Slapjack

Players and equipment

Two to twelve players and a standard 52-card deck. The younger sibling of Snap: only one rank matters, and it is the jack. Children can play it from about four, as soon as they can tell a jack from a king, and a table of mixed ages can share it, because the youngest hand is often the fastest. Egyptian Ratscrew is the older cousin, with more cards to slap and a challenge on every face card, and has a page of its own.

The deal

The whole deck, face down, into a pile in front of each player. Nobody looks at anything. With three players two piles have seventeen cards and one has eighteen, and nobody minds.

Play

In turn, each player flips their top card onto a central pile — flipping it away from themselves, so everybody sees it at once. Many tables ask that you flip and slap with the same hand, so nobody can hover over the pile with the other one.

When a jack lands, slap it. The first hand flat on the pile takes the whole thing into the bottom of their own stack. When several hands land together, the one underneath was first. Slapping a card that is not a jack costs you a card, paid face down to the player who flipped it, and the pile stays where it is. Play carries on from the player after whoever turned the jack.

A player who runs out of cards is not quite dead: they stay in for the next jack, however long it takes, and a successful slap puts them back in the game with the whole pile. They are out for good if somebody else beats them to that jack — or if they slap a card that is not a jack while they are waiting, having nothing left to pay the forfeit with.

Scoring

There is no score. There is the pile, and the sting in your palm.

A jack, slapped first

Yours

The whole pile

A false slap

One card to the flipper

Any other card

Out of cards

Back in, or out

One last jack to slap

Every card in the game is in somebody's pile or on the table, so the packs always add up to 52, and a child who wants to know who is winning counts their pile. What is worth writing down is who won the game, and a table that plays two or three in a row keeps a tally of wins. On SquareScores a game of Slapjack is one row on the match table, and one tap on the winner's name records it.

A worked game

Three players: Alice with eighteen cards, Ben and Cara with seventeen each. Alice flips first.

The first jack

Alice 22, Ben 15, Cara 15

The sixth card turned is the jack of hearts, from Cara; Alice's hand lands first and she takes the six

A false slap

Alice 21, Ben 13, Cara 15, three on the table

Ben slaps the queen of spades, the third card of the new pile, and pays one card to Cara, who turned it

The second jack

Alice 17, Ben 23, Cara 12

Eleven cards later Ben turns the jack of clubs and slaps his own; fourteen cards go to the bottom of his pile

Every line adds up to 52. The game runs on like that, a pile changing hands every few minutes. Cara runs out first and sits with her hands on the table waiting for a jack; when one comes, Alice's hand is under hers, and Cara is out. Alice and Ben trade piles for another twenty minutes, Ben down to four cards and then up to thirty, until Alice slaps the jack that takes his last two. Alice holds all 52 and wins, and one tap on Alice's name files the game.

Ending

One player ends up holding all 52 cards and wins. Everyone's hands hurt.

Watch the pile, not your hand

Your cards are face down and you are not allowed to look, so there is nothing in your hand worth watching. Keep your eyes on the spot where the cards land. The card is a jack or it is not, and you can tell from the corner before it has finished falling. A player who looks up when it is their turn to flip is a player who misses the jack somebody else turns.

Flat hand, fast hand

Slap with your whole hand flat, so it covers the pile, and slap down rather than across, because the hand underneath wins and a hand that slides in from the side is on top. Keep your hand on the table near you between cards, not in the air over the pile, which most tables call cheating and all tables call annoying. The hand that is resting is faster than the hand that is hovering, because it has decided where it is going.

Only the jack

A wrong slap costs a card and a bruise. Kings and queens have faces too, and when the cards are coming fast a king looks like a jack for as long as it takes to slap it. Wait for the J in the corner. If you are not sure, do not slap: a jack you miss costs you the pile you did not have, and a slap you get wrong costs a card you did.

Flip so everyone can see

Turn your card away from you and drop it, do not peek and do not slide it. A player who sees their own card before the others do has a head start on their own jacks, and the table will notice.

When you are nearly out

Count your pile when it gets small. With two or three cards left, a wrong slap puts you out, so slap only when you are sure. When you have run out, put both hands flat on the table and wait: you have one jack to come back on and nothing to lose by watching for it, and the players still flipping have their turns to think about.

Slap the jack only

The base game, and the right one for the youngest players: one card to watch for and nothing else. Every jack is a slap, every other card is not, and the whole game can be explained in one sentence to a four-year-old.

Sandwiches and doubles

Borrowed from Egyptian Ratscrew for tables that want more slapping: slap when two cards of the same rank land one after the other, a double, and when two cards of the same rank are separated by one other card, a sandwich. Jacks still count. There is far more to watch and far more to get wrong, and a false slap still costs a card.

Egyptian Ratscrew

The grown-up game, on its own page. Every face card and ace is a challenge that the next player must answer with another face card in a set number of cards or lose the pile, and slaps come on doubles, sandwiches and more. Children who have outgrown Slapjack graduate to it.

The penalty for a wrong slap

The base rule gives one card to the player who flipped. Some tables put the offender's card face down under the central pile instead, so it goes to whoever wins the next jack; others make the offender miss their next turn, or sit out the next jack, which is heavier. A table of small children can play with no penalty at all and simply put the card back.

Playing to a time limit

A full game to the whole pack can take half an hour or fall over at bedtime, so set a timer and count piles when it rings: the most cards wins. Ten minutes is about right for young children. Where the count is a tie, the next jack decides it.

How do you play Slapjack?

Deal the whole pack face down into a pile for each player. In turn, everybody flips their top card onto a pile in the middle. When a jack appears, everyone slaps it, and the first hand down takes the whole pile. Slapping any other card costs one card to the player who flipped it. A player who runs out of cards may stay in for one more jack, and comes back with the pile if they win it. The player who ends up with every card wins.

What age is Slapjack for?

From about four, once a child can recognise a jack, and it stays good fun to about ten. It is one of the first card games most children learn because it needs no counting and no reading, and a small hand is as fast as a big one. Older children enjoy adding doubles and sandwiches, or moving on to Egyptian Ratscrew.

What happens if you slap the wrong card in Slapjack?

You give one card from the top of your pile, face down, to the player who flipped the card you slapped. The pile in the middle stays where it is and play carries on. A player who has run out of cards and slaps the wrong card has nothing to pay with and is out of the game.

What happens when a child runs out of cards in Slapjack?

They are not out yet. They stop flipping and wait for the next jack, and if they slap it first they take the pile and are back in the game. If somebody else slaps it first, they are out. This keeps the youngest player in the game long after their pile has gone, which is usually the moment the tears would otherwise start.

Is Slapjack the same as Snap?

No, though they are cousins. In Snap each player turns cards onto their own pile and you shout when two piles show the same rank; in Slapjack everybody turns onto one central pile and you slap when a jack appears, whatever came before it. Slapjack is simpler for the youngest players, because there is one card to look for, and rougher, because it is a slap and not a shout.

How long does a game of Slapjack take?

A game to the whole pack takes ten minutes to half an hour with two or three players, and can go on longer with more, since piles change hands and nobody runs out for good. Playing to a time limit and counting piles at the end is the usual answer at bedtime.

How do you stop Slapjack getting rough?

Play on a soft table or a rug, insist on flat hands and one hand each, and set the penalty for a wrong slap so there is a reason to be careful. Seat the smallest child opposite the biggest rather than beside them, so the hands come from across the pile and not on top of a wrist. Fingernails are the real hazard, and a rule that slaps are made with the palm, never the fingers, deals with most of it.