Spoons
Also called Pig
Pass cards around the table fast. Get four of a kind, grab a spoon, and don’t be the one left without.
the best bit: looking up to find every spoon is already gone
- Players
- 3–13 (best with 5–8)
- Time
- 15–30 min
- Learn in
- A minute
- Mood
- Rowdy
- Format
- Everyone for themselves
The 30-second version
Everyone passes cards around the table as fast as they can, hunting for four of a kind. There's one fewer spoon than players in the middle. The moment someone gets four of a kind, they take a spoon, and everyone else scrambles for the rest. Whoever's left empty-handed gets a letter.
read this, then walk through the steps below once.
Grab these
Set up
- Put the spoons in the middle of the table, within everyone's reach. Use one fewer spoon than there are players.
- Deal four cards to each player. The dealer keeps the rest of the deck face down beside them.
How to play
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Draw and pass
The dealer takes the top card from the deck, so they're holding five. They keep one and pass one face down to the left.
-
Keep it moving
Everyone does the same: pick up the card passed to you, keep one, pass one to the left. You always hold four. The last player puts their passed card on a discard pile.
-
Get four of a kind
The moment you hold four cards of the same rank, like four 7s or four Queens, take a spoon. Be as sneaky or as obvious as you like.
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Grab!
As soon as anyone takes a spoon, everyone else can grab one too, four of a kind or not.
-
Take a letter
Whoever ends up without a spoon gets a letter: S, then P, then O, and so on. Put the spoons back and deal again.
How to win
Spell S-P-O-O-N and you're out. Take away a spoon each time someone leaves. The last player standing wins.
From experience…
- If the deck runs out, the dealer shuffles the discard pile and keeps going.
- Watch hands, not cards. The first spoon usually goes quietly.
- Play on a carpet, not a glass table. You'll see why.