Kemps

Players and equipment

Four, six or eight players in partnerships of two, and a standard 52-card deck. Partners sit across from each other, so every signal has to cross the table in full view of the other side. Before the first deal, each pair agrees a secret signal — a blink, a cough, a word, a hand on the chin — and the game is passing it under everybody's noses. With six or eight players there are three or four pairs at the table, all playing at once.

The deal

Four cards each, dealt face down, and four face up in the middle. The rest of the pack stays beside the dealer, who uses it to refill the middle. Partners sit across from each other, never side by side.

Play

There are no turns. Anybody may swap a card from their hand for a card in the middle at any moment, one for one, keeping four in hand. Several hands reach for the same card at once, and whoever gets there first has it. Any player may say the middle has stalled; if nobody objects, the dealer sweeps the four away and deals four fresh ones. Nothing else pauses while that happens.

The aim is four of a kind, and then the signal. When your partner shows theirs, call "Kemps!" — if they do hold four of a kind, your side wins the round. You never call Kemps for your own hand: the whole point is that your partner has to notice and say it for you. If you have read the opposition's signal instead, call "Stop Kemps!" on them before their partner calls, and their four of a kind wins the round for you. Some tables say Counter-Kemps instead; it is the same call.

A call ends the round. The player who was signalling, or the player accused, turns their hand face up and the table sees whether the call was right; everybody else keeps their cards hidden. The deal passes to the left, and pairs may agree a new signal before the next round.

Scoring

Letters, and they are bad news — first team to spell the word loses:

Kemps, called right

A letter to the other team

Your partner had it

Kemps, called wrong

A letter to your team

Your partner did not

Stop Kemps, called right

A letter to them

Caught before their call

Stop Kemps, called wrong

A letter to you

Nobody had it

Exactly one letter is given out each round, and it always goes to the pair that got it wrong: a wrong call of either kind is your own letter, and a right call of either kind is a letter to the other pair. With three or four pairs at the table the letter goes to the pair that was caught or to the pair that called wrongly; the others are untouched that round.

SquareScores keeps the letters as a count against each pair, one for each round lost, so the smaller number is the pair in front. A letter, once given, stays for the whole match.

A worked game

Alice and Cara are partners against Ben and Dev. Before the first deal Alice and Cara agree that touching an ear is the signal; Ben and Dev settle on a scratch of the nose.

Round 1

Ben and Dev: K

Cara makes four sevens and touches her ear; Alice calls Kemps, and Cara has it

Round 2

Ben and Dev: K-E

Ben sees Dev scratch his nose and calls Kemps, but Dev is holding three nines and a hope

Round 3

Alice and Cara: K

Dev has worked out the ear; Alice touches hers and Dev calls Stop Kemps before Cara can speak

Round 4

Alice and Cara: K-E

Alice is sure Ben is signalling and calls Stop Kemps; nobody has four of a kind

Round 5

Alice and Cara: K-E-M

Both pairs change signals; Ben coughs, Dev calls Kemps, and Ben has four kings

Round 6

Ben and Dev: K-E-M

Cara calls Kemps on Alice's new signal, a yawn, and Alice has four twos

After six rounds it is three letters each. Round 2 is the one that hurt Ben and Dev: a Kemps called on a partner who has not got there yet is a letter against your own side, and round 4 cost Alice and Cara in the same way. Round 3 shows why signals change between rounds: Dev had seen the ear touched once and needed nothing more. Two rounds later Ben and Dev take their fourth and fifth letters, spell K-E-M-P-S, and the match is over: Alice and Cara win it on three letters against five.

Ending

First team to spell K-E-M-P-S loses the match. New signals between rounds are fair; reusing the old one is how rounds get stolen. The app ends the match the moment a pair reaches five letters, and the pair holding fewest is the winner; with three or four pairs the match ends when the first pair goes out, and the others are ranked by their letters.

Choosing a signal

A good signal is small, natural and easy to repeat: a thumb on the edge of the table, a word you would say anyway, a glance at the ceiling. Anything you would never do otherwise is spotted the first time you do it. Agree what the signal is not, too — a partner who coughs by accident with three of a kind in hand is a letter waiting to happen.

False signals

Once the other pair thinks they know your signal, a fake is worth a letter. Give the signal with three of a kind in hand and let them call Stop Kemps on nothing. It works once, perhaps twice, and only if your partner knows it is coming: a false signal your own partner believes is a wrong Kemps and a letter against you. Fake a signal only when you are certain your partner is not about to call it.

Calling Stop Kemps

Watch the other pair's faces more than their hands. A player who has just made four of a kind stops swapping, sits a little stiller and looks at their partner; the signal comes a moment after. Call Stop Kemps the instant you see the signal, because their partner has seen it too and a race to speak is one you can lose. Do not call on a hunch: a wrong Stop Kemps costs your side a letter, so you need to have seen the signal and be sure it was meant.

Watching your partner

Half of Kemps is watching your partner without looking as though you are. A partner who has stopped taking cards is probably ready, so watch harder; a partner still swapping needs time, so go on collecting and do not stare. When you have four of a kind, keep swapping cards in and out so that nothing changes on your side of the table.

What to collect

Pick a rank early and stick to it, but be willing to switch: if the rank you want has not shown in the middle after two sweeps, it is probably in somebody else's hand. Cards you throw into the middle are cards the other pair may want, so throw what nobody seems to be collecting, and watch what each opponent takes — a player taking every nine is two nines away from a signal.

Kent, Cash, Canes and Signals

The same game under other names, and the name is often the call: at a Kent table you shout Kent and Stop Kent, at a Cash table Cash and Stop Cash. The rules, the letters and the signals are the same wherever you sit.

Points instead of letters

Some tables count points won rather than letters lost: one point to the pair that wins a round, first to an agreed number wins. Every right call is a point to the caller's pair and a wrong call a point to the other side, so it is the same game read the other way up.

Double Kemps

Some tables let a player who sees that both partners hold four of a kind at once call Double Kemps, worth two letters to the other pair if right and two against if wrong.

Silent signals

A stricter table forbids spoken signals altogether, and sometimes talking of any kind: the signal must be something seen, not heard. It stops a pair hiding a code word in ordinary chat.

Fresh middle by agreement

Instead of any player calling a stall, the four cards in the middle are replaced only when every player agrees, or only when the dealer says so. It stops one pair refreshing the middle whenever the cards happen to suit the other.

How many people can play Kemps?

Four, six or eight, always in pairs with partners sitting across from each other. Four is the classic game; six and eight are faster and noisier, with three or four pairs reaching for the same four cards.

What happens if you call Kemps and your partner does not have four of a kind?

Your pair takes a letter. A call is only right when the partner you called it on actually holds four of a kind at that moment, so a signal you misread, or a partner who signalled too soon, costs your side the round exactly as being caught would.

Can you call Stop Kemps on any team?

At a four-player table there is only one other pair, so yes. With six or eight players some tables allow Stop Kemps on any pair and others only on the pair opposite; agree it before the first deal. Whichever pair you call on, a wrong call is a letter to your own side.

Are you allowed to talk during Kemps?

Usually, and a spoken signal is one of the classic kinds: a word slipped into ordinary chat. Some tables forbid talking so that every signal has to be seen, so ask before you agree one.

Can you change your signal between rounds?

Yes, and you should. Once the other pair has seen a signal called, they know it, and using it again hands them a Stop Kemps. Agree the new one quietly between rounds, away from the table if you can.

What do you do when nobody wants the cards in the middle?

Anyone may say the middle has stalled. If nobody objects, the dealer takes the four cards away and deals four fresh ones from the pack, and play carries straight on. When the pack runs out, shuffle the swept cards and deal from those.

Can you call Kemps for yourself?

No. Only your partner may call Kemps on your hand, which is the whole reason for the signal. Holding four of a kind is worth nothing until your partner notices.

Is Kemps the same as Kent?

Yes. Kent, Cash, Canes and Signals are the same game with a different word for the call; the hands, the middle, the signals and the letters are all the same.