Sushi Go!
It may seem complicated at first glance, but don’t worry! We’ll be guiding you through setting up, the rules of the Sushi Go! board game and how to win the game.
✍️ December 22, 2022- 🤗 What is Sushi Go!
- 🎥 PsyCat Games’ Sushi Go! Video
- 😎 How to Play Sushi Go!
- 😜 Rules for Sushi Go!
- 🤩 Games like Sushi Go!
What is Sushi Go! 🤔
The Sushi Go! party game is a Pick-and-Pass card game that can be played with 2-5 players of ages 8+. The Sushi Go! card game is incredibly fast-paced, but one game can take only about 15 minutes.
In a pack of the Sushi Go! card game, there are 108 cards and a pamphlet of rules. You’ll be getting 12 different types of cards to play with for the Sushi Go! game:
- (14) Tempura Cards
- (14) Sashimi Cards
- (14) Dumpling Cards
- (12) 2 Maki Roll Cards
- (8) 3 Maki Roll Cards
- (6) 1 Maki Roll Cards
- (10) Salmon Nagiri Cards
- (5) Squid Nagiri Cards
- (5) Egg Nagiri Cards
- (10) Pudding Cards
- (6) Wasabi Cards
- (4) Chopstick Cards
We know, that’s a lot 😮💨 Don’t worry! We’ll try to explain it in the simplest way possible.
Sushi Go! Review Video
If you’re more of a visual learner and just had a hard time understanding how Sushi Go! is played, (don’t worry, we totally get it! 😉) Then you’re in luck!
We also made a YouTube video on Sushi Go! 🍣
Here you’ll see the actual cards being used and gameplay examples of Sushi Go! in action.
Check out our YouTube video on Sushi Go:
How to Play Sushi Go! 🤓
There are a lot of things to remember with the Sushi Go! Board Game. So before we head into the gameplay aspect, let’s set up the Sushi Go! party card game 🍣
- Setting Up for a Sushi Go! Game 🍣
1. Shuffle all the cards together and deal them to the players.
- If there are 2 players, deal 10 cards to each player.
- If there are 3 players, deal 9 cards to each player.
- If there are 4 players, deal 8 cards to each player.
- If there are 5 players, deal 7 cards to each player.
2. Place the rest of the cards facing down in the middle of the playing area.
It would help if there’s an assigned scorekeeper. Hand that player a piece of paper and a pencil.
Make sure that you have plenty of between you, the deck of cards in the middle, and other players. The Sushi Go! card game is played by putting down cards in front of you from your hand.
So you might have quite a few cards in front of you. We’ll start calling this your sushi pile.
❗️ Tip: Be as organized as you can with your sushi pile. It’ll help you see what kind of strategy you can go with and what card combinations you should go for!
- Sushi Go! Gameplay 🍣
One unique thing you should know about the Sushi Go! board game is that you’ll never be handling the same deck for two turns.
That’s right! ✅
Once everyone has revealed the card that they had placed down, the cards that you’re holding will be passed to the player on your left. So you’ll never know what to get! It’s one of the great things about this game! 😝
🤓 Suggested read: Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza | Video Review & How To Play
Enticed enough? Let’s get into details! 🧐
1. Choose 1 card from your hand then place it down in front of you, facing down.
After everyone receives their deck, look through the cards you’ve been given and just choose 1 card.
Once everyone has a card in front of them, the group should reveal their chosen cards at the same time.
2. Pass the remaining cards in your hands to the player on your left, facing down.
This is a great time to pull poker faces at one another! 😏
Once everyone has picked up their new set of cards, the next turn begins. By this time, you will have a new and smaller hand to choose from.
3. After the last card is passed to the next player and it is placed on their sushi pile, the round ends.
It is now time to total up the points. (We’ll go into detail on this later on!)
4. Now it’s time for the pudding cards.
After 3 rounds of playing, there should be some cards left in the draw pile. These are ignored still, sadly 😢 But here is where pudding cards come in handy!
📖 Suggested read: Exploding Kittens: Video Review & How to Play
Pudding cards are now included in the scoring 📝
- Counting points for the Sushi Go! party game 🍣
Points are totaled after 3 rounds. Remember that you’d have to take note of how many points you score after each round!
Counting points depends on the cards you’ve got laid out. Some cards have icons on the top or they don’t 🤷♀️ This plays a role in how many you’ll be getting.
Here are the points you can get with the cards in your sushi pile!
1. Maki Roll Cards
There are 3 different types of Maki Roll Cards. There are Maki Roll Cards that have 1 maki roll at the top, some have 2, and there are also 3 maki rolls.
At the end of every round, the player with the most Maki Rolls (in total) will get 6 points.
The player with the second most number of Maki Rolls will get 3 points.
If there is a tie, they will split the points accordingly.
2. Tempura Cards
A single Tempura Card isn’t worth anything 🤧 So if you’ll be putting this down, try to make sure that you’ll be able to get another Tempura Card in your sushi pile.
A set of 2 Tempura Cards will score 5 points. So for example, you were able to put down 2 sets of Tempura Cards, you’ll be getting 10 points after the round ends.
3. Sashimi Cards
Now this is hard!
A Sashimi Card on its own or a set of 2 will not score any points 🤧
A set of 3 Sashimi Cards, however, will get you 10 points.
4. Dumpling Cards
Dumpling cards are scored as a group.
The more dumplings you have, the more points you’ll score.
- 1 Dumpling Card = 1 point
- 2 Dumpling Cards = 3 points
- 3 Dumpling Cards = 6 points
- 4 Dumpling Cards = 10 points
- 5 Dumpling Cards = 15 points
5. Nigiri and Wasabi Cards
A wasabi card on its own will not score anything.
But if placed on top of any nigiri cards, their points will be tripled 🤩
- 1 Egg Nigiri Card = 1 point (If with a wasabi card, 3 points)
- 1 Salmon Nigiri Card = 2 points (If with a wasabi card, 6 points)
- 1 Squid Nigiri Card = 3 points (If with a wasabi card, 9 points)
6. Chopstick Cards
Chopstick Cards will not give you any points. But during a round, if you place a Chopstick Card in your sushi pile, you’ll be able to draw two cards (instead of one) with your next hand.
But there’s a catch! 🤭
Choose the first card from your hand as usual, but before everyone else reveals their cards, you have to shout “SUSHI GO!” 🔊
Only then will you be able to take a second card from your hand, placing it face down on the table. Then everyone gets to reveal their cards.
🤓 Suggested read: Secret Hitler: Video Review and How To Play
But hold on! Before passing the card you’re holding, you have to put the Chopsticks Card back in your hand. This will allow other players to use it as well 😌
Note: In the chance that you have multiple Chopsticks cards, you may only use 1 per turn.
7. Pudding Cards
As mentioned, points you collected during the 3 rounds will be totaled. And pudding cards are included after 3 rounds of playing the Sushi Go! board game.
Whoever has the most pudding cards will get 6 points. If multiple players tie, then they will split the points evenly.
The player with the least number of pudding cards will lose 6 points. Yes, including those with none. If multiple players tie, then they split the loss evenly.
If all players have the same number of pudding cards, (and this is extremely rare by the way), then no one will score anything for pudding cards!
Note: If there are only 2 players, no one will lose any point for pudding cards. Only the player with the most pudding cards will receive the 6 points.
Rules for Sushi Go!
While there aren’t any specific rules that you have to note of (aside from the ones we already mentioned above,) we’d like to remind everyone that taking note of your points at the end of every round is important!
This is why we mentioned at the start that it would help if there is an assigned scorekeeper.
📖 Suggested read: Top 9 Birthday Party Games for Adults
If there’s any doubt going on in the group, maybe prepare a larger piece of paper and tally the points together! Keep an eye out for everyone 👀
We also don’t recommend trying to hide cards. Come on 🤦♀️
Games like the Sushi Go! party card game
If you’re just absolutely in love with the Sushi Go! card game like we are, here are some other games that you might enjoy as well!
Trust us, we’ve enjoyed them all the same!
1. Exploding Kittens 🐱
Exploding Kittens is also another game that made us go “awww 🥺“ but after reading the rules and gameplay, oh boy we were wrong 🥲
Exploding Kittens is also a game that can be played with 2-5 players (just like Sushi Go!) and provides just the same amount of thrill 💣
Here’s a quick summary: There are 4 Exploding Kitten cards somewhere in that draw pile in the middle. While there are action cards that could prolong you from exploding, the goal is to be the last person to pull an Exploding Kitten card.
The cards here are crazy and could definitely be an alternative party card game to the Sushi Go! board game.
👉 Read more about Exploding Kittens here!
2. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza 🐋🦍🐻
Definitely a mouthful, we agree. But just like the Sushi Go! party game, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is incredibly fast-paced 😱
Literally, you could be penalized for hesitating or even flinching!
In Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, the whole deck is split evenly among 3-8 players. With your own deck facing down and in front of you, everyone takes turns saying “Taco,” “Cat,” “Goat,” “Cheese,” and “Pizza” while taking a card from their deck and putting it in the middle.
Once the word is said and the card that was put down matches (e.g. Player says “Taco” and puts down a taco card,) everyone has to slap the pile.
But be careful! There are special cards in the pile 😏
The last person to slap the pile will have to put all the cards in their individual decks. Who gets to finish their deck first? 🤔
👉 Read more about Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza here!
3. Unstable Unicorns 🦄
Another game that is just full of cuteness! But don’t underestimate Unstable Unicorns, it’s all about strategy and carefully your moves!
Unstable Unicorns is a game that can be played by 3-8 players. Similar to the Sushi Go! party game, make sure to have space in front of you because you’ll also be collecting cards in Unstable Unicorns! 🌈
Although you won’t be passing your hand to the other player, you will have a stable to build and lots of action cards coming your way.
Depending on the number of players, there is a certain number of unicorns you have to get to be able to win. The catch is, there’s a chance that you may lose some of your unicorns along the way 🥲
Opponents can sabotage each other and steal unicorns from one another as well! Don’t worry, everyone will start off with a baby unicorn in their stable. But will you be able to be ✨The Righteous Ruler of All Things Magical✨ by building your unicorn army?