Go Fish Pond

What is Go Fish?

Go Fish is a card game for two or more players where you try to collect books: all four cards of the same rank, like four 7s or four queens. You get cards by asking other players for them. If they don't have what you asked for, they tell you to "go fish" and you draw from the pile. The player with the most books at the end wins.

It's often the first card game kids learn, because the only skill you need to start is matching. But there's a real memory game hiding in it. Every ask tells the whole table something about your hand, and the best players listen closely.

Go Fish Pond is free and plays in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer. There's nothing to install.

How to play Go Fish

The deal

Use a standard 52-card deck. With 2 or 3 players, deal 7 cards each. With 4 players, deal 5 cards each. The rest of the cards are spread out or stacked face down in the middle. That's the pond.

Your turn

• Pick a rank you already have in your hand and ask another player for it. You must hold at least one card of a rank to ask for it. "Rosa, do you have any 9s?"
• If they have any cards of that rank, they have to give you all of them. You get another turn.
• If they don't, they say Go fish! and you draw one card from the pond.
• If the card you fish is the rank you just asked for, that's a lucky catch. Show it and go again. Otherwise your turn ends.

Books

As soon as you have all four cards of a rank, lay them down as a book. In our game this happens automatically, with a little splash.

Running out of cards

If your hand is empty at the start of your turn, you fish one card from the pond and then take your turn as normal. Once the pond is empty and you have no cards, you're done, and play moves on.

Winning

The game ends when all 13 books have been made. Whoever has the most books wins. Ties are possible, and they happen more often than you'd think with three or four players.

Controls

Tap a card in your hand to ask for that rank. With more than one friend at the pond, tap the friend you want to ask. The game shows every ask and answer, so you can follow what everyone has.

On a computer, the arrow keys pick a rank, 1 to 3 choose which friend to ask, Enter asks and Esc pauses.

Friends at the pond

In settings, choose how many friends join you: 1, 2 or 3. You'll play with Rosa the frog, Dewey the duck and Myrtle the turtle. Then pick a difficulty:

• Easy: friends ask for random cards and forget a lot.
• Normal: friends remember most of what you ask for.
• Hard: friends remember every ask and fish smart.

Easy is a nice fit for younger players. Hard is a genuine memory test, and it will punish you for asking about the same rank twice.

Scoring, Daily Pond and the Pond Journal

Your score is 10 per book, plus 30 for a win (or 15 if you tie for the most books). Your best score is saved, and there's a leaderboard.

The Daily Pond deals the same cards for everyone that day, and you play it with Rosa and Dewey. Come back daily to build a streak.

Every book you make catches the critter for that rank, and they all live in your Pond Journal. There are 13 to find, one per rank: the Golden Carp for aces, then Tadpole Twins, Pond Snail, Dragonfly, Crawdad, Lily Frog, Koi, Duckling, Catfish, Box Turtle, Otter Pup and Swan, up to the Old Pike for kings. Catch any critter 5 times and it turns golden.

Milestones unlock new card backs that you can use in every card game on our site: your first win, ten wins, a win with 7 or more books, a win with all three friends at the pond, and three lucky catches in one game.

Go Fish strategy tips

• Listen to every ask. When a friend asks for 6s, you now know they hold at least one 6. On your next turn, ask them for 6s yourself if you have one.
• Remember who said go fish. If Dewey just told someone he had no queens, don't ask him for queens right away. Unless he's fished a few cards since, he still probably doesn't have any.
• Asking gives information away. Every time you ask for a rank, everyone learns you have it. If you're holding a pair and waiting on the last two, the others can ask you for them.
• Ask for your biggest groups first. If you hold three 10s, you're one card from a book. Ask for 10s before you ask about a single card.
• Lucky catches are worth chasing. When nobody seems to have a rank, asking for one you hold several of gives you the best odds of fishing it yourself.
• Count the books. There are only 13. Late in the game, look at what's left on the table and work out which ranks are still in play.
• Keep going while it's working. A successful ask gives you another turn, so string together the ranks you're most sure about.

Once Go Fish feels easy, Crazy Eights is a good next game, and Memory Match is great practice for remembering who asked for what.

Questions