Today we have a fun and easy card game that players of any age will simply love: Swoop the Card Game.
It has just the right mix of silliness, strategy, luck and skill. Plus, it’s very easy to learn. This makes it one of the best card games we have. Despite how great it is, there isn’t much information out there to find but people seem to have played it for years. Other names for it are Swipe, Swoosh, Swish and our favorite Clear the Deck. All the same great game, just different names!
We first played this game back in the Pandemic and I can’t believe it has taken us so long to share it with you! It’s become a family favorite joining games like Canadian Salad, Sticks, and Play or Pay.
In this post we’ll cover what you need, how to play, the rules and how to win the card game Swoop. Let’s get into it.
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What You Need For Swoop
When we learned to play, we were taught to play with three decks of cards no matter how many people are playing. You can play this way, or you can follow the amount below.
One person suggested that you need 2 decks for 3 to 4 players, 3 decks for 5 or 6 players and 4 decks for 7 to 8 players.
Either way, you need to add in the jokers from each deck. It is a good idea to make the backs of the cards different (to separate them later) or you can dedicate three decks as your Swoop cards and leave them all mixed up all the time.
If you need some new cards check out the selection here; Canadians here.
You will also need a scoresheet. You can use a regular pen and paper or you can get your free score sheet in our Fun Library (look for the black back below to get your score sheet).
There is one more option. You can get our score sheet book called Clear the Deck here – it comes with the rules and everything you need but the cards!
How to Play the Swoop Card Game
To start, “shuffle” the three decks of cards by putting them in one big, messy pile and swirling them around. (Kids loves this silliness.) Next, each player picks 19 cards out of the pile in any order that they like (again kids love this). Players do not look at their cards.
From their pile of 19 cards, each player will put the top four cards face down on the table in front of them. These are the mystery cards. Next, they will place a card from their pile face up on each of the mystery cards. Last, each player will look at the remaining cards in their hands and arrange them from highest to lowest.
Card Points
Aces are low and are worth 1 point each. The cards from 2 to 9 are worth face value. The face cards worth 10 points each. The 10s and jokers are the swoop cards. They are worth 50 points each.
Object
The object of Swoop is to be the player with the lowest score at the end of the game.
To decide who will go first, each player flips over one card from the unused cards still in the middle. The highest card gets to go first. Collect these cards and the rest of the left over cards and put them to the side, they won’t be used for the rest of the round.
Playing
The first player now gets to decide what card or cards she wants to start the pile with. It is a good idea to shed your high cards first. You can put more than one card on the pile at a time as long as they are the same rank. When you’re putting cards in the middle you announce the amount and rank. For example, “two kings.”
The cards on the pile should be in more of a fan style so that everyone can see the cards that are in the pile.
Play moves to the next player on the left. This player can now play one or more cards of the same rank of the top card on the pile or ones of a lower rank. For example, if two kings are in the middle, they can put another king on it or a queen or anything lower. Again, you announce what cards you have placed. If you are adding a king to the two in the middle, you would say “three kings.” Play then moves to the next player on the left.
When the top number of the pile reaches four of a kind, the pile can then we swooped and set aside. These cards are now no longer in play. You can only add up to four of a kind. If you have more cards of that rank in your hand, you may play enough to have the four of a kind and a swoop and leave the rest of the cards in your hand. After a swoop, the player who triggered the swoop gets to start a new pile with any cards that they like.
Swoop Cards
The Swoop cards, the 10s and jokers, can be played at any time on your turn. Playing a Swoop card will swoop all the cards in the pile to the side and out of the game. The player who played a Swoop card now gets to start again. You may play more than one swoop card in a row.
If you are unable to play a lower card, or a Swoop card, on your turn, you must pick up all the cards in the center and add them to your hand. You are now allowed to start the new pile with any cards you’d like.
The Mystery Cards
On your turn, you may choose to play any of the cards that are face up on the table. You may also add these cards to any play you make. For example, if you have a 4 face up and are putting two 4s from your hand onto the pile, you may add the face up 4 to add “three 4s” to the pile.
Once you have played the face up card on top of a mystery card, you may choose to play the mystery card. To play a mystery card, on your turn you flip it up. If the card is higher than the one on top of the pile, you will have to pick up all the cards and add them to your hand. On the other hand, if the card is the same rank or lower than the middle one, you are safe. You can add any matching cards from your hand.
Ending the Round
When a player sheds all of the cards in their hand, the face up and the mystery cards, they have won the round. All other players add up the cards in their hands and any still on the table as their score.
The player in the middle scores 0.
The player on the right has a score of 51.
Round Two
After scoring, all the cards are added to the big, messy pile and are swirled and mixed together. The set up and play is the same as in the first round with the only difference being that the player to the left of the player who started in the first round gets to start the game.
Winning Swoop Card Game
When one player reaches 500 points, the game is over. The player with the lowest score is the winner.
Swoop Card Variations
For being an old game there are surprisingly few rules changes but here are the ones I’ve found.
First, there is a Swoop rule change that says if you flip over a mystery card and it’s higher than the middle, you have to pick up the cards but the card you play to the middle after must be the mystery card.
Second, there is no four card limit for swooping. You can play as many of the card as you have. For example, if there are three queens in the pile and you have two queens in your hand, you may place all of your queens on the pile before it is swooped.
The third rule change is about the mystery cards. Some play that there are only the four face down cards, that is there are no face up card on top of them. Others play that there are no mystery cards at all and you hold all 19 cards in your hand.
The last rule changes are that the Swoop cards are worth only 20 points each instead of the 50 points. There is one set of rules that says that only the jokers are Swoop cards and the 10s count as you would expect them to-between the 9 and jack.
The Fun All Swooped Up
This card game is great for kids, teens, adults and grandparents too. It has something for everyone, is easy to learn and will keep you entertained for hours. You can get the printable rules here and the free score sheet in our Fun Library. Or you can get our Clear the Deck rules and score sheet book here; Canadians here.
You can get a commercial Swoop game here; it’s the same game but with Swoop cards instead of jokers.
Looking for more fun card games? Check these out:
Peanuts Briscola Rat A Tat Tat
Be sure to visit our Family Game Shelf shop for great games like Sticks the card game, Whacky Putt the mini golf dice game, and Word Hunter
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