Going around the circle, each player draws a card from the top of their deck (face-out, so that the player cannot see the card before it is played) and places that card face up in the centre. Each player continues to place their cards in the center this way, in such a way that the previous cards can also be seen.

When a three letter word appears, the goal is to be the first person to “slap” it, or cover it with your hand and yell out the word. If several people slap at once, the person whose hand is most in contact with the pile adds all the cards to their pile.

The three letter word can be in any order - so the letters R-A-E in that order can still be slapped, with the player yelling out EAR or ARE or ERA.

If a player incorrectly zaps the pile, all cards in the centre go to the player to their left, and added to the bottom of their pile.

When a player runs out of cards, the player is out. Play continues until one person wins all of the cards.

For a shorter version, stop play when the first person runs out of cards. Whoever has the most cards in his or her hand is the winner.