Go Fish
Rating: 8+
Go Fish is played by two or more players, with a pack of fifty-two cards. The dealer deals one card to each player in rotation, until the entire deck is dealt. While doing this, the dealer also creates an additional pile that is called the fish pile, placed face down in the center of the table. The object of the game is to collect all four suits of every card denomination, called books. Before the play begins, each player removes all existing books from his hand, and puts them face down in front of him.
The first player asks any one opponent for a card he needs. For example, if the first player is holding two Fours, one Six, one Jack, one Seven, and two Eights, he may say to one opponent, “Do you have any Sixes?”
A variation of the Go Fish game is called Authors. In Authors, all cards are dealt and there is no stock pile. If you ask an opponent for a card, and he gives it up, you continue with your turn until he does not have a card that you ask for. The turn then passes to that person.
If that person has the card requested, he must give it to the player, and if he has more than one he must hand over all of them. The player then continues in this fashion, by asking the same opponent, or any other opponent, for another card. This continues until an opponent denies a request. If an opponent does not have the card requested, he says “Go fish,” and the player takes one card from the fish pile. If, by chance, he picks the card he asked for, the player gets to continue his turn. Otherwise the turn is over.
The next player to take a turn is the one who rejected the first player, and the game continues in much the same fashion. Each time you make a book, remove the cards from your hand and place them with the other books face down in front of you. The game continues until one player has played through his hand. All of the players then count up the number of books they have created. The player who has the most books at the end of the game wins.
