How to Play Sushi Go | Rules and Scoring
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The Quick Answer
Sushi Go is a 2 to 5 player card drafting game where you pick one card, pass the hand to the left, and score the most points after three rounds of sushi sets.
I taught Alex Sushi Go at 7 in about five minutes on the living room floor, and it is still the game I reach for when we have a spare fifteen minutes before dinner. The whole game is one habit repeated until the cards run out: take one card you want, slide the rest of your hand to the player on your left, and try to build the sets that score. Nothing is hidden except the hands in front of you, so a kid who is paying attention can genuinely beat a grown up.
The rulebook is short and the scoring fits on the back page. What throws first timers is not the drafting, it is the scoring puzzle, because the same card can be worth nothing or a pile of points depending on what sits beside it. This guide walks through setup, the pick and pass turn, every card type, and how the three rounds add up.
Affiliate disclosure: this page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through one we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and it never changes the verdict below.A note before the rules: the old version of this page left out the Dumpling cards entirely, missed the two player pudding exception, and never said how a points tie is broken. Every number below has been checked against the official rules, and where the old page was wrong, it says so.
What you need and how Sushi Go setup works
Sushi Go setup takes about a minute: shuffle all 108 cards, deal the starting hand, and pick a scorekeeper. That is the whole job.
The box holds 108 cards: 14 tempura, 14 sashimi, 14 dumpling, 26 maki rolls split across three card values, 20 nigiri, 10 pudding, 6 wasabi, and 4 chopsticks.
Setup is really only about hand size, and the hand shrinks as the table grows:
| Players | Cards dealt to each player |
|---|---|
| 2 | 10 |
| 3 | 9 |
| 4 | 8 |
| 5 | 7 |
Keep paper and a pencil handy, because you write down points at the end of every round. Set the rest of the deck face down in the middle. The only cards that stay in front of players between rounds are pudding cards, and we will come back to why.
How a Sushi Go turn works: pick one card and pass the hand
The turn is one motion: everyone picks one card at the same time, reveals it, and passes the leftover hand to the left. There is no turn order, so the whole table plays at once and the game stays fast.
Here is the full loop. Every player looks at their hand and chooses one card to keep, placing it face down in front of them. When everyone has chosen, all players flip their cards at the same time. Then each player passes the cards still in their hand face down to the player on their left. Everyone picks up the new hand, and the loop repeats with a smaller hand.
The cards you keep stay face up in front of you until the round is scored, and it helps to group matching cards together so scoring is quick. When the hands finally run out, the very last card is placed face up with everything else, even if it does nothing for you.
Sushi Go card types and scoring: the full table
Each card scores differently, and a few of them are worth nothing on their own. This is the full list from the official rules.
| Card | How it scores | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Egg nigiri | A single card, tripled when placed on wasabi | 1, or 3 on wasabi |
| Salmon nigiri | A single card, tripled when placed on wasabi | 2, or 6 on wasabi |
| Squid nigiri | A single card, tripled when placed on wasabi | 3, or 9 on wasabi |
| Wasabi | Triples one nigiri placed on it | 0 on its own |
| Maki rolls | A race for the most maki icons | 6 for most, 3 for second most |
| Tempura | A set of 2 cards | 5 per pair |
| Sashimi | A set of 3 cards | 10 per set |
| Dumplings | Reward for committing to dumplings | 1, 3, 6, 10, or 15 |
| Chopsticks | Lets you take 2 cards in one turn | 0 |
| Pudding | Kept until the end for the most and fewest | plus 6 for most, minus 6 for fewest |
Maki rolls are a race, not a set. Add up the maki icons on your cards, and the most icons scores 6 points while the second most scores 3. If players tie, they split those points evenly and any remainder is dropped, and a player needs at least one maki card to be counted at all.
Tempura and sashimi reward exact sets. Tempura scores 5 points for every pair and nothing for a lone card, and sashimi scores 10 points for every set of three and nothing for one or two cards.
Dumplings reward commitment, and the more you hold the more each card is worth: 1 card scores 1 point, 2 score 3, 3 score 6, 4 score 10, and 5 or more score 15.
Wasabi and Chopsticks in Sushi Go: the two trick cards
Wasabi and Chopsticks are the only cards with special powers, and both trip up new players because every other card is scored at the end of the round while these two look ahead.
Wasabi triples the nigiri you place on it. If you have a wasabi card in front of you and you take a nigiri, that nigiri sits on top of the wasabi and scores three times its value. An egg goes from 1 to 3, a salmon from 2 to 6, and a squid from 3 to 9. You can hold several wasabi cards, but only one nigiri fits on each one, and an empty wasabi scores nothing.
Chopsticks lets you take two cards in one turn. If you already have a chopsticks card in front of you, you pick your first card as normal, call out Sushi Go, and take a second card before the reveal. Then, before you pass, the chopsticks go back into your hand, so they get passed on for somebody else to use. You may hold more than one chopsticks, but you can only use one per turn, and chopsticks score nothing.
How the three Sushi Go rounds work
A full game is exactly three rounds, and each round is scored the moment the hands run out. Then you deal fresh hands and do it again.
When a round ends, everybody announces their points and the scorekeeper writes them down. Then you discard all the cards except pudding, which stay in front of you. Pudding is not scored in a round, so it carries across all three rounds and only pays out at the very end.
Deal the same number of cards as the round before. After the third round is scored, the pudding is settled and the game is over.
How to win Sushi Go: most points wins
The player with the most points after three rounds wins Sushi Go, and the game uses pudding as the tiebreak.
Pudding is a dessert you eat at the end. After the third round, the player with the most pudding cards scores 6 points, and the player with the fewest pudding cards, including any player with none, loses 6 points. Ties split the points evenly. There is one big exception: in a two player game, nobody loses points for pudding, and only the most pudding is rewarded.
If two players finish tied on total points, the player with the most pudding cards wins. That is why it is worth grabbing a pudding even when it does nothing for you this round.
Our Sushi Go strategy, and none of this is official rules
Everything in this section is house advice, not the rulebook. The rules above are the official ones, and this is how our family actually plays to win.
Watch the pass, not just your hand. The card you pass is the card your neighbor takes, so a quick glance at what they are collecting tells you what not to hand over.
Value the guaranteed points. A pair of tempura is 5 points that nobody can take from you, while a maki pile can win 6 or lose you nothing if somebody outbids you. Secure the sure things first.
Do not sleep on dumplings. A stack of three dumplings is 6 points and a stack of five is 15, which quietly beats most maki races. If the table is fighting over maki, dumplings are often free.
Take a pudding on purpose. Pudding only matters at the very end, but the minus 6 for the fewest cards is brutal, so a single early pudding keeps you out of last place and gives you the tiebreak.
For the long version of all of this, our Sushi Go strategy guide is the deep dive, and it is where to go once the rules here feel automatic.
Sushi Go with kids and family game night
Yes, Sushi Go is one of the best first card games for kids, and it is the game that taught Alex to think a turn ahead. The box says ages 8 and up, and that is about right, though Alex at 7 plays happily with a grown up helping him count.
What makes it work for families is that it is short and never punishing. A round is over in a few minutes, everybody plays on every turn, and there is no way to be knocked out or ganged up on. The drafting also sneaks in real math practice, because adding maki icons and set values is counting your kid actually wants to do.
If you are teaching a younger player, our guide to teaching Sushi Go to kids walks through the order to introduce the cards. When your table is ready for something with a board and trading, our how to play Catan guide is the natural next step.
- Similarities: Both are Sushi Go games about drafting cards from a hand and collecting sets for points, and both run in a few short rounds.
- Differences: Sushi Go Party adds a menu of over twenty card types you pick before the game, plays up to 8 players, and needs a scoreboard, while the base Sushi Go is a fixed 2 to 5 player deck in a tin.
- Why this game fans will enjoy it: If your family already loves the pick and pass loop of Sushi Go but wants more variety and a bigger table, Sushi Go Party is the same fun with a menu to choose from.
Which Sushi Go to buy
| Version | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Sushi Go | The base pick and pass deck for 2 to 5 players, everything you need to play | Any family buying the classic for the first time |
| Sushi Go Party | The deluxe version, a menu of card types and room for up to 8 players | Families who play often and want more variety |
Buy the base game first, always. Sushi Go Party is the deluxe version rather than a simple add on, so treat it as a step up once your family already loves the base box. Our full Sushi Go card game review explains the staying power in more detail.
Sushi Go is the game that lives in our glove box. Alex at 7 learned the whole thing in a single sitting because the turn is always the same, pick one and pass left, and Emma at 10 now plays the maki race beautifully and beats me on purpose. The one rule I always have to repeat is wasabi, because both kids want to stack every nigiri on one card until they learn it only holds one. Our first game took ten minutes and ended in a tie, which is exactly how a family game should start. If you want more drafting games after this one, our list of games like Sushi Go is the place to go next.
Frequently asked questions
How many players can play Sushi Go?
Sushi Go plays 2 to 5 players, and the base game takes about 15 minutes. Setup gives each player a hand of 10 cards at 2 players, 9 at 3, 8 at 4, and 7 at 5.
How do you win Sushi Go?
You win Sushi Go by scoring the most points after three rounds of drafting. If two players finish tied on points, the player with the most pudding cards wins the game.
How do you deal and play a round of Sushi Go?
You deal a hand to every player, then everyone picks one card and passes the remaining hand to the left until the hands run out. Each round ends when the last card is taken, and the game runs for exactly three rounds.
What do the cards score in Sushi Go?
Maki rolls pay 6 points for the most and 3 for the second most, tempura is 5 per pair, sashimi is 10 per set of three, and nigiri pay 1, 2, or 3. Wasabi triples a nigiri placed on it, dumplings pay 1, 3, 6, 10, or 15, and pudding pays 6 for the most or loses 6 for the fewest.
How does wasabi work in Sushi Go?
Wasabi triples the value of a nigiri card placed on top of it, turning an egg into 3 points, a salmon into 6, and a squid into 9. You may hold several wasabi cards, but only one nigiri can sit on each wasabi, and a bare wasabi scores nothing.
What is the chopsticks rule in Sushi Go?
The chopsticks card lets you take two cards in one turn instead of one, and then the chopsticks return to your hand to be passed on. You can only use one chopsticks per turn, and the card itself scores no points.
Is Sushi Go good for kids and family game night?
Yes, Sushi Go is a great family card game, and the box recommends ages 8 and up. The simple pick and pass loop teaches counting and set collecting, so a 7 year old can join with a little help from a grown up.
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