Go Fish is a simple card matching game, most often played by children, in which players ask one another for cards of a specific rank to complete sets of four, and if the player asked does not hold that rank, the asker draws a card from a central stock pile and says go fish. It belongs to a broader older family of matching and asking card games, and while its precise origin and naming history are not well documented, it has long been one of the most commonly taught first card games for young children in English-speaking countries because of its simple, purely luck-and-memory-based rules.
Facts
Playing Time Band Playing Time Skill or Luck Age Suitability PublisherFlying Tiger Copenhagen 2 Game Category Game Category Game Category Game Category Game Mechanic Game Mechanic Minimum Players Maximum Players Classification
Player CountWikipedia infobox (Go Fish) players field: '2-5+' Player CountSmall Group (3-6 Players) 1 Wikipedia infobox (Go Fish) players field: '2-5+' Player CountLarge Group or Variable 1 Sport
Game Type (category) Open Questions
Originating RegionWikipedia notes Go Fish might be similar to a game called Andare e piscere played in Italy at the end of the 15th century, but no contemporary description of that game survives, so this origin is speculative and unconfirmed. Connections
Associated With
War, Games Go Fish and War are both counted among the simplest card games commonly taught to young children in English-speaking countries, requiring no strategic decision-making by either player, in contrast to skill-based card games.
Source The Oxford Guide to Card Games
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Go Fish - WikipediaLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articleQuote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
It might be similar to a game called Andare e piscere which was current in Italy at the end of the 15th century, of which no contemporary description survives.
Sources
1. Go Fish - Wikipedia
Rules section
It might be similar to a game called Andare e piscere which was current in Italy at the end of the 15th century, of which no contemporary description survives.
Infobox: type
Matching
Infobox: playing_time
5-15 minutes
Infobox: ages
All ages
Infobox: random_chance
Low-Medium skill
Wikipedia, article summary lead
Go Fish or Fish is a card game for approximately two to five players, often played by children. It might be similar to a game called Andare e piscere which was current in Italy at the end of the 15th century, of which no contemporary description survives.
Infobox, players field
2-5+
View the Source2. Go Fish! (BoardGameGeek)
- Origin Year: 1997
- Playing Time: 20
- Designer: (Uncredited)
- Publisher: (Public Domain)
- Publisher: (Unknown)
- Publisher: Anker Play Products
- Publisher: Bazoo Global
- Publisher: Briarpatch
- Publisher: Cardinal
- Publisher: Cartamundi
- Publisher: Childswork Childsplay
- Publisher: Chronicle Books
- Publisher: Chuckle & Roar
- Publisher: Continuum Games
- Publisher: Creative Child Games
- Publisher: Disney/Pixar
- Publisher: Dragonsteel
- Publisher: ED-U-Cards Mfg
- Publisher: eeBoo
- Publisher: Flying Tiger Copenhagen
- Publisher: General Mills
- Publisher: Hasbro
- Publisher: Hespuhúsið
- Game Category: Card Game
- Game Category: Children's Game
- Game Category: Deduction
- Game Category: Memory
- Game Mechanic: Memory
- Game Mechanic: Set Collection
- Minimum Players: 2
- Maximum Players: 6
View the SourceWikidata: Go Fish
Wikidata Q928584, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source The Oxford Guide to Card Games
Oxford University Press, 1990Associated With: War
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.