Rules for Playing the Spoons Family Card Game
Play the Fast-Paced Razzing Group Game for Three to Eight Players
Aug 15, 2009
Spoons is a variation of the Crazy Eights game but is much more physically involved. The object of the game is for players to get rid of their cards, the first one to be successful at this wins. For groups of three to eight children or adults.
The Playing Deck and the Spoons
The number of spoons used in the game equals the number of players minus one. So if there are six players, five spoons should be used. It is possible to use other objects besides spoons, if desired, but they should be easy to grab and not have sharp edges. For this reason, forks and knives are not recommended.
Spoons is played with two standard 52-card decks, shuffled together. No jokers are used in spoons, traditionally. The number of cards that are dealt out depends on the number of players. If there are three or four players, each person gets seven cards, for five or six people, each person gets six and for seven or eight players, each player gets five. The remainder of the cards are turned face down in a pile in the middle of the table and become the pick up pile. One card is removed from the top and turned over, face up, and placed on the table next to the pick up pile. This becomes the discard pile.
Playing Spoons
The basic play of the game is that the play starts with the person to the left of the dealer. That person must play a card into the discard pile. A card played must match the card at the top of the discard pile by either rank or suit, so if the top card was a six of hearts, he must play either a six or a heart. When he plays the card he must announce, out loud, what the card is or he can get "razzed". He can play a card that is in his hand or if he doesn't have one, he can pick one up from the pick up pile. No player is required to play a card that is in his hand, but if he doesn't put one down, he must pick one up from the pick up pile. That card is them immediately playable, if the player wishes. Play passes to the next person on the left.
Razzing
Razzing is simply a player being caught by his fellow players doing something that is not in the rules. Razzing consists of players making a sound of their choosing, but usually the sound that is heard on many game shows when a player doesn't complete something they should, such as a loud buzzing sound. If a player is caught disobeying one of the rules, the other players who caught him must make the razzing sound. The player must then state "Curses, foiled again!" or some other equally silly phrase that has been agreed upon prior to the game and pick up a card from the pick up pile. If a player razzes another player without basis, the razzed player can razz him back and make him pick up a card instead.
Special Cards and Rules of Spoons
The rules are simple to learn, but easy to confuse, which is what makes spoons fun and action filled. One of these rules is that when a player has only one card left, he must announce "Last One". If he does not announce it, he can be razzed.
There are also cards with special powers:
- When a King is played the player who played the card picks someone else and tells them to draw two cards.That player must draw two cards, unless she has a King. If she does, she can play the King directly on top of the other player's King and the draw it returned back plus one. The first player must draw three cards. If the original player has another King he can play it and send the draw back to the other player with one card added (draw four).
- When a Queen is played the direction of play is reversed and the player must say "Reverse". If play was moving in a clockwise direction, it will now move in a counter-clockwise direction. If the player fails to say "Reverse" she can be razzed.
- When a Jack is played, the player and everyone else yells, "Spoons" and grabs a spoon off of the table. If two players grab the same spoon, the spoon goes to the person who is holding it closest to the handle. Each player will have a spoon except one. That player that doesn't have a spoon has to pick up two cards. If someone grabs more than one spoon, that player must pick up the two cards instead of the players without spoons. At the end of this play, the spoons are returned to the middle of the table.
- When a Ten is played, the player announces "Repeat" and gets another turn. A ten cannot be played as the last card in the game as this gives the player another turn in which he must either play a card or pick up a card. If the player does not say "Repeat", he can be razzed.
- Eights are wild and can change the suit of the cards in play. When an eight is played, the player announces the name of the suit he has chosen. If the player doesn't announce the suit, he can be razzed.
Ending the Play of Spoons
When a player runs out of cards to play he is the winner. Cards that remain in other players hands are added up as their penalty points. Play ends when a player reaches a predetermined score such as 500. Cards two through nine are worth 5 points, ten through K are worth 10 points, Aces are worth 15 and eights are worth 50.
There are other games that are playable by three or more players and eight or more players as well as games such as Liverpool Rummy, suitable for medium groups.
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