Gather players and a deck of cards
Choose one player to be the dealer
Deal all cards to players as evenly as possible
Give one extra card to some players if the deck doesn’t divide evenly
In each round, players form a hand and try to make a set of four of the same rank (a “spoon” set)
Players look at their own cards and decide which card to pass
The dealer starts by placing one card face down to the left (or following the agreed direction)
Each player, in turn, does the following:
Picks up the face-down card from the player before them
Adds it to their hand
Selects one card from their hand to pass face down to the next player
Continue passing cards until a player holds four cards of the same rank
When a player completes a set of four, they call “Spoons”
Everyone else must stop play immediately and grab a spoon (or a designated object) if using the physical game
If using the traditional version with spoons:
Place one fewer spoon than the number of players
The player who completes the set gets a spoon first
The player who cannot get a spoon is out of the game
Remove the eliminated player
Remove one fewer spoon than the remaining players and start the next round
Continue until one player remains
In the non-spoon/points version:
Record points for completing sets of four
Repeat rounds until the agreed end condition is reached (time limit, number of rounds, or target score)
The highest score wins