How to Play Authors

Objective

Collect complete books: all four cards of the same rank, such as four queens or four sevens. There are thirteen books in the deck, and the game ends when all of them are on the table. Whoever made the most books wins.

Authors goes back to the 1860s, when it was sold as a boxed deck with portraits of famous writers. Each writer had four cards, one for each of four well-known works, and you collected the whole set. A standard deck plays exactly the same way, with ranks standing in for writers.

Setup

Choose a dealer. Shuffle and deal the entire deck, one card at a time, to the left. Depending on the number of players, some people will get one card more than others. That is fine and evens out over a few games.

There is no draw pile in Authors. Every card is in someone’s hand from the start, so every question has an answer at the table. Sort your hand by rank. If you were dealt all four cards of a rank, lay that book face down in front of you right away.

How to play

The player to the left of the dealer goes first. Pick any other player and ask for one specific card, naming the rank and the suit: “Maya, do you have the jack of clubs?” You may only ask for a rank you already hold at least one card of.

If the player has that card, they must hand it over, and you ask again. You can ask the same player or someone new, for the same rank or a different one. Keep going as long as you get what you ask for.

When the player does not have the card, they say so and your turn ends. Play passes to the left.

As soon as you hold all four cards of a rank, lay the book face down in front of you. A player who runs out of cards sits out the rest of the asking, but keeps their books for the final count. Play continues until all thirteen books are down.

1. 1Name a player and ask for one exact card
2. 2Take it and ask again if they have it
3. 3Your turn ends the first time you miss
4. 4Lay down a book the moment you hold all four

Winning

Authors has no point score. When the last book is laid down, everyone counts their books, and the player with the most wins. With thirteen books there can be a tie at the top; most families call it a shared win, or play one more hand to settle it.

For a longer game, keep a running total of books across several hands and play to an agreed number, such as 20.

Variations

Go Fish rules: deal only five or seven cards each and leave the rest face down as a pool. When you miss, you draw a card from the pool. This is the version most children learn first.

Turn to the asked player: when you miss, the player you asked takes the next turn instead of the player on your left.

Literature: a team version for six or eight players. The eights are removed, and you collect half-suits of six cards (two through seven, or nine through ace) instead of books of four.

Tips from the table

Listen to every question, not just your own. When someone asks for the queen of hearts, you now know they hold at least one queen. When they get it, you know they hold at least two.

Your own questions give information away. If you ask for three different sevens in a row, everyone knows you are close to a book. Mix up your asks when you can.

Cards move around the table fast. If a player just collected the card you need from someone else, ask the player who took it, not the one who gave it up.

Frequently asked