This article contains everything you need to know about Arkadium’s Go Fish Game.
Use the list below to navigate specific topics about Go Fish.
How to play
Go Fish is a delightful and easy-going "book collecting" card game that can be played by 2 to 6 players. The objective of the game is to collect sets of 4 cards of the same rank, called "books". Go Fish is a very simple game and a favorite of people of all ages.
Here is how the game looks on a typical match. The player is in the bottom, with all of the available cards ready to play.
You can see the username of the player on the left, and the number of books you currently have on the right. The center is the player's in-game avatar, which can be changed in the options menu.
NOTE: As the game functions on a different system than standard Arkadium accounts, your username in-game will always be displayed as a variation of "Guest".
You can see all of the options available to you on the bottom of the table. Here is what each of them represents.
The Table option allows you to see the game's stats, as seen here.
The Pause option allows you to pause the game. This is not allowed in multiplayer games.
The Chat option allows you to type a message to chat with other players.
Using Game will let you quit the table or join a brand new one, with bots or real players. It will also allow you to use the Multiplayer menu.
The Multiplayer Menu gives you more options, to browse the different available tables, host your own, or join a private table with other players you know.
Using Help and Rules allows you to check guides for the game's options and rules, if you need a quick refresher.
The Profile allows you to check a variety of options to do with your chat and player interactions. You can also change the deck you play with, the game's wallpaper, the avatar you use and check your stats.
Main Menu
The main menu of the game will give you a wide range of options to choose from. Go Fish can be played in both singleplayer against the computer, and multiplayer against real people. You can see how many players are active at the time next to Play.
The New Game option will allow you to play against the computer, while Join Table will match you up with existing players. Browse Tables lets you check from a variety of tables hosted by different players, each with their own options. You can choose to your liking.
HOST TABLE: Some of the options regarding hosting a game connected to a registry are locked out, due to the game using a different account system that is incompatible with the Arkadium system. Due to this, these options will not be available in our version of the game.
You'll see the options to choose from.
To learn how to play the game, you can use the interactive Tutorial. This will teach you all of the game's rules. You can also read the game's rules directly.
You can also customize your account and game settings on the bottom.
How To Play
Objective
The objective is to collect the most number of "books".
A "book" is a set of 4 cards with the same rank, such as 4 Jacks or 4 Sixes.
Deal
Each player is dealt a hand of 5 cards (7 cards in a 2 player game) from a standard deck of 52 cards.
The remaining cards are dealt into a pile at the center of the table. This known as the "pond".
A random player is chosen to go first.
Play
On a players turn, they first select any card from their hand. For example, a Jack. They then select another player to ask if they have any cards of the same rank. For example, "Rob, do you have any Jacks?".
If the asked player has any cards with that rank (Jacks in this case), they must give them all to the asking player. The asking player then gets to ask again.
If the asked player does not have any cards of that rank, they say "Go Fish!". Now the asking player draws a random card from the pond in the middle, if any remain. If they draw a card with the rank they asked for, they get to ask again. Otherwise play proceeds to the next player, in clockwise order.
When a player collects 4 cards of the same rank, this is called a "book". These cards are removed from their hand and they score 1 point.
Game End
The game ends when any player's hand is empty.
The player with the highest score (most number of books) wins!