Pig (card game)
Pig is a simple, collecting card game of 20th century American origin suitable for three to thirteen players that is played with a 52-card French-suited pack. It has two very similar and well known variants – Donkey and Spoons. It is often classed as a children's game. It may be descended from an old game called Vive l'Amour. History. Pig is first recorded in 1947 by Frey who describes the name as a "bowdlerism" of "Vive l'Amour". The latter was an old, four-player game in which the aim was to be first to collect  all 13 cards of one suit and Pig was thus a "modern simplification". Although intended for children, the game was also apparently played by adults with special cards in those parts of the US where standard playing cards are taboo. In 1957, a variant, Donkey, is mentioned by Culbertson. The rules are identical; the main exception being that, whereas in Pig players touch their noses when they acquire a quartet, in Donkey, a number of objects – one fewer than the number of players – is placed in the middle and the first player with a quartet calls "Donkey!" and takes one . The subtle distinction between the two games is missed by some later authors. Gibson (1974) states that the games are "practically identical", while Maguire describes Pig but calls it Donkey. Maguire introduces the rule that 'donkeys' receive the letters of the word D-O-N-K-E-Y and the first to spell the whole word is the overall loser. He also records the game of Spoons for the first time, describing it as a variant in which, however, the player who stays to the end without spelling S-P-O-O-N-S is the overall winner. Arnold equates  Pig and Donkey, while Spadaccini and Bicycle Cards faithfully describe the original Pig. Katz conflates Pig with Spoons and uses the whole pack instead of the selecting and shuffling 4 quartets per player, but adds some interesting variations. A good summary of the rules and variations for Pig and Spoons is at pagat.com. Rules. Pig. The rules have changed little over time. The earliest and most basic rules are as follows: 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. Each player is dealt four cards which they pick up and view. 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. As soon as a player collects a "book", that player puts a finger to his nose. As soon as  they spot this, the other players do likewise. The last player to put a finger to his nose is the Pig and loses the deal. 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. Variations: Donkey. Having probably emerged by 1945, 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. When a player collects four of a kind, he 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. Maguire (1990) adds the requirement for a scorekeeper and introduces the rule that, each time a player becomes the Donkey, he or she 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. Variations: Spoons. The name Spoons first appears in 1990. It is essentially Donkey using spoons as the objects to be picked up. 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 staying in the game without being assigned S-P-O-O-N-S is the winner. Variations: Tongue. In the game of Tongue, players quietly stick out their tongue when they have a quartet. Tactics. Tactics may include