The Snaps Game is a guessing game that requires players to snap their fingers and use strategic sentences to spell out someones’ name. Opponents listen carefully to the clues to guess the name correctly.
Snaps is an entertaining word game that uses verbal cues and strategic finger-snapping to give hints to your opponent. Players take turns trying to decipher each other’s secret messages.
This Snaps game guide will cover the following:
- What is Snaps?
- What you’ll need to play Snaps
- Snaps game rules
- How to play Snaps (Video Tutorial)
- FAQs
Continue reading to learn how to play the Snaps Game!
What is Snaps?
The Snaps Game is simply a guessing game for two or more players.
Players take turns creating clues, where consonants are identified in the form of phrases and vowels, are represented by snapping.
The opponent uses the clues to guess the mystery word.
Number of Players: 2 or more
Ages: 8+ and the ability to spell
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Length of Play: 10-15 minutes
Category: Party games, word games
Similar to: Paper Telephone, G-H-O-S-T, Green Glass Door
Main Objective: Players listen to clues in the form of phrases and snapping to guess the mystery name correctly.
Why We Love It: The Snaps Game is versatile because it takes no space or materials to play. Play to pass the time waiting in line, on a road trip, or pranking your friends with this mind-boggling decoding game.
What You’ll Need to Play Snaps
To play snaps, you do not need anything other than your ability to think, spell, and snap your fingers.
You can also modify the game and use clapping in place of snapping if needed.
Area of Play
While there are no materials required to play Snaps, some players use this game as entertainment or trickery for the guests at their party.
Using this strategic code system, two people at an event can fool guests into thinking they can read each other’s minds. This entertaining show gets others involved in the game as they learn the code themselves and join in on the fun.
Snaps Game Rules
To begin the game, the first player, or snapper, in this case, will decide if they want to spell out the name or a clue related to the name.
- If the player is going to spell out the name, they start by saying, “Snaps is the name of the game.”
- If the player is going to spell a clue about the name, but not the name itself, they say, “Snaps isn’t the name of the game.”
This initial statement gives the guessing player(s) a clue about what they will guess.
Spelling a Name
If the snapper decides to spell out the name, they start by saying a sentence that begins with the first letter of the person’s name.
For example, if the name is Will Smith, the snapper may begin by saying something like:
When is lunch? The guessing player must pay attention to the letter W in the word when.
Coding vowels are different, however. The snapper must snap their fingers when vowels occur following this specific pattern:
A1 snap
E2 snaps
I3 snaps
O4 Snaps
U5 Snaps
So, for example, Will Smith, the snapper, then snaps 3 times. This clue tells the guessing player that the following letter is I.
Continue the game by snapping vowels and stating phrases to give the guessing player the clues needed to spell out the name.
There is no clue for spacing between words.
Spelling a Clue
If the first player wants to spell out a clue related to the name in question, they follow the same rules described above.
For example, if the name is Will Smith, the player can spell out a clue such as Men in Black. The snapping player would do something like this:
“May I have some coffee?”
2 snaps (vowel e)
“Never play with matches.”
3 snaps (vowel i)
“Nice to meet you.”
“But did you die?”
“Let’s go to the store.”
1 snap (vowel a)
“Can you help me?”
“Kangaroos are cool animals.”
The other player(s) guess the name, and the first person to guess correctly becomes the snapper next.
How to Keep Score in Snaps
There are no definitive points earned for this game. The first player who guesses correctly becomes the next snapper, and the pattern continues with every round. The player with the majority of correct guesses wins.
You can get creative and add a time limit, incorporate a point system, or try to challenge other players by making your clues as bizarre as possible!
How to Play Snaps – Video Tutorial
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Snaps, the name of the game, mean?
When the starting player says, “Snaps is (or isn’t) the name of the game,” this lets the opponent know whether or not the clue is a name or a hint about a name or character.
Most people play using celebrity names, but you can use names of people within your group or even words in other categories.
What is the Snaps Game on TikTok?
This game requires virtually no equipment; therefore, it would be relatively easy to play it remotely as long as you have clear audio and can decipher the code.
So, listen closely to your next Zoom meeting- someone might just be playing the Snaps Game!
Other Games Similar to Snaps (Our Guides)
After playing the Snaps game, why not try some of these other similar games:
- Bananagrams rules
- Would You Rather? (Guide coming soon)
- Mind Reader (Guide coming soon)
- Upwords rules
- The Umbrella game rules
