Swoop

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card order
3. Setup
4. Playing a turn
5. Swooping
6. Mystery cards
7. Scoring
8. Winning the game
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

Swoop is a shedding game for a big table: everybody tries to get rid of all their cards by playing them onto a shared pile in the middle. Unlike in most such games, you play cards that are equal to or lower than the top card. If you play a higher card, you must first pick up the whole pile. Four equal cards on top of the pile – or a 10 or a joker – swoop the pile away. The first player to run out of cards wins the hand; everyone else scores penalty points, and the lowest total wins the game.

• Players: 3–8, each playing for themselves.
• You need: standard 52-card decks with two jokers each – 2 decks (108 cards) for 3–4 players, 3 decks for 5–6 players, 4 decks for 7–8 players. Paper and pencil for the score.

Card order

Suits don't matter – only the rank (value) counts. From lowest to highest:

A (lowest) – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – J – Q – K (highest)

10s and jokers have no rank: they are special swoop cards (see below).

Setup

1. Mix: shuffle all the cards together. In Swoop it's usual to spread them face down in a heap on the table and mix them thoroughly with your hands; a normal deal works just as well.
2. Take cards: each player takes 19 cards without looking at them.
3. Mystery cards: still without looking, lay four of your cards face down in a row in front of you. These are your mystery cards.
4. Face-up cards: lay four more cards face up, one on top of each mystery card.
5. Hand: pick up the remaining 11 cards. This is your hand; keep it hidden from the others.
6. The cards left over are set aside; they are not used in this hand.

Who starts: in the first hand, each player draws a card from the leftover cards; the highest card starts (ties draw again; a 10 or joker drawn this way counts as nothing – draw again). In later hands, the first turn passes one player to the left. Play goes clockwise.

Playing a turn

The cards played in the middle form the play pile. Keep it slightly fanned so that everyone can see how many equal cards are on top.

On your turn you play one to four cards of the same rank. They may come from your hand, from your face-up cards on the table, or both. Then:

• Equal or lower: if your cards are equal to or lower than the top card of the pile, put them on top.
• Higher: if your cards are higher, you must first pick up the whole pile and add it to your hand. Then your cards start a new pile.
• Empty pile: if there is no pile, your cards simply start one.

Then it is the next player's turn – unless you made a swoop or played your last card.

Example: The top card is a 9. Anna plays a pair of 6s on it. Ben has nothing of 6 or lower and no 10 or joker, so he plays a Q: first he picks up the whole pile, then his Q starts a new one.

Swooping

A swoop clears the whole play pile out of the game – set it aside face down. The player who swooped then takes another turn at once. There are two ways to swoop:

1. Four of a kind: the top four cards of the pile are the same rank. You can play all four at once, or add enough cards to those already on top (for example a pair of 8s onto two 8s).
2. 10 or joker: a 10 or a joker may be played on any turn, whatever is on the pile. It always swoops – the pile and the 10 or joker are set aside.

You may never make a set of more than four equal cards on top. If three 8s are on top and you hold two 8s, play just one of them to swoop, then use your extra turn to play the other (or anything else).

Because every swoop gives you another turn, you can swoop several times in a row.

Four higher cards: if you play four equal cards that are higher than the top card, you first pick up the pile as usual and then swoop with your four cards. Then you continue with your extra turn – and may use the cards you just picked up.

Example: The pile shows Q Q 9 9 9 7, with the 7 on top. Carla holds K K K K Q Q 9 7 5. She plays her four Kings: they are higher than the 7, so she picks up the pile first and then swoops with the Kings. Now she holds four Queens and four 9s, so she swoops again with the Queens and again with the 9s. Finally she plays her pair of 7s to start a new pile, and her turn is over.

Mystery cards

To win, you must also get rid of your four face-down mystery cards.

• A mystery card can only be played once the face-up card on top of it has been played.
• It can only be played as the first card of a turn (your normal turn or an extra turn after a swoop).
• Turn it over and play it at once. If you have other cards of the same rank in your hand or face up on the table, you may add them to it as a set.
• It follows the normal rules: if it is higher than the top card, you pick up the pile and the mystery card starts a new one.

Scoring

The hand ends as soon as one player has played their last card; that player wins the hand and scores nothing. All other players add up all the cards they still have – in their hand and on the table (face-up and mystery cards):

Everyone keeps a running total.

Example: When Anna goes out, Ben holds A, 7, K and a joker: 1 + 7 + 10 + 50 = 68 points.

Winning the game

Keep playing hands until someone reaches 500 points or more. Then the player with the lowest total wins (if there is a tie for the lowest, play another hand).

Tips for beginners

• 10s and jokers cost 50 points if you are stuck with them – but they are your best way to get rid of a big pile. Don't hoard too many.
• Watch the fanned pile: three equal cards on top are an invitation to swoop.
• Sometimes picking up a pile on purpose (by playing a higher card) gives you the fourth card for a swoop.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Easier scoring: A–9 score 5 points each, J Q K 10, 10s and jokers 20.
• 20 cards each: 12 in hand, 4 mystery cards and 4 face-up cards.
• Fewer table cards: only face-down cards on the table and everything else in hand – or, simplest of all, hand cards only.
• Only jokers swoop: 10s are ordinary cards between the 9 and the J and count 10 points.
• Big swoops: any set of four or more equal cards on top of the pile swoops.