Go Phish | PAX Australia 2026 Preview

Go Phish is a take on the familiar card game Go Fish and twists it into an interesting way to hack people to pay the rent. I had a fun fifteen minutes with the guys at their booth trialling their Balatro-inspired game. Getting a decent look and idea of the card game and its social-engineered hacking.

Understanding of this game was fast, with it primarily being based on the old-school Go Fish. The game was quite intuitive, with the different faces on the hands doing a variety of things, including attack, defence and healing. Collecting four of the same numbered cards displaying a sword would attack the enemy’s firewall. The other face values might heal your firewall or add in additional skills to make ingress easier. The strategy involved winning, and the familiar rules provided a straightforward introduction to the extra systems.

The social engineering was a second aspect of the demo I previewed. Figuring the people out and then using this information later fit well with the hacking process. Learning about the person gives the conversations a purpose, with the personal details working against them later in the game. It was a solid companion to the card game and gave the game an interesting edge.

Visually, this game has a weird style that suits the premise well. The world is dark and drab while the card game and computer interaction is more vibrant. The juxtaposition between the world and the terminal was one of my favourite visual features.

The short time I had with the game has me keen to play it once it releases. The Card tactics and the computer and social hacking is what draws me to the game, as they are interesting elements and the premise gives this game a decent amount of character.

GO PHISH is available to Wishlist on Steam, with a release date yet to be announced.

[Explosion Network attended PAX Australia 2026 with a provided Media Pass.]