Go Fish is a fun, addictive and simple game of memory and strategy, superb for kids and great for older
ages!

No. of players:

2 – 6

Aim of game:

The players have to collect sets of four cards of the same number, for example, four Kings.

How to Play:

If there are two players, each is dealt 7 cards. If there are 3 or more players, each receives 5 cards. The rest of the pack is left face down in the centre.

Players take turns to try and collect sets of 4 cards of one number. This is done by each player asking one other player if they have a certain number. For example, at Player A’s turn, he may ask Player B (or C or D or E) if they have any Kings? If Player B has a King he HAS to give it over to Player A and if he has more than one, he has to give all of them over to Player A. If Player A gets his King, he gets another turn and may ask the same person or any other for another card.

If Player B does NOT have any Kings, he says ‘Go Fish’ and the player asking him for the King (Player A) will pick up a card from the deck in the centre. The next player then takes his turn.

The player asking for a specific card HAS to hold that card already in one of the suits. For example, Player A has to hold a King in order to ask for another King from Player B.

If the player is told to ‘Go Fish’ and then picks up the card that he asked for originally from the deck (eg. the King), then he has to show the card to the rest of the group and may have another turn, seeing as he eventually got the card he asked for in the first place.

When a player gets a set of four cards of the same number, he places it down on the table.

The Winner?

The game is finished when the pack is exhausted and the winner is the player with the most sets out of the 13 lying on the table.

Lastly, if a player runs out of cards during the game, he may draw the top card of the pack but has to wait until the next go until he can play his turn. This leads to a problem if a player runs out of cards early as (especially in 2 player games) the other player can continually bully him out of his cards!

Strategy:

Players should remember what cards the OTHER players are asking for so if you are to pick up a card that someone has continually been asking for, then you know they have the others of this number!

Players should also protect their almost completed sets of 3 as it is heartbreaking to have them taken by the other player when so close!

Written by Andrew (22/06/2009) 

Photo courtesy of Incurable_hippie 

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No. of players:

Multi-player

Aim of game:

The players have to race each other to clear their ‘waste piles’.

How to Play:

Each player needs one pack of cards that are distinguishable from each other. To start the game, deal out thirteen cards face up so that you can see only the top card (this is called the ‘waste pile’) Then, alongside the waste pile, deal out four other cards, also face up so you can see each card. Once everybody has completed this preparation, the game begins. You are then left with the remaining cards.

Turning over three of the remaining cards at a time, players race to clear their waste pile. This is done in two alternative ways. If a player has an ace uncovered in any pile, he/she puts it out face up between the players and anyone can now add a two of the same suit, then a three and so on. If two players are ‘racing’ it is always the first player to get a card down who takes precedence. Eventually all the suits should be ’in play’ and a suit is only ‘closed’ when the jack, queen and king have been placed on top of the ten. The other way to ‘lose’ your waste pile is by building a sequence of cards below the four ‘column’ cards displayed at the start. Each player can only build this sequence on his/her own cards. The sequence is made in descending order and by opposite colour. Therefore a red eight follows a black nine. Cards can be moved individually or in sequences from one column to another.

Only the top card on the waste pile can be used so sometimes a player can get stuck, unable to access the cards underneath until another player opens up the game again.

The winner?:

The first player to get rid of their ‘waste pile’.

Then the game is ‘scored’. The person out first gets ten points, the others lose points for each card remaining in their waste pile. Additionally the cards, which are in play between the players(the piles built by suit from the aces) are counted and each card scores one point, with the kings worth ten points each. The highest scorer wins.

Photo courtesy of Twaize

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Number of players:

2 +

Aim of the game:

Collect pairs of matching ranks (two Kings, two Fives etc.) from a muddle of cards which are faced down!

How to Play:

Shuffle the cards and deal them face down at random all over the table. Each player takes it in turn to pick up two cards and looks at them without letting the other players see. If they are two of a kind you win them, if not you return them face down to the same position. If you win a pair, you can have a second turn.

The winner?:

The winner is the person with the most pairs at the end of the game!

Photo courtesy of Sam Catchesides

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Playing Cards

Lexicon

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