Go Fish Card Game Rules

A children’s game for ages 4-10.

Go Fish card game can be played with 2 to 5 players
using a standard deck of cards

Card Rank.
Cards are ranked from the ace being the highest to the two being the lowest. Suits aren’t important, just the numbers on the cards for making pairs.

The Draw.
Shuffled cards are placed face down on the table and everyone draws a card. The person holding the lowest card is the dealer.

The Deal.
Beginning with the person to the dealer’s left, the cards are dealt face down and clockwise. If there are 2 or 3 people playing, everyone gets 7 cards. If 4 or 5 people are playing, everyone receives 5 cards. The rest of the deck is placed face down on the table to shape the stock.

The Goal of Go Fish card game.
To win all the sets of cards that you can. A set is any 4 of a kind, example: 4 tens, 4 queens, etc.

To Play.
The person on the dealers left looks at someone and asks, for example, "May I please have your tens," typically saying the person’s name and stating the rank they would like, from A down to 2. The person whose turn it is must have a card of that rank in their hand. The person who is asked must give all the cards asked for. If he doesn’t have any, they then say, "Go fish" and the person who asked for the card draws from the stock and puts it in their hand.

If the person gets the card he wanted, he is free to ask anyone for another card. As long as they are successful in getting the cards they ask for, their turn goes on. When a person gets the card they asked for, they must show it so that it is confirmed.

If a person gets the 4th card of a set, they show all 4 cards, placing them face up on the table in front of them, and they get to play again.

If the person does not get the card they requested, the turn goes to the person on their left.

The game is done when all 13 sets are won. The person with the most sets wins.

Throughout the game, if someone runs out of cards, when it's their turn, they can draw a card and ask for that card. If no cards remain in the stock, they are disallowed to finish the Go Fish card game.

Misdeal.
If a card is shown during the deal, or if a person does not get enough cards and they tell the dealer before they look at their hand, the dealer has to deal the cards again.

Showing card.
When a person shows a card, no penalty is given. They just put the card back in their hand.

Playing when it’s not your turn.
If someone requests cards when it isn’t their turn, they cannot get points for that set for the remainder of the game.

If you do not show a set.
If a person does not show a set they have made before their turn ends, they can’t count that set in their score.

Dishonest call.
If a person requests a rank without holding that card they miss their turn.

If you don’t give up your card.
If a person has a card in their hand that they fail to give up when they are asked, that person cannot score a set and they also have to miss their next turn in Go Fish card game.


Other Fishy games

TWISTED FISHTWISTED FISH

I SPY GO FISH CARD GAMEI SPY GO FISH CARD GAME

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