Guest Author - Lynn Little

What you need to play: Standard 52 card deck

Object of the game: To collect the most sets of four cards

Go Fish card game, or Fish, is a straightforward card game that has few rules. It's simple premise makes it a wonderful game to pick up easily. Go Fish is a fun game to introduce younger players to the world of card games.

Go Fish is played with a standard 52 card deck. It is best with 3-6 players. Each person is dealt five cards, 7 if only two people are playing. The rest of the deck, or stock pile, is put on the table. The object of the game is to collect books(four of a kind) of cards. Play can begin with the person to the right of the dealer, or randomly choose who will go first.

The player begins his turn by choosing another player to ask him if he has a card he needs. Like “Do you have any threes?” If the person has threes, then he hands over all threes in his hand to the player. If the person does not have threes, then they say “Go Fish.” The player then has to draw a card from the deck. Play moves to the next player and repeats. You must ask for cards that you already have at least one of in your hand. Go Fish uses the honor system, so if you have threes you can't bluff your opponent into thinking you do not have threes.

The game is over when one player runs out of cards or the stock pile is gone. The person with the most sets of cards is the winner.

There are additional rules that can be added to Go Fish. A person asking for a card must ask for a specific card. Instead of asking for threes, he would have to ask for the three of clubs. Another rule variation is that if the player draws the card he asked for from the deck then he gets another turn.

Some people continue play even after all the stock pile of cards is depleted. If a person asks for a card and the player doesn't have it, it becomes the other player's turn.

Scoring can also be imposed on Go Fish. For example, some people score one point for each set of four cards you aquire. Then play continues until someone reaches ten points.

Go Fish may be thought of as a kids game but can be fun for all ages. Go Fish card game is closely related to the games Author, Happy Families, and Quartet.