Play Spoons against the computer

Setting up a table of bots

Spoons here is for three to eight players. Open a table and press "Add an opponent" once per bot: two bots and you is the smallest game, and more bots make a longer line and more spoons.

The one table rule is how many letters spell a player out: three (S-P-O) for a shorter game, or six (S-P-O-O-N-S) for the full one. Only the host can seat bots, and only before the first round.

What a bot can see

Its own four cards, the number of spoons left, and how many cards everyone holds. Hands are kept on the server, so no bot can see yours, and none knows what is in the stock.

The bots at a table move one at a time, about one move a second and a bit. A person passing quickly will often be holding a card while a bot is still deciding.

How the bots play

A bot keeps the rank it has most of and passes a card of the rank it has fewest of. When it reaches four of a kind it always takes a spoon at once.

When somebody else grabs first, a bot reacts like a person who was looking at their cards: it usually takes a spoon on its next move, but about one time in six it misses that move and is a moment later.

How to beat them

Watch the spoon counter and grab the instant it drops. Bots are only as fast as their next move, so a person who is watching can usually get a spoon before the last bot.

Pass quickly. A bot that is waiting for a card cannot reach four of a kind, so a fast line means your cards turn over faster than theirs.

Bots and people together

Invite friends with the code and let bots take the empty chairs. More players make the line longer and the scramble wilder, and the bots make sure there are always enough of you.

After each round everyone presses "Ready for the next hand"; bots are ready at once. If somebody leaves mid-game a bot plays their seat, and if their connection drops it is held for twenty-five seconds and handed back when they return.