Reaction game · Game 224 of 388 ♦
Irish Snap
Count "Ace, two, three …" as you play – when the card matches the word, everyone slaps, and the slowest hand takes the pile.
- Players
- 3–8
- Duration
- 15 min
- Age
- 6+
- Difficulty
- easy
- Cards
- 52 cards, no jokers
- Skill – Luck
- SkillLuck
- Everyone for themselves – Lots of interaction
- Everyone for themselvesLots of interaction
- Simple – Complex
- SimpleComplex
- Quick – Long
- QuickLong
Mood wildlearned in 5 minutes
Collections: Games for three · Games for four · Games for five · Games for six or more · Games for kids · No score pad needed
Full rules
Overview
Irish Snap is a fast, loud slapping game. Everyone plays cards in turn onto one pile in the middle while counting out loud: "Ace", "two", "three" … up to "King", then from "Ace" again. When the card that goes down matches the word that's called, everyone slaps the pile – and the last hand on the pile takes all the cards. The aim is to get rid of your cards; the last player left holding cards loses.
- Players: 3–8.
- You need: a standard 52-card deck without jokers.
Setup
Shuffle and deal out all the cards one at a time, face down, as evenly as possible. Don't look at your cards. Keep them in a neat face-down pile in your hand or in front of you.
Playing a turn
- The dealer starts: they take the top card of their pile and put it face up in the middle, calling "Ace" at the same moment.
- Play goes clockwise. The next player puts their top card face up on the pile and calls "two", the next "three", and so on: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King – then Ace again.
- Turn your card away from you as you put it down, so you don't see it before everyone else. Keep the pace up – no hesitating.
Slap!
The card matches the word: if the card you put down has the rank you called – a 4 while you say "four", a Jack while you say "Jack" – everyone must slap the pile at once, with a flat hand.
The player whose hand ends up on top (the slowest) picks up the whole pile and puts it under their own cards. That player then starts the counting again: they play their next card and call "Ace".
Wrong slap: if you slap – or even flinch towards the pile – when it isn't a slap, you pick up the whole pile yourself and start the counting again with "Ace".
Wrong word: a common house rule treats a wrong call (skipping a number or repeating one) like a wrong slap – the caller picks up the pile. Agree on it before you start.
Example: Anna plays a 9 and calls "six", Ben plays a K and calls "seven", Carla plays an 8 and calls "eight" – slap! Carla, Anna and Dan slap at once; Ben is last and picks up the pile. Ben plays his next card: "Ace".
Common extra slap
Most groups also slap on a double: when the card played has the same rank as the card just below it (a 5 on a 5), no matter what was called. Agree before you start whether doubles count.
Winning the game
When you have played your last card, you're safe and drop out – unless you still have to pick up the pile because you were the last to slap. The others carry on. The last player left with cards loses.
Tips for beginners
- Keep your hand close to the pile – but not too close, or you'll flinch.
- Don't watch just the card; listen to the word being called.
- Calling the word and playing the card at the same moment is harder than it sounds – practise the rhythm.
- Agree what counts as a flinch before you start.
Variants
Optional – agree before you start.
- Jacks or Queens: every Jack (or every Queen) is a slap, whatever is called.
- Jokers: shuffle the jokers in – a joker is always a slap.
- Sandwich: borrowed from Egyptian Ratscrew – slap when the card played matches the card two below it (5, 9, 5).
- Silent count: nobody calls the numbers out loud – everyone has to count in their head.
- Timed game: play for a set time; whoever has the fewest cards at the end wins.
- Stay in to the end: players with no cards keep counting and slapping; the game ends when one player holds all the cards – that player loses.
Background & history
- Family: Reaction game (slapping, shedding)
- Origin: Britain and Ireland; date unknown
- Also known as: Slapjack (in some places)
- Related games: Snap, Slapjack, Egyptian Ratscrew, Cheat
Irish Snap is a British and Irish playground and party game. According to pagat.com it is a British game that was described to the site under the name Slapjack, "though it is more commonly known as Irish Snap" – not to be confused with the American children's game Slapjack, in which the first player to slap a Jack wins the pile. In Irish Snap it is the other way round: the pile is a penalty, the slowest slapper has to take it, and the aim is to get rid of your cards. Nothing reliable is known about when the game appeared or how it got its name.
The core rule – call the ranks in order and slap when the card matches the word – is the same in every source. Almost everything else varies. Many descriptions, such as the rules of the University of Sheffield's card-gaming society, also count a double (a card on one of the same rank) as a slap; others add Jokers, Jacks or Queens as automatic slaps, or play for a set time. Groups also differ on whether players who have run out of cards drop out or keep slapping until one player holds the whole deck.
The sources present it as a family, school and youth-group game; the call-and-count rhythm is shared with Cheat, where players also announce ranks in order.