Go Fish is the beloved free online card game where you ask opponents for cards to collect matching sets, or "books". If they do not have what you asked for, they tell you to "Go Fish!" and you draw from the pond. Play in your browser against the computer with no download and no sign-up.
It is a friendly, easy-to-learn game with a dash of memory and deduction as you track who holds what. Easy, Medium and Hard settings give the computer a sharper memory of your requests, so completing the most books takes a little cunning.
Go Fish grew out of the "fishing" family of card games that European players enjoyed in the nineteenth century, and it is a close cousin of Authors, a Victorian parlour game played with cards picturing famous writers whose works you collected into sets. For generations it has been many children's very first card game — a gentle introduction to taking turns, holding a hand, and the delicious agony of being told to go fish.
Beneath the friendly surface sits real deduction. Every request made at the table is public information: when an opponent asks for nines, they hold at least one, and when they draw instead of collecting, you know your nines are safe. On Hard, the computer remembers what you have asked for with unsettling accuracy — so the same card-counting habits that win serious games are exactly what it takes to out-fish it.
Collect more complete books (all four cards of the same rank) than your opponents by asking for cards and fishing from the deck.
On your turn, click an opponent and then choose a rank from your hand to ask them for. If they hold cards of that rank they hand them over and you ask again; if not, you Go Fish and draw a card. Completed sets of four are laid down automatically as books.
Each completed book of four matching cards is worth one point. When all the cards have been gathered into books, the player with the most books wins.
Only ask for ranks you already hold, and pay attention to what your opponents request — it reveals the cards they are collecting. Use that information to avoid handing them their fourth card and to swoop in once you know who holds the rank you need.
What is a book in Go Fish?
A book is a complete set of all four cards of the same rank; collecting the most books wins the game.
Can I ask for a card I do not have?
Standard rules require you to already hold at least one card of the rank you ask for.
Does playing Go Fish here cost anything?
Not a thing — every round runs free in your browser against the computer, no account required.
More classic games: Crazy Eights, War, Slapjack, Cheat, Memory, and all 100 free games.