Snap (game)

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Snap
Players	2-8
Age range	2 and up
Setup time	< 1 minute
Playing time	< 5 minutes
Random chance	None
Skills required	Quick Reactions

Snap is a popular children's card game in which the object is to win all the cards.

In the game the entire pack of cards is dealt out among the players in face-down stacks as equally as possible. Play proceeds with the players taking it in turns to place a card from the top of their stack and placing it face-up in a central pile. If two cards placed consecutively on the pile are identical (or, if a conventional pack of cards is used, are of the same number) then the first player to shout "Snap!" and place his hand on the top of the central pile wins all the cards in the pile. Players are eliminated if they lose all their cards. The winner is the person who accumulates the entire pack.

The game is often one of the first card games to be taught to children and is often played with special packs of cards featuring popular children's characters from television programmes or recent films. For older children more complex packs exist, where the differences between cards are more subtle and penalties exist for falsely calling Snap.

Gameplay is related to Egyptian Ratscrew.

In China, snap usually refers to the game Slapjack.

[edit] Alternate Rule

Upon two cards placed consecutively on the pile that are identical, players have to touch or slightly slap their head before placing their hand on the top of the pile. Players who do not touch their head cannot claim the pile. If both players fail to touch their head then play continues. Players who touch their head pre-emptively lose the pile to the other player. Applying this rule often adds humour for both players and on-lookers.