The basic idea of Snaps is to spell out individual letters of a word using either a statement or a snap of your fingers. There are at least two players in Snaps. The snapper is the person who chooses a word and then snaps out the answer. The receiver is the person who listens to the snapper and guesses the word. For consonants, you’ll say a sentence or statement in which the first word starts with the same letter that you are trying to spell out. For example, if you choose “George Washington,” your first letter is a “G. ” You’ll clue the receiver into the name by starting with a sentence like “Get ready. ” This lets the receiver know that the first name of the person or the clue is “G. ”[1] X Research source For vowels, you snap your fingers- hence the name of the game. Each vowel corresponds to a specific number of snaps. “A” is one snap, “E” is two snaps, “I” is three snaps, “O” is four snaps, and “U” is five snaps. Thus, for the second letter of “George Washington,” you would give two clear snaps for an “E. ”[2] X Research source There is no cue for a space in between words.

For example, you can use “Hillary Clinton” or “Britney Spears. ” Try to avoid difficult names or names that start with difficult letters. For example, the name Xavier would be difficult to use because of the “x. ” There are no words with which you could put together a cue sentence.

For example, if you want the receiver to guess “George Washington” you could snap out the clue “first President. ” For “Marlon Brando” you could use “the Godfather. ”

For example, for the name “George Washington,” you’ll need to have brief statements to clue your reader into each consonant in the name or in the clue. You could use “Read the newspaper” for “R. ” If you decide to use “first President” as your clue, you could use “Party on” as your statement for the letter “P. ”

If you’re using the direct name of a person, say “Snaps IS the name of the game. " This lets your receiver know that you’re spelling out the name of a person. [6] X Research source If you’re giving the receiver a clue about the person, such as “Rocky” for Sylvester Stallone or “the Godfather” for Marlon Brando, say “Snaps ISN’T the name of the game. " This clues your receiver that you’re spelling out a clue to the name. [7] X Research source

Most names will begin with a consonant, so you will likely begin with a statement. Thus, for “Sylvester Stallone,” you could start with the statement “Super duper” to let your receiver know the first letter is a “s. ”

Second letters are often vowels, so your next clue will probably be a series of snaps. For “Al Pacino” you will want to snap clearly once to indicate to your receiver that “a” is the next letter. Remember to snap clearly so that your receiver can hear each individual snap.

If there are any parts that the receiver didn’t get, go back and give the statements or snap series again.

If you decided to use a clue to a person’s name, have your receiver guess the clue first and then the name.

If the snapper is using the direct name of a person, he will say “Snaps IS the name of the game. “[8] X Research source If the snapper says “Snaps ISN’T the name of the game,” then you know that he is spelling out a clue about a person. [9] X Research source

For example, if the snapper chose “Benjamin Netanyahu” as the name, he would first say a statement like “Be prepared” to let you know that the first letter of the name or clue is “B. ” If he chose the name Iggy Pop, on the other hand, he would first snap three times to let you know that the first letter is “I. ”

If it makes it easier to remember each letter, write them down on a piece of paper.

If the snapper decided to use a clue to a person’s name, guess the clue first and then the name.