Walkthrough: Go Fish

Build a playable Go Fish without writing code. You'll type a few short formulas (like spreadsheet formulas); the builder autocompletes them and flags mistakes as you type. It takes about twenty minutes.

TIP

Go Fish is also a built-in game: open it with Open in builder to compare with yours.

1. Create the game

1. Card Stacks sidebar → Blob's Card Engine → Games tab → New game.
2. Name it Go Fish, pick Standard 52-card deck, press Create and open the builder.

2. Info

• Players: 2 to 6. Default rules level: Strict.
• How to play: a few lines for your players, e.g.

  Collect books: all four cards of one rank. On your turn press Ask: pick a player and a rank you hold. If they have any, they hand them all over and you go again. If not: Go fish!

3. Zones

• Click Deck, rename it to Pond.
• Click Discard → Remove zone (Go Fish has no discard).
• Under Each player's area press Add, then set: Name Books, Id books, Who sees the cards Everyone, Layout Row, Cards put here are turned face up.

4. Variables

• Under Player values, press Add: Name Books, Id books (starts at 0).

5. Rules → Setup

• Open the Deal step, set Cards each to seats <= 3 ? 7 : 5.

6. Rules → Formulas

Add three formulas (Name, Inputs, =):

Name	Inputs	=
askable	s	s != self && count(zone.hand[s]) > 0
myRanks		distinct(pluck(cards(hand), 'rank'))
booksOf	s	var[s].books

7. Rules → Actions

Delete the template's Draw / Play / Pass, then add three actions (all The player whose turn it is).

Ask (Id ask). Only if: count(hand) > 0 && len(filter(seatIds, 'askable')) > 0. What it does:

1. Ask a player to choose: Question Who do you ask?, Choose A player, From filter(seatIds, 'askable'), Call the answer target.
2. Ask a player to choose: Question Which rank?, Choose One of these options, Options myRanks(), Option names map(myRanks(), 'rankLabel'), Call the answer rank.
3. If ... then ... otherwise: If countWhere(cards(zone.hand[target]), 'rank', rank) > 0
   • Then: Move cards: Cards filterBy(cards(zone.hand[target]), 'rank', rank), From —, How many empty, To Hand (of the player acting).
   • Otherwise: If ... then ... otherwise: If count(deck) > 0
     • Then: For each ...: For each item in [top(deck)], Call it drawn; Do:
       • Move cards: Cards drawn, From —, To Hand.
       • If ... then ...: If drawn.rank != rank, Then End the turn.
     • Otherwise: End the turn.

Draw (Id fish). Only if: (count(hand) == 0 || len(filter(seatIds, 'askable')) == 0) && count(deck) > 0. What it does: Draw cards (1).

Pass (Id pass). Only if: (count(hand) == 0 || len(filter(seatIds, 'askable')) == 0) && count(deck) == 0. What it does: End the turn.

8. Rules → When this happens

Add a rule: When A card moves to another zone; If card.zone == 'hand' && countWhere(cards(zone.hand[card.seat]), 'rank', card.rank) == 4; Then:

1. Move cards: Cards filterBy(cards(zone.hand[card.seat]), 'rank', card.rank), From —, To Books of player... card.seat, Side Face up.
2. Add to a value: Variable Books (player named in "For player"), For player card.seat, Add 1.

9. Rules → Winning

Add a way to win: The game ends when sum(seatVars('books')) == 13; open End the game and set Winner(s) to argmaxBy(seatIds, 'booksOf').

10. Flow

Open the Play phase and set Sits out if to count(zone.hand[seat]) == 0 && count(deck) == 0.

11. Check and play

• Publish should say No problems found (fix anything listed; the links jump to the field).
• Test Play → Run 100 random games: expect 100 of 100 finished.
• Test Play → Start a test match (3 players): you play every seat in turn. Ask, take cards, go fish, and watch books form.
• Happy? Games tab → Start a match for your group.