SWOOP
A SHEDDING CARD GAME. ONE DECK. TWO OR MORE PLAYERS. LOWEST SCORE WINS.
THE DEAL
Use a standard 52-card deck plus two jokers. For each player, deal:
- 4 face-downIn a row in front of the player. They stay hidden, even from the player.
- 4 face-upPlaced on top of the face-down row. Visible to everyone.
- 11 in handSecret. Pick them up. You'll play from your hand first.
Stack the remaining cards as a draw pile. Leave room for a play pile and a discard pile.
Whoever holds the lowest card in hand goes first. 10s and Jokers count as the lowest card.
ONE OF TWO THINGS
Play a card the same rank or lower than the top of the play pile. You may play multiple cards of the same rank at once. After playing, draw back up to 11 from the draw pile while it lasts.
Can't (or won't) play? Pick up the entire play pile into your hand. Your turn ends. Next player starts a fresh pile with whatever they play.
CLEAR THE PILE
10s and Jokers are wild. They can be played on anything and reset what's "playable" to whatever you say.
If you play four (or more) of one rank on the pile — across one turn or accumulated across consecutive plays — or you play any wild, you SWOOP. The whole pile goes to the discard. You play again immediately.
FACE-UP, THEN BLIND
Once the draw pile is empty and your hand runs out, play from your face-up row instead. Same rules.
When the face-up row is gone, play from your face-down row blind — flip the top card and try to play it. If it doesn't qualify, you take the pile.
The first player to clear all three is out. The round continues until only one player has cards left.
LOWEST WINS
Anyone who went out this round scores 0. Everyone else adds up every card remaining in their hand, face-up row, and face-down row.
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Ace | 1 |
| 2 – 9 | face value |
| Jack | 11 |
| Queen | 12 |
| King | 13 |
| 10 / Joker (wild) | 0 |
Play to a target total — the table picks it. 100 is a good number. When someone crosses it, the player with the lowest total wins the match.