Two cards of the same rank that show up one after the other on the middle pile. The first player to call "snap" wins the pile.

How do you stop arguments about who was first?

Use a referee, usually the player who dealt. Or play with a rule that a snap counts only when both hands are off the pile.

How many players can play Snap?

Two or more. Each player keeps a face-down pile.

What happens when a card is played?

It goes face up onto the middle pile. Players watch for two cards of the same rank.

Can I snap more than once?

Yes. Each snap wins the middle pile, so keep watching after every match.

The player who collects every card, or the player with the most cards when the game ends.

Snap: the card game for quick eyes, with rules for young children

Snap is the fastest card game most families own. It needs no strategy and almost no reading, and it rewards the one skill small children are usually best at, which is noticing. It is a good game for a car journey, a waiting room or the last five minutes before bed.

Setup

Shuffle a standard deck and deal every card face down, in equal piles, one to each player. Each player keeps their pile face down in front of them.

Playing

Players take turns flipping the top card of their pile onto a shared centre pile, one at a time. The cards build up in the middle, face up.

When two cards of the same rank appear one on top of the other, the first player to put their hand on the pile and shout "Snap!" takes the whole centre pile and adds it to the bottom of their own pile.

Making it fair

Two things make a snap game feel fair.

A referee. Usually the dealer. The referee decides who was first when two hands land at once, and the decision stands.
A clear touch rule. Many families say a snap counts only when a hand touches the pile. A player who shouts but does not touch loses the snap to the one who touches.

Two cards of the same rank, one after the other. That is a snap.

Winning

When one player has all the cards, they win. Games can be long, so many families play to a time limit instead, and the player with the most cards at the end wins.

A gentler version for the youngest

Children under about five can find the speed hard. For them, use a rule that a snap counts only when the adult is also looking, or deal each child a smaller pile so the game ends sooner. Some families also let the child with the most snaps win, instead of the most cards.

Why it helps

Snap builds quick visual matching and self-control. A child who shouts too early learns to wait, and a child who misses a snap learns to watch the pile more carefully. It is short enough to end on a good note.