by Kim Park

Created on: March 23, 2009

HOW TO PLAY SPOONS

Spoons is about as simple as card games can get but also as exciting. The game involves quick thinking and quick reflexes. It can be played with any age group and is best with larger groups of people.

All you need to play is a standard deck of cards (jokers removed) and a pile of spoons, the number of them being equal to one less than the number of people playing. There is also a version described in this article that does not use spoons and may be more appropriate for playing with the family, especially with younger children.

One note of caution, do not try playing this game at school or in a cafeteria of any kind. I have gotten in trouble several times for using their spoons for playing this game, they're not big fans. Also, don't use nice spoons because sometimes they are dropped on the floor or even bent if the game really gets going. Although you can replace spoons with other objects (just not forks) there is an alternative to which I will describe below that doesn't use any objects so that you can play the game anywhere without getting in trouble.

HOW TO PLAY

To start the game, place all the spoons in the center of the table and deal four cards to each player. The dealer will keep the remaining cards beside them in a pile. If you are not playing with spoons than do not worry about having spoons, all you will need is the deck of cards and some people to play with.

The aim of the game is to exchange cards from your hand for new ones until you finally have four-of-a-kind.

The game starts with the dealer picking up the top card from the cards that weren't dealt. The dealer must then decide whether they want to keep that card to help them built a four-of-a-kind or discard it. If they keep it they will then need to discard another card from their hand because you cannot have more than four cards in your hand and if they don't keep the new card than it gets discarded. The dealer discards the unwanted card to their left, placing it face down between themselves and the player to their left. That next player (to the left) will then check the card and pass one on in the same manner. This goes very quickly, with every player quickly checking cards, deciding whether they should keep it and discarding one to their left for the next player to check. The player to the right of the dealer will start a new pile of discarded cards, separate from the one that the dealer is drawing from. If the dealer uses all the cards in the original pile then the pile of cards

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