Of course, you have heard about the Snaps game. But telling the world you don’t know how to play the game might make you feel awkward. After all, it’s a simple game with very few rules. And most people have played this game growing up. It’s fast, it’s competitive, and it’s perfect for small groups.
Plus, it’s a fun game, undoubtedly. And all that is great – but unfortunately, you don’t know how to play this game. Well, that is definitely not an issue. Literally, anyone can play this game. It is so easy to learn the rules and get familiarized with the concept.
So, here we are to help you learn how to play the snaps game so that the next time you are at a reunion and everyone wants to play snaps, you can join them and even win!
Learn How To Play Snaps Game: Steal The Tricks And Impress Your Buddies At The Next Reunion!
Snaps is a pretty popular card game. It needs two things – your agility and your ability to think fast. The popular card game uses a standard deck of 52 cards. The purpose of this card game is to win all the cards during the game, designed to be played between 2 to 8 players. It does sound very simple already…doesn’t it?
So, without wasting any time, let’s find out how to play Snaps!
Setup:
Before the gameplay starts, you have to choose a dealer. In order to select a dealer, players have to pick a random card from a standard deck. The player who gets the lowest card will become the dealer.
In the case of ties, you can break them with repeated drawings. The dealer then shuffles the standard deck, passing out all the cards face down to the players, one at a time.
Gameplay (In Brief):
The gameplay starts with the player on the left of the dealer and then continues to proceed clockwise. When a player gets their turn to play, they have to flip up the top card from their pile and start building a new pile of cards, only these cards will be facing up.
If 2 top cards in any of the flipped-up piles end up forming a pair, a player might shout ‘snap!’ for receiving the cards in the two piles. In case more than one player ends up shouting ‘snap’ simultaneously, and it cannot be judged who was the first to say ‘snap,’ then the cards will be kept in the middle of the playing area. The cards in the middle together form the Snap Pot.
In case the card on the top of the Snap Pot ends up pairing with the top cards of any of the players, then someone can shout ‘Snap Pot’ and even get all the cards kept in the middle. In the end, the player who wins all the cards ends up winning.
If any player flips all their cards, then their flipped-up pile of cards is shuffled. These shuffled cards will form a new pile, then.
Similarly, if any players lose all their cards, then they are given a chance to win cards and say snap in the next opportunity. If someone else says ‘snap’ before them or they don’t say it all, then they get out of the game. However, if they end up forming a snap pot in their next turn, then they get an additional opportunity.
How To Play Snaps? (Step-By-Step)
Snaps is a British card game. Due to the game’s ubiquitous nature in the British Isles, it is commonly alluded to by British pop culture and literature. It’s a popular matching game, typically played by adults and children alike.
The game is very similar to Slapjack – just like Slapjack, snap is also all about your pace and how fast you can react. Plus, the game also uses the ‘second chance’ trope.
Let’s find out how to play the snaps game!
Step 1: Dealing
As we just mentioned, the game starts with picking a dealer. Once the dealer is selected and the cards are shuffled, the dealing begins. All the players are given 1 card at a time, with the first card going to the player on the immediate left of the dealer. The dealing continues until the deck has no more cards.
Just a reminder! The cards need to be given face-down, and nobody should look at the cards that have been given to them. Instead, the players have to file their cards into a stack, forming a deck of cards assorted randomly in front of them. Once all the players have created their own deck, the gameplay begins.
Step 2: Beginning Gameplay
The gameplay begins from the player on the dealer’s left, and from there, the game must move in a clockwise direction. All the players draw the card on the top of their deck and then place it right next to their deck, face-up.
Players shouldn’t look at their cards before playing the same face-up. Instead, the cards should be drawn towards the center so that all the players can see the drawn card approximately at the same time.
All the players will take their turns, each one emulating the first player and revealing their first card. The gameplay will continue until there are 2 cards with the same rank facing up simultaneously or all the players have upturned one card.
If 2 top cards in any of the flipped-up piles end up forming a pair, a player might shout ‘snap!’ for receiving the cards in the two piles. The player who declares ‘snap’ first wins the two cards. For example, if there are two 5s facing up, then the player immediately shouts ‘snap’ to get the cards.
In case more than one player says ‘snap,’ and it is not possible to determine who said ‘snap’ first, then the cards are kept in the center of the gameplay. All the cards kept here together form the snap pot. This pot needs to be made like a deck of discarded stacked face-up in an orderly manner.
Step 3: Second Chance
If any player runs out of cards, they will be given another opportunity – we call it the second chance. With the help of this, such players can keep playing the game until the next pot or snap is revealed.
In case the player who has no cards is successful in declaring ‘pot’ or ‘snap’ first, then they will get two cards. But the game will eliminate the player in case they fail to declare ‘snap’ or ‘pot.’
The gameplay will continue until any player is able to get hold of all the cards in their deck.
Wrapping Up:
The Snaps game is a fun card game. And just like we promised in the beginning, it’s easy to learn as well! You just need to be fast. That is the only trick that can help ace a few rounds of this classic card game. Just remember, the player who gets all the cards of a standard deck at the end of the game wins the game.
It can get highly competitive – so be ready for an entertaining but competitive night! Feel free to share your experiences and thoughts on the snap card game in the comments below.
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Barsha Bhattacharya is a senior content writing executive. As a marketing enthusiast and professional for the past 4 years, writing is new to Barsha. And she is loving every bit of it. Her niches are marketing, lifestyle, wellness, travel and entertainment. Apart from writing, Barsha loves to travel, binge-watch, research conspiracy theories, Instagram and overthink.
