Hands Down (game) facts for kids
Hands Down is a fun and fast-paced board game. It was first created in 1964 by Marvin Glass and Harvey "Hank" Kramer. They made it for the Ideal Toy Company. Over the years, other big toy companies like Hasbro, Milton Bradley, and Pressman Toy Corporation have also published the game. It's a great game for players aged 5 and older.
Hands Down is a card game that tests how quickly you can react. It's a bit like the game Spoons. But instead of spoons, this game uses a special plastic unit with colorful hand-shaped paddles. Players slap these paddles when they find a match!
Contents
How to Play Hands Down
Setting Up the Game
To start, choose one player to be the dealer. The dealer gives four cards to each player. Any cards left over are placed face down to make a draw pile. Everyone looks at their own cards, but keeps them secret from other players.
Playing Your Turn
The player to the dealer's left starts the game. On your turn, you draw one card from the draw pile.
If you have two cards with the same number (a pair) in your hand, you should quickly slap your hand paddle! When you slap your paddle, all other players must try to slap their paddles as fast as they can. The last player to slap their paddle loses that round. You then show your pair of cards and take one card from the player who was last.
You can keep playing if you have another pair. If you don't have any pairs, you have two choices:
- You can pass your turn. If you pass, the game moves to the player on your left.
- You can fake having a pair. To fake, you pretend to slap your paddle without actually touching it. If any other player slaps their paddle when you fake, they lose one card to you!
The Joker Card
The Joker card is special. It does not count as a pair with any other card. It's a bonus card that becomes important later in the game.
Ending the Game and Scoring
The game continues until the draw pile runs out of cards. When this happens, the current player takes one card from any other player's hand. The game ends when all cards, except for the Joker, have been played.
Now it's time to count your points!
- Each pair of cards you collected is worth one point.
- The Joker card is worth two points.
The player with the most points wins the game! If there's a tie, the tied players add up the number value of their pairs. For this tie-breaker, the Joker card is worth 20 points. The player with the highest total wins the tie.
