Directions for the Spoons Card Game

If you have a deck of cards and a few spoons in your kitchen, you can play the Spoons card game.

The card game of Spoons is suitable for all ages. As long as you have a deck of cards and a set of spoons you can play this game with any number of players. Some skill is required, but in general it is a game of luck. However, it is best to play it with a group of people who have approximately the same age and skill level in order to avoid unfair matchings. A round of Spoons should only take a few minutes, so it's an ideal game for a few minutes of family fun in the evenings.

Things You'll Need

• Deck of playing cards
• Spoons

Instructions

1. Choose one player to be the dealer for this round; on subsequent rounds the dealer can be someone else. The dealer should shuffle the cards and deal four to each person playing.

2. Set up your playing area. Place a pile of spoons in the center of the play area, within reach of every player. Make sure that the number of spoons is equal to one fewer than the number of players (so for instance, with five players you need four spoons).

3. Begin play with every player looking at his own cards. He must try to get four of a kind in order to win the round. (In this game, four of a kind means four twos or four kings, not four clubs.)

4. Choose one card to discard from your hand. Pass this card to the player on your left. At the same time, you will receive a card from the player on your right. Add this card to your hand. To the right of the dealer, there is a discard pile. The dealer draws a new card from the original deck each time and passes a card out of his hand to the player on his left. Then the player to the right of the dealer places his passing cards into a discard pile, which the dealer will draw cards from when he runs out of the original deck.

5. Continue to play by passing one card left and receiving one card from the right until someone has four of the same type of card in his hand. That player must grab a spoon from the center pile, and all of the other players follow suit. The last player left without a spoon loses the round.

References

• Family Fun: Spoons Card Game