Spoons Basics

Spoons is a card game that’s suitable for all ages, and is an especially ideal pastime for large groups. Spoons requires a good memory and quick reflexes: much of the game involves memorizing a complex set of rules and calling out your opponents should they violate the rules. In its simplest form, spoons is relatively easy to master but can become increasingly complex, as players are sometimes allowed to add their own rules to the game.

The origin of spoons is difficult to trace, given that the game encourages rule variations and is therefore largely non-standardized. But spoons is definitely a derivative of the stops family of games. In all stops games, players contribute cards from their hands to an ongoing sequence of cards in the middle of the table, and a player’s turn stops once they are unable to play a card in the sequence. Other stops games include crazy eights, fan tan, and Michigan. (For more information on these games, see the Quamut guides to Crazy Eights, Fan Tan, and Michigan).

Spoons is also related to the card game rummy, in that both games involve drawing cards from a stock pile and then trying to get rid of the cards in your hand. In that sense, spoons can trace its heritage back to the mid-1600s French card game called hoc.

Spoons can accommodate 3–8 players, though it is best when played with five or more. Certain variations of spoons allow you to play the game with just two players.

In the most common version of spoons, the primary object of the game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand as quickly as possible. Whoever gets rid of his cards first scores the fewest points. The ultimate object of the game is to be the player with the fewest points at the end of the game.

In another version of the game, called four-of-a-kind spoons (see Spoons Variations), the primary object of the game is to get four of a kind. There is a pile of spoons in the center of the table, and whoever gets four of a kind first gets to grab the first spoon. Once the first player grabs a spoon, everyone else tries to grab one. There are fewer spoons than players at the table, so the ultimate object of the game is to get a spoon.

To play spoons, you’ll need two standard decks of playing cards with the jokers removed. Shuffle the decks together into a single pile.

You will also need to place a pile of spoons in the center of the table. Include one fewer spoon than the number of players at the table. For example, in the illustration below there are four spoons for five players.