.
YOU HOLD
7♠♠7♥♥
＋
THEY GIVE BOTH
7♣♣7♦♦
Two sevens in your hand + both of the opponent’s sevens = a completed book.
Hold it before asking. You cannot ask for kings if you have no king in your hand.
Receive every matching card. The opponent cannot choose to keep one back.
Ask again after a catch. Choose any rank you still hold. It need not be the same rank.
Stop asking for completed books. Once all four cards are set aside, that rank is no longer in your hand.
In a game with more players, name the person you are asking. Our practice table has one opponent, so you choose only the rank.
03
WHEN THE ANSWER IS “GO FISH!”
Drawing a card and keeping your turn.
If the opponent has none of your requested rank, draw exactly one card from the stock. Keep that card, whatever its rank. What you draw determines who asks next.
YOU ASKED FOR SEVENS
7♦♦
You fish a seven.
It matches the request. Show the matching catch and ask again. If it completes a book, collect that book too.
YOU ASKED FOR SEVENS
K♠♠
You fish a king.
Keep the king, but your turn ends because the rank differs. The opponent now asks.
↳
A different-rank book does not extend the turn here. If an unmatched fish happens to complete another book, collect it, but pass the turn. Only a successful request or a fish of the requested rank keeps you asking.
If the stock is empty, a failed request passes the turn without drawing. Do not reshuffle collected books or take cards back from them.
04
FOUR MATCHING RANKS. ONE POINT.
What is a book in Go Fish?
A book is all four cards of one rank: for example, 7♠ 7♥ 7♣ 7♦. Suits do not need to match; in a standard deck each rank has one of each suit. A pair is not a completed book in this version.
Only the four sevens make a book. Two sevens are a useful start; four different ranks do not form a book.
Place completed books face up, separate from your hand, as soon as you make them. Our table does this automatically and shows each book in a collection row. You can no longer ask for a rank once all its cards are in a collected book.
Each book is worth one point. A book of kings and a book of twos have equal value. You do not add the numerical values of the cards.
05
EMPTY HANDS ARE NOT THE FINISH LINE
Running out of cards and winning Go Fish.
If your hand is empty when your turn starts, draw one stock card and ask for that rank. The same applies when a successful catch gives you another turn but collecting a book empties your hand. If no stock remains, an empty hand has no request to make.
Our game continues until all thirteen books have been collected. Running out of stock does not end it: continue asking from the cards still held. With a complete two-player deck, the last remaining ranks can then be gathered into books.
YOUR BOOKS7
vs.
OPPONENT’S BOOKS6
Thirteen books collected. Seven beats six—you win. Discarding every card first would not, by itself, win Go Fish.
Because thirteen is odd, a completed two-player game with this deck cannot finish with equal book counts. Start a new game for a fresh deal; our practice scores do not carry over between games.
06
AGREE THE RULES BEFORE ASKING
Our Go Fish rules and common variations.
RuleOur tableOther versions
Starting cardsSeven each for two playersFive in larger groups
RequestsAsk for a rank you hold; receive all matchesAsk for a specific rank and suit
A bookFour of a rankPairs in some “Fish” games
Empty handRefill one card at the start of your turn, if stock remainsRefill with several cards
EndingCollect all thirteen booksStop at an empty hand or exhausted stock
ScoringOne point per bookSeries of games or different point values
Our opponent uses its own hand and remembered public requests when choosing a rank. It does not inspect your hidden hand or future stock cards. The tutorial uses prepared late-game positions; free play shuffles the full deck.
Print the Go Fish reference or save it as a PDF from your browser’s print window.
GO FISHTHE TABLE-SIDE GUIDE · CARD GAME RULES
The aim: collect the most books of four.
Deal
Seven each for two players. The other 38 cards form the face-down stock.
Ask
Choose a rank you hold. The opponent gives all cards of that rank.
Catch
A successful request keeps your turn. Ask for any rank still held.
Go fish
No match? Draw one. Requested rank = ask again; different rank = turn passes.
Book
All four cards of a rank. Set them aside. Each book is one point.
Empty hand
At the start of your turn, draw one if stock remains.
Finish
All thirteen books collected. Most books wins, not the first empty hand.
Our version: no jokers; books of four, not pairs; continue after the stock runs out. A missed request with no stock simply passes the turn. Completed books cannot be requested. No real-money play or saved scores.
LEARN IT. DEAL IT. ENJOY IT. ♣
GOOD QUESTIONS
Ask better questions. Know the answers.
How do you play Go Fish for beginners?
Deal seven cards each for our two-player version. Ask for a rank you hold. Take all matching cards from the opponent, or draw one if they have none. Successful catches and matching fish keep your turn. Collect four of a rank into books; most books wins after all thirteen are collected.
Do you need pairs or four cards in Go Fish?
Our version requires four of a kind for a book. A pair lets you ask for that rank, but is not a scoring set. Pair-collecting versions exist, so agree the version first.
Can you ask for cards you do not have?
No. You must hold at least one card of the requested rank. Cards already in a collected book do not count as being in your hand.
Do you give one card or all matching cards?
All of them. If the opponent asks for sevens and you hold three sevens, give all three.
Do you get another turn after going fish?
Only if the drawn card matches the rank you asked for, in our version. Keep a different card, but pass the turn. Completing a different-rank book does not change that turn-ending rule.
What happens if you run out of cards?
An empty hand refills with one card when its turn starts, if the stock has any cards left. You do not win merely by emptying your hand. The game continues until all thirteen books are collected.
What happens when the stock runs out?
Continue asking from the ranks in your hand. A failed request passes the turn without drawing. Collected books stay out of play. This version does not stop just because the stock is empty.
Are aces high, and do kings score more?
Rank order does not decide requests or scoring here. Aces, kings and twos each make a one-point book when all four matching cards are collected.
Can the computer see my cards?
It chooses requests from its own cards and what it remembers from public requests. It does not look at your hidden hand or upcoming stock cards to choose a rank. Rules enforcement transfers the correct cards automatically after a request.
Are there accounts or saved scores?
No. Games run in your browser and reset when you restart or reload. There are no deposits, purchases, prizes or tracking scripts.
