Following on from the other articles in the fun with unix miniseries, today its go-fish. This is a game, from the package bsdgames and its addictive :) There are a bunch of other games in the package too but this has been a personal favourite for some years. Basically its a game of happy families, but with an ordinary pack of cards and text-only.

I installed the package on my ubuntu system with the command:

sudo aptitude install bsdgames

Run the game by typing

go-fish

Firstly you will be prompted to say whether you want instructions, then the game starts. You get a list of the cards you have, and you have to start asking for cards to make up “books” of four. Here’s a transcript of the beginning of a game:

Would you like instructions (y or n)? n
I get to start.
I ask you for: 5.
You say "GO FISH!"
Your hand is: 4 7 9 J J J K
You ask me for: j
I say "GO FISH!"
You drew Q.
I ask you for: 6.
You say "GO FISH!"
Your hand is: 4 7 9 J J J Q K
You ask me for: 9
I have 2 9's.
You get another guess!
Your hand is: 4 7 9 9 9 J J J Q K

When you make a set of four cards, it appears at the end of the list:

Your hand is: A A 6 7 7 10 10 10 Q K + Book of 3

The game ends when the cards run out and the winner is the one with the most complete “books”. Have fun!