1. horse,
Official game rules:
https://www.officialgamerules.org/card-games/spoons
This is a very fast paced card game that is usually played in person. The rules are simple.
In the center of the table there are spoons, usually one less than the number of active players. Each round, one or more players will be eliminated and that number of spoons will be taken off the table. This goes until there is only one player left.
There are 2 phases: playing cards, and reaction.
Phase 1, playing.
Typically players will have 4 cards including at the start of the game. Each player will get a card then get rid of one card, which can include the one they just received. You could play this with many draw variants.
draw pile: Each player draws a card from the draw pile and puts a card into the discard pile.
discard pile: Only the dealer draws from the draw pile and whatever card each player discards gets passed to the next player. The last person puts their card in the discard pile.
either one: allow drawing from either one. A player can either draw from the draw pile, or pick up the last discarded card.
Phase 2, reaction.
After discarding, if a player has a book aka all 4 of the same number for example 8 of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades, they reach for a spoon, signaling a set has been made.
If someone grabs a spoon before a book is made, they are eliminated immediately and the round continues. There could be a bluffing variant to change this behavior.
Players don't get a warning, they just have to react fast enough. The person who made the book is the first to signal, so they will most likely grab a spoon before anyone else.
For players who are clueless or not paying attention, they could be continuing the game while others are grabbing spoons. Typically the next player after the book holder will be distracted and not know before everyone else.
To clarify, both phases can be active at once, at least for a short period of time. This is a very fast paced game, so at any random point you might have to put down your cards and reach for a spoon.
Once all the spoons are taken, players that are without a spoon are eliminated from the game. Sometimes multiple people will grab onto the same spoon and have to fight for it until one person holds it in their hand, making the game more agressive.
In an electronic version, this could be emulated in different ways.
Methods that don't allow multiple people to grab the same spoon:
reaction only:
Option 1: the player could be required to press the space bar once, and the last person to do so loses the spoon.
Option 2: players have to press their space bar as much as they can in 3 seconds, and the player with the lowest count loses the spoon.
There could be a time limit set, and any players who didn't press space would be eliminated. Otherwise, the challenge would go on until only one person hasn't grabbed a spoon.
Methods that do allow multiple people to grab the same spoon:
Option 3: present a menu of colors representing spoons. For each player, randomly generate the order of colors, since most people will likely press enter on the first option immediately. This could conflict with playing the game in phase 1 if both phases are active at once, but it could work.
Option 4: use the number row to grab a spoon, recommended. Control plus numbers for spoons 11 through 20.
For methods that allow multiple players grabbing the same spoon, those players could then do a reaction test like the single methods listed above to see who gets it first, and the losers would be eliminated.
There are 2 ways of going about multiple challengers. The first is less realistic but easier for people to comprehend what is going on.
Single selection: After a set time , results would be calculated. This gives everyone enough time to choose a spoon. Any players who didn't select anything are eliminated.
For example, andrew and chris grab spoon number 1, ellen grabbed spoon number 2, britany, Henry, and debra grab spoon number 3, giana grabbed spoon number 4, and frank grabbed nothing. The 2 groups of players would then do a reaction test to see which one of them gets the spoon.
Announcements would look like this:
Ellen and Giana grabbed a spoon!
Frank is eliminated.
spoon 1: Andrew and Chris.
spoon 3: Britany, Henrry, and Debra.
Pause for a second or 2
Spoon 1 react now!
Chris grabbed a spoon!
Andrew is eliminated.
Pause for a second or 2
Spoon 3 react now!
Debra grabbed a spoon!
Britany and Henry are eliminated.
This does have the drawback that players who lost a challenge wouldn't be able to grab any unused spoons. If players should be given another chance, the system should work differently.
Realtime fighting: When a player grabs a spoon, wait 3 seconds. If no one else has grabbed that spoon by then, the player is safe and the spoon is unavailable. The empty slot noise is played if attempting to grab an unavailable spoon
If however another player chooses that spoon before the 3 seconds, the opponents will do the reaction test immediately and the winner will be safe and take the spoon. The loser can grab another spoon, but only ones that haven't been touched by anyone.
So to clarify, only one challenge per spoon, and you can only try to take a spoon away from someone once, but you will need to defend your spoon anytime you claim one first.
For example, there are 4 spoons. Andrew grabs spoon 1 first followed by Henry one second later, Chris grabs spoon 2 first followed by Ellen 2 seconds later, Debra hesitates and after a second and a half grabs spoon 3 first, and Giana grabs spoon 4 first.
Andrew and Henry do a reaction test immediately after Henry grabs the spoon.
For Andrew and Henry it would display, fight with opponent name, react now! For everyone else it would display, Andrew and Henry are fighting...
Henry reacts slower, so he loses the challenge. It announces, Andrew grabbed a spoon! Followed by, Henry's grip looses and slips.
Spoon 1 is not available anymore; pressing 1 makes the empty slot noise.
Henry has lost a challenge trying to steal a spoon, and there are no unclaimed spoons. It announces, Henry is eliminated!
Chris and Ellen fight for the second spoon, same process as above. Only this time, Chris loses the challenge. Ellen is now safe, and spoon 2 is taken.
Chris is not eliminated however, because he hasn't tried to steal a spoon, only defend one. So he tries to steal spoon 3 from Debra before the 3 seconds expire.
Meanwhile, three seconds go by after Giana has grabbed her spoon and no one has reached for the same spoon, so it announces that Giana is safe and removes spoon 4.
Chris and Debra have their fight. No matter which one of them loses, there are no more spoons so that person is eliminated.
Had there been another one, Chris would have the chance to claim another just like his first attempt, and he would have to defend it. He could do this as long as there was an untouched spoon. Debra hasn't tried stealing a spoon yet, so she could challenge Chris, resulting in another fight between the same 2 people.
This method ensures that all spoons have a chance to be taken and spoons are not constantly changing hands, while also giving people multiple opportunities.
Additionally, there could be an advanced setting that sets a timeframe in which multiple people could try stealing a spoon at once instead of just 2 people fights. For example wait an extra 0.5 seconds after someone wants to steal a spoon. If a second stealer grabs the same spoon, all 3 people will fight for it.
Announcements would be quite chaotic with multiple challenges happening at once, however it would be a lot more exciting and feel more realistic.
In the first version, spoon numbers are only announced if there is a fight. In the second version, they are never announced since everything is in realtime.
Possible game options:
Play in teams: checkbox; default no
Spoon subtraction count: editable spin button; default 1
determines how many spoons will be subtracted from the number of active players each round.
Spoon grabbing variant: reaction only, single selection, realtime fighting; default reaction only
determines how spoons are chosen. Reaction only you don't choose a specific spoon, single selection you have one chance to choose a spoon and fight for it if necessary, realtime fighting you can grab and fight for multiple spoons.
timeframe delay for multiple stealers (requires realtime fighting): editable spin button; default 0.0 seconds
An optional advanced setting that allows a time frame for multiple players to steal the same spoon. Because a spoon is taken after a challenge, there can be an extra delay to wait for other players. By default challenges will happen immediately, making it extremely unlikely for more than 2 player fights.
time limit for grabbing: editable spin button; default 10 seconds
optionally sets how long players have before they are eliminated for not grabbing a spoon. If no limit is set, all spoons must be grabbed.
time limit for discarding: editable spin button; default 0 seconds
An optional timer for players to discard a card. If they do not play in time, a random card is discarded. If the draw variant is either, a random card will also be drawn first.
announce phase 2 of grabbing spoons: checkbox; default no
sometimes prevents the book holder from having a huge advantage of grabbing the first spoon before others know.
Stop phase 1 if phase 2 is active: checkbox; default yes
prevents players from continuing to play if the game has entered phase 2. This probably should just be coded to be always enabled.
premature grabbing: no action, eliminate, bluff; default no action
controls the behavior if a player tries to grab a spoon before a book is made
draw variant: draw pile, discard pile, either one; default draw
controls where playres get cards to add to their hand
Score: +0
Last edited by horse, Aug 3 2024 11:50:40