Go Fish: Play the Card Game Online Free

What is Go Fish?

Go Fish is the card game almost everyone learns first, free to play online here on a phone, tablet or computer. A table is dealt the moment the page opens: you against two friendly computer players, with a pond of face-down cards in the middle to fish from.

On your turn you ask one player for a rank you already hold. “Any sevens?” If they have some, they hand over every one and you go again. If not, they say “Go fish!” and you pull a card from the pond. Collect all four cards of a rank and they fan out on the table as a book. The most books wins.

This version plays by the standard rules for two to four players, with the common house rules as switches. Play against one, two or three computer players at three levels, pass one screen around the family, or open an online table and send the invite.

No download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. The computer players never look at your cards: the sharp one simply remembers everything that was said out loud.

How to play Go Fish

1. 

   1Start a game of Go Fish

   A table is dealt as soon as the page opens. The buttons above it choose the computer, an online table or one shared screen, then how many play and at what level.

2. 

   2Pick a card, then a player

   Tap any card in your hand to choose its rank. You can only ask for a rank you hold. A button appears for each player: tap the one you want to ask.

3. 

   3If they have it, they hand it over

   The player you asked must give you every card of that rank. Here Otto had one seven. After a catch like this you take another turn.

4. 

   4If not, go fish

   A player with none says “Go fish!” and you take any one card from the pond. Unless it is the rank you asked for, your turn ends.

5. 

   5Make a book

   Hold all four cards of a rank and they are laid down as a book. Here the card fished was the fourth seven, so you go again.

6. 

   6Remember who asked for what

   A player who asks for a rank is holding it. The memory aid in Options notes what each player asked for and said no to. Otto asked for queens, so ask him.

7. 

   7Most books wins

   The game ends when all thirteen books are on the table. Whoever made the most books wins, and Play again deals a fresh game straight away.

The rules in full

1. The dealer gives seven cards each when two or three play, and five each when four play. The rest of the deck is spread face down in the middle as the pond.
2. On your turn, pick a card in your hand and ask one other player for that rank. You must hold at least one card of the rank you ask for.
3. If the player you asked has any cards of that rank, they must give you all of them. You then take another turn and may ask anyone for any rank you hold.
4. If they have none, they say “Go fish!” and you take any one card from the pond.
5. If the card you fish is the rank you just asked for, show it to the table and take another turn. If it is not, your turn ends and play passes to the left.
6. As soon as you hold all four cards of a rank, lay them face up in front of you. That is a book.
7. If your hand is empty at the start of your turn, take one card from the pond and carry on. If the pond is empty as well, you are out, and the books you made still count.
8. The game ends when all thirteen books have been made. The player with the most books wins, and a tie for first is shared.

Go Fish tips and strategy

• Listen to every question. A player who asks for kings is holding at least one king, so if you draw a king later you know exactly who to ask.
• Remember the answers as well. Someone who just said “Go fish!” to a request for fours had none a moment ago, so do not waste a turn asking them again too soon.
• When you hold three of a rank, the fourth is in one hand or in the pond. Ask the player who has the most cards first.
• Asking tells the whole table what you hold. If you have a single queen and no idea where the others are, ask for something else and keep the queen quiet.
• After a lucky run, ask for the rank you just collected from one player again from the next player. A second helping often finishes the book.
• Late in the game the pond is small and every hand is known. Slow down and count: the last few books are won by memory, not luck.
• Playing with young children? Switch on the memory aid in Options. It shows what each player asked for and what they said no to, so they can practise working it out.
• Against Sharp, ask for the ranks you hold most of. Each question gives away less when you were always going to ask it anyway.

Go Fish rules: the standard game we play

There are many small differences in how families play Go Fish, so here is the exact rule set this game uses when every option is left alone. It is the standard version printed in most card game rule books.

You ask one named player, not the whole table. You may only ask for a rank you hold. The player asked must hand over every card of that rank. You go again after a successful ask, and you also go again when the card you fish from the pond is the rank you asked for, which you show to everyone. A book is four of a kind. Two or three players start with seven cards, four players with five. An empty hand draws one card from the pond. Play runs until all thirteen books are on the table, and the most books wins.

Our pond lets you choose which face-down card to take. It makes no difference to the odds, and it is much more fun than taking the top card.

House rules: pairs, hand sizes and more

Open Options to switch on the variations people argue about at the kitchen table. Each one is a simple switch, and the How to play panel always describes the rules in force.

Books can be pairs instead of four of a kind, which makes a quicker game for small children with twenty-six pairs to win. Cards dealt can be the standard deal, always five or always seven. Fish your wish can end your turn instead of giving you another go. After “Go fish” the turn can pass to the player you asked rather than the player on the left. An empty hand can draw five cards from the pond instead of one.

Changes apply from the next deal, so a game in progress is never bent halfway through.

Play Go Fish against the computer: Forgetful, Attentive and Sharp

Choose one, two or three computer players and a level. Otto the otter, Pip the frog and Dot the duck ask their questions in speech bubbles and take a moment to think, so you can follow every turn.

Forgetful players remember only the last thing or two that happened and often ask at random, which is right for a first game. Attentive players remember recent questions and act on them most of the time. Sharp players have perfect memory: they track every question, every answer and every card shown, and work out who must be holding what.

None of them cheat. A computer player sees only its own hand and what was said or shown to the whole table, exactly as you do. It never sees your cards or the pond. In our testing Sharp wins about two games in three against Forgetful.

Two player Go Fish, pass and play, and online tables

Go Fish for two players works well and is the fastest way to play: set the player count to one computer player, or choose Same screen for two people on one device.

Same screen mode is pass and play for two to four. After each turn a curtain covers the whole table while the device changes hands. It tells the next player what was asked while they were not looking, and their cards appear only when they tap to say they are ready. You can type everyone’s names in Options.

Choose Online to open a table for two to four players, pick the house rules in the waiting room and send the invite. Empty seats can be filled by computer players. Each player’s device receives only their own hand, so nobody can peek, and a player who drops out is covered until they return.

Go Fish for kids: a gentle first card game

Go Fish teaches matching, turn taking, asking clearly and remembering, which is why it is so often a child’s first real card game. This version keeps the table calm and readable: big cards that group themselves by rank, large buttons with each player’s name, and speech bubbles for every question and answer.

The memory aid, a Relaxed speed setting and the Pairs option make it easier for the youngest players, and there is no timer when you play the computer. An unfinished game is saved on the device, so you can stop for dinner and pick it up later.

Where Go Fish comes from

Go Fish belongs to a family of asking games popular in the nineteenth century, when special decks were sold for collecting sets of four by asking other players for the cards you needed. Played with an ordinary deck and a pool of spare cards to draw from, it became known simply as Fish or Go Fish, and the rules have hardly changed since.

Free Go Fish on your phone, tablet or computer

The game runs in the browser with nothing to install. Tap or click a card, then the player to ask. On a keyboard, the arrow keys choose a card and a player, Enter asks, and F fishes. The full screen button gives the table the whole display, in portrait or landscape.

Your wins, streaks and badges are kept on the device, and you can change the card backs and the table colour in Options.

Go Fish FAQ