Go Fish
Ask for a card, collect four of a kind, and learn to remember what people asked for.
The first card game most children learn, and a genuinely decent memory game for adults who take it seriously.
Setup
Deal seven cards each with two or three players, five each with four or more. The rest goes face down in the middle as the pond.
Play
- On your turn, ask one player for a rank: have you got any sevens? You must already hold at least one card of that rank.
- If they have any, they hand over all of them, and you go again.
- If they have none, they say go fish and you draw one card from the pond. If it happens to be the rank you asked for, you go again. Otherwise play passes to the left.
Books
Collect all four cards of a rank and lay them down face up as a book. Each book is one point. The game ends when all thirteen books are complete, and whoever has the most wins.
Running out of cards
If you run out of cards and the pond still has some, draw one and carry on. If the pond is empty too, you are out and the others finish without you.
Questions
Can I ask for a card I do not have?
No. You must already hold at least one of the rank you ask for, which is what makes listening to other people’s questions worthwhile.
Do I get another turn after a successful ask?
Yes, and you keep going until someone tells you to go fish and you draw the wrong card.
How does the game end?
When all thirteen books are laid down. Most books wins, not most cards.