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Spoon Card Game Rules

Spoons is a group card game, better played in larger groups than smaller groups. A larger group will result in a longer game, as it is an elimination game. The object of the game is to be the first player to get four of a kind. For groups of more than six people, two decks of cards may need to be used. It is a fast-paced group game that can be a lot of fun, though players need to be mindful of where others are, as the object of the game could result in players colliding with each other.

Setting Up
- To play the game, you will need one or two decks of cards (minus jokers) and several spoons. You should have one less spoon than there are players, just like how in musical chairs you need one less chair than the number of players. Players sit in a circle and the spoons go into the middle within even reach of all players. The spoons can be either in a pile or carefully arranged, depending on what the players want.
Gameplay
- One player is chosen as the first dealer. This player shuffles the cards and deals four face down to each player. The rest of the deck is placed face down in front of the dealer. Each player looks at her hand, keeping it from the view of the other players. The dealer draws a card and looks to see if it makes the set of four that he is trying to get. If it does match, he puts that card in his hand and chooses a different card to discard. If it does not match, he discards it. He puts his discarded card in front of the player to his left, who then looks at it to see if it matches her set. Gameplay continues in this way until a player has a full four of a kind.
  
  Once a player has a four of kind, she takes a spoon from the pile. Any players that see her grab for a spoon have to grab one of their own. The player left without a spoon is eliminated. One spoon is removed from the pile and the next round is started, with the dealer being the player on the last round's dealer's left.
Spoon Grabbing Strategies
- There are two basic strategies for grabbing spoons: obviously and stealthily. Each method will cause a different result. Obviously grabbing the spoon could either be lunging into the pile, or simply reaching for one, making sure everyone sees you. This ensures that everyone will know you have one, and will immediately grab for their own. This method creates a bit more chaos immediately, as everyone is going for spoons at the same time.
  
  Stealthily getting a spoon can be more entertaining for the first person to get the spoon. This is easiest done if the spoons have been piled so that one is within close reach of the original grabber. The person goes for a spoon very carefully, trying to keep everyone else from realizing they have taken one. This causes a more delayed reaction, and can make the final grab more entertaining, as the last players to realize are more desperate, because there are fewer spoons from which to choose.

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