How to Play Spoons

Objective

Collect four cards of the same rank, then grab a spoon. Just as important, watch the table: the moment anyone takes a spoon, you need to grab one too. The player who ends up empty-handed takes a letter from the word S-P-O-O-N. Spell the whole word and you are out. The last player left in the game wins.

Setup

Sit in a circle around a table. Place spoons in the middle where everyone can reach them, using one fewer spoon than the number of players. Six players need five spoons.

Choose a dealer. Deal four cards to each player, face down. The dealer keeps the rest of the deck face down beside them as the draw pile.

How to play

There are no turns. Everyone plays at the same time. The dealer draws the top card of the draw pile, decides whether to keep it, and passes one card face down to the player on their left, so that the dealer always holds four.

That player picks up the passed card, keeps it or not, and passes one card to their left. Cards keep flowing around the table, as fast as you can manage. The last player before the dealer discards their passed card face down into a trash pile. If the draw pile runs out, the dealer shuffles the trash pile and uses it as the new draw pile.

You may never hold more than five cards at once: your four plus the one you are deciding about.

As soon as you have four of a kind, take a spoon from the middle. You can grab it loudly or slip it away quietly. Once any spoon is gone, every other player may grab one, whether they have four of a kind or not.

1. 1Pick up the card passed to you
2. 2Keep it or pass it left, holding four cards
3. 3Collect four of a kind, then take a spoon
4. 4When a spoon disappears, grab one fast

Winning

There are no points. The player who ends up without a spoon takes the next letter of S-P-O-O-N. Gather the spoons, pass the deal to the left, and play again. A player who spells the full word is out of the game.

When a player is eliminated, take one spoon away from the middle so there is still one fewer spoon than players. The last player standing wins.

If someone grabs a spoon without four of a kind and the table catches it, the rule at most tables is that the cheater takes the letter instead.

Variations

Quick elimination: skip the letters. The player without a spoon is out right away, a spoon is removed, and the next round starts. A game with eight players is over in minutes.

Pig: no spoons. When you get four of a kind, quietly touch your nose. Everyone else must copy, and the last player to notice becomes the Pig.

Donkey: a close relative played with a hand signal or with objects in the middle, where the player caught last takes a letter of D-O-N-K-E-Y.

Spoons in the middle of a big room: for a party game, put the spoons across the room so players have to run for them. Clear the floor first.

Tips from the table

Choose your rank early. Pick the pair or three you are already holding and pass everything else straight on. Changing your mind costs you time.

Keep one eye on the spoons at all times. More players are knocked out by not noticing a quiet grab than by never getting four of a kind.

If you are fast and sneaky, take your spoon slowly and keep passing cards. The longer it takes the others to notice, the more likely someone gets caught short.

Frequently asked