How to Play Kemps (2026): Rules, Secret Signals & Scoring

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How to play Kemps (2026) — Kemps is a fast partner card game where the cards are the easy part. You and your partner are trying to collect four of a kind, but the real game is a secret signal: one of you has to tell the other “I have it” without saying a word, while the other team watches your every twitch. It is a party favorite for four, six or eight players and needs only one standard deck.

Kemps at a glance

	Details
Players	4 or more, in an even number (teams of two)
Deck	One standard 52-card deck; two decks for more than eight players
Hand size	4 cards
Goal of a hand	Get four of a kind and have your partner call “Kemps”
Goal of the game	Avoid spelling K-E-M-P-S; five lost hands and your team is out

Picking partners and a secret signal

Split into teams of two. Partners sit across from each other, so the other team has a fair chance to spot signals. Before the first deal, each pair steps away and agrees on a silent signal that means only one thing: “I have four of a kind.” It can be a gesture, a facial expression or a way of holding your cards, but no words or sounds. Popular choices include touching an earlobe, puffing a cheek or tapping the table twice.

You may agree on several signals and you may throw in meaningless gestures to mislead opponents, but you may not agree on signals that mean anything else, such as “I need queens.” That kind of table talk is cheating. Teams can change their signal between hands if they suspect it has been spotted.

Dealing a hand of Kemps

The dealer gives four cards to every player. Once everyone has looked at their hand, the dealer turns four more cards face up in a row in the middle of the table. The rest of the deck stays with the dealer as the stock.

Swapping cards in Kemps

1. There are no turns. As soon as the fourth middle card is face up, anyone may grab a middle card and immediately put one of their own cards face up in its place.
2. You must always hold exactly four cards. If you take two cards, you put down two different cards.
3. If two players reach for the same card, the first to touch it gets it.
4. When nobody wants any of the middle cards, the dealer sweeps them away and deals four fresh ones. Play continues the same way.
5. The hand continues until someone calls “Kemps” or “Stop Kemps,” or the stock runs out.

Calling Kemps and Stop Kemps

• Kemps: when you believe your partner has four of a kind, call “Kemps!” The hand stops and your partner shows their cards. If they have four of a kind, the other team gets a letter. If not, your team takes the letter.
• Stop Kemps: when you believe an opponent has four of a kind, call “Stop Kemps!” (many groups point at the player). If either opponent has four of a kind, their team gets the letter. If neither does, your team takes it.
• Running out of cards: if no one wants the middle cards and the dealer has no fresh cards left, the hand ends with no letters for anyone.

Keeping score in Kemps

Each lost hand earns your team the next letter of K-E-M-P-S. The first team to collect all five letters loses, and the remaining teams win. Some groups prefer points instead: a correct call scores one point, a wrong call loses one, and the first team to five points wins. Agree on which version you are playing before the first deal.

A sample hand of Kemps

Ana and Ben are partners against Cara and Dev. Ana holds three jacks and a four. The middle row shows a jack, so she swaps her four for it in a flash, then rubs her eyebrow, the signal she and Ben agreed. Ben is busy watching the middle, but Dev notices the eyebrow and shouts “Stop Kemps!” while pointing at Ana. Ana shows four jacks, and her team takes the letter K. Lesson learned: Ben should have been watching Ana.

Kemps strategy that works

• Keep it simple and subtle. A signal you can repeat naturally beats a clever one you forget.
• Agree on when to look. Many partners check each other every time the dealer sweeps the middle cards.
• Use decoy gestures. Repeating a meaningless move can bait opponents into a bad “Stop Kemps.”
• Help your partner. If you can tell what rank they are chasing, drop those cards into the middle.
• Hide your target. Occasionally grab a card you do not need so opponents cannot read your plan.

Kemps house rules and variations

• Dealer says go: nobody may touch the middle until the dealer calls “Go.”
• One card at a time: you may only pick up a single card per swap.
• Peanut Butter: a version where you call “peanut butter” for your partner and “jelly” for an opponent, and verbal code words are allowed.
• Larger groups: with more than four players, every opposing team takes a letter when one team calls Kemps correctly.

Want more card games for a crowd? See our adult games with playing cards. For another loud game with the same deck, try Slap Jack.

Kemps questions

How many people do you need to play Kemps?

At least four, always in an even number, because you play in teams of two.

Can you talk during Kemps?

You can chat normally, but your secret signal must be silent. Agreeing on spoken code words is not allowed in standard Kemps.

What happens if you call Kemps wrong?

Your team receives the next letter of K-E-M-P-S.

Is Kemps the same as Spoons?

They share the four-of-a-kind goal, but Spoons uses spoons in the middle and no partners, while Kemps relies on secret partner signals.