Go Fish!

We all like to play kid games that are cool!

2 - 6 players
Ages 4 and up
Need one standard deck of cards (for younger kids - a game can be purchased with picture cards).

Rank is the value of the card (two, five, nine, jack, etc.)

To decide who deals - each player picks a card. The player who picks the highest card will be the dealer.

The goal of this game is to collect as many groups of four matching cards of the same rank as possible.

If younger children are playing, they may play to collect two card pairs and not four cards.

For 2 or 3 player games - Each player gets 7 cards that are face down. For 4 or more players - Each player gets 5 cards that are face down.

The remaining cards are spread out on the table face down to make up the fishing pond.

Each player arranges his hand so that cards of the same rank (value) are beside each other.

For example, if a player has two 5 cards, these should be placed next to each other. This makes it easy to see what cards he has.

The player on the dealer's left starts by asking any other player for the cards he needs to make a group of four similar cards.

For example, if he has two tens, he can ask any player if she has any tens. If she does, she has to give them to him. When a person has 4 cards that are alike, for example 4 aces, he lays them on the table face up so each player can see them.

He then goes again, asking the same or any other player for other cards to help him collect 4 of a kind.

If the player he asks doesn't have the card(s) he asks for, the player shouts out "Go fish!" and the first player picks a card from the fishing pond, adds it to his hand and his turn is over. The next player to his left takes a turn.

This continues until a person gets rid of all her cards and is the winner.

Go Fish! is one of the good concentration and memory games for kids. It's a good idea to listen to what cards other players are asking for.

If a player knows someone asked for a jack earlier and received one or more and he needs a jack, he can ask that person for jacks and will get them.

When a player goes fishing, it's the luck of the draw whether he'll get a card to help him get 4 of a kind or not.

Noone knows what card each player picks up from the pond when he fishes, so he can take a chance and ask any player for a card he doesn't remember hearing getting asked for earlier.

Go Fish to Fun Card Games

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