Vive l'amour

Vive l'amour is the earliest known game of this type. The following is a summary of its earliest rules (1821),^[14] which were reprinted until at least 1889.^[15]

The game is for four players and uses a full pack of 52 French-suited cards. After being well shuffled the cards are dealt around so that each player receives 13 cards. Forehand begins by exchanging a card, face down, with the player to his or her right. That player does the same and this continues around the circle. As soon as a player has 13 cards in the same suit, they show their hand and win the stake for that hand.^[14]

In the late 19th century, however, a modified version appeared in which cards were exchanged "to the left and right" and the winner shouted "Vive l'amour!" on going out. Ulmann adds that each player anted an agreed stake to a pot beforehand and that the dealer dealt the cards one by one.^[16][17]

Pig

The rules of pig have changed little over time. Frey's are as follows:^[5]

Pig is suitable for six to ten-year olds. Three to thirteen may play, but four to seven is best. The aim is to be first to collect a quartet, i.e. four cards of the same rank, known as a book. The game requires as many quartets as there are players e.g. if five play, five quartets are used from a 52-card pack and the rest laid aside. Players are dealt four cards each which they pick up and view.^{[lower-alpha 2]} Then all the players simultaneously discard one card face down to their left and, after doing so, they all pick up the card from the player to their right. A player who collects a book immediately touches the nose with a finger. As soon as they spot this, the other players do likewise. The last player to touch the nose is the pig and loses the deal.^[5]

According to Culbertson, the game is best for more than three players – "the more the merrier" – and is often played by adults at parties as an ice-breaker.^[6]

Variations:

• Go! or Start!: The dealer calls "Go" or "Start" to initiate the passing each time. Once all players have passed their cards to the left, if no-one has a quartet, play continues until any player has a quartet.^[10][18]
• P-I-G: Each player has three lives scored as P-I-G. The first player to be assigned P-I-G is the overall loser and, optionally, has to oink like a pig.^[10] Alternatively, whoever is assigned P-I-G is eliminated from the game so that the last player standing is the overall winner.
• Pointing: Players point to their noses instead of touching them.^[18]
• Twin Pack: For more than 13 players, two packs may be used.^[19]
• Two Winners: The loser drops out after each deal, and the last two left in are joint winners.^[19]

Donkey

Having probably emerged by 1945,^{[lower-alpha 3]} the rules of a variant called donkey are described in the 1957 Culbertson's Hoyle. They are the same as in the early version of pig above, except that "a number of chips, matches, or other tokens" are used; always one fewer than the number of active players. These objects are placed in the middle. A player who collects four of a kind, calls "donkey" and takes a chip, etc. The others now also pick up a chip if they can and the player left without a chip is the donkey and loses the game.^[6]

In Mulac (1946), donkey only differs in that, instead of placing a finger on their noses, players put their hands either side of their head imitating donkey ears. She also gives a version using objects such as spoons or spools, which she calls spoof.^[21]

Maguire (1990) adds the requirement for a scorekeeper and introduces the rule that, each time a player becomes the donkey, that player is assigned a letter from that word. The first player to be assigned all the letters, i.e. D-O-N-K-E-Y, is the loser.^{[8][lower-alpha 4]}

Variations:

• Swap!: The dealer calls "Swap" each time to initiate the exchanging of cards.^[18]
• Prizes: For a party game, prizes are used as the objects.^[18]

Spoons

The name spoons first appears in 1990. It is essentially donkey using spoons as the objects to be picked up.^{[lower-alpha 5]} However, a version of pig called spoof using "empty thread spools or spoons or some other small article..." is described by Mulac as early as 1946.^[21]

In spoons, the player left without a spoon in each deal is assigned a letter from the word 'spoons'. The player who gets S-P-O-O-N-S is eliminated from the game, and the game continues. The last player standing is the winner.^[8]

Variations:

• Stockpile: A whole 52-card pack is used, and so there is a stockpile from which the dealer draws each time and a discard pile to which the player on his or her right passes a card each time.^[12]
• Five cards: Players are dealt five cards each, but still only need a four-of-a-kind to pick up a spoon.^[12]
• Extreme spoons/hidden spoons: Instead of the middle of the play area as usual, the spoons are placed in some inconvenient location nearby.^[22][23]
• Series: As its name implies, it is a series of games with one player eliminated each time, and the last player standing is the overall winner.^[12]
• Two winners: Similar to series, but the last two players left in are joint winners.^[24]

Tongue

In the game of tongue, players quietly stick out their tongue when they have a quartet.^[24]