SPEED SLAP

PICKUP CARDS. ANY TABLE.

The card game Speed, played the way it is played on a stoop: nobody takes turns, the fastest hands win, and everybody talks. Six spots on the block, a regular at each one, and a different house rule at every table.

COMING SOON TO

TRY IT. RIGHT HERE.

A quick round against Mia. Tap a card that is one higher or one lower than a middle card (the ones you can play are ringed). She's playing at the same time, so don't hang about.

NOBODY TAKES TURNS

If you know Speed, you already know how to play. If you don't, a coach talks you through it in about a minute.

ONE UP, ONE DOWN

Play a card from your hand onto either middle pile if it is one higher or one lower. Suits don't matter. Ace and king are neighbors.

AT THE SAME TIME

The other player is doing the same thing, right now, on the same two piles. See it first, get there first.

FIRST ONE OUT WINS

Your hand refills from your stock. Empty both and the table is yours. Stuck? Two new cards flip and it starts again.

THE BLOCK

Six spots, weakest regular first. Beat one to meet the next. Every regular plays their own house rule and has a habit you can learn to read.

Mia, a barista

“One game, then I'm back on shift.”

CORNER CAFE

Mia, the barista

CLASSIC

One up or one down, no tricks. She's easygoing and keeps glancing at her phone.

Old Sal, a man in a flat cap

“I'm old, not slow.”

PARK TABLES

Old Sal, the park regular

DOUBLES

A card also goes on its own rank. Sal is slow to start, never misses, and gets quicker the longer the game runs.

Dee, a woman with curly hair

“I've got twenty-two minutes on the dryer. Deal.”

LAUNDROMAT

Dee, on a 22-minute dryer

ODD SOCKS

Two wild jokers in the deck. Dee plays in bursts of three, then stops to breathe. Go when she breathes.

Tone, a barber

“Next in the chair plays me first.”

BARBERSHOP

Tone, the barber

OFF THE TOP

Four cards in your hand, not five. Tone has steady hands and always plays the card that sets up his next one.

Rico, a teenager in a backwards cap

“My stoop, my rules. Keep up.”

THE STOOP

Rico, king of the stoop

SLAP

When the two middle cards match, slap. The slow one picks up three. Rico is fast and sloppy, and a streak rattles him.

Nova, a woman with teal braids

“Nobody's beaten me up here.”

THE ROOFTOP

Nova, rooftop legend

HIGH WIND

Every ten seconds the wind turns over two new cards. Nova never misses, and the further behind she is, the faster she gets.

BLOCK PARTY

An eight-player knockout with a new rule every round. Play it against the regulars and the walk-ins who only turn up on tournament night, or join one online against real people, with AIs in the empty seats. There's an MC. There's a cup.

A game in progress at the Corner Cafe: a four of diamonds landing on the pile
Every card lands with a hit. Streaks set your hand alight.
The tournament bracket with eight players
Quarterfinals to the cup. The tree plays on without you if you go out.
The block screen listing the spots, their regulars and house rules
Each spot shows its house rule and how its regular plays.

NOBODY INVENTED THIS GAME

Speed has no inventor, no date and no rulebook. It was already old news on the playground by 1973, and it has always travelled the same way: somebody shows you their version. That is why every table plays it differently, and why every spot on our block has a house rule.

READ THE SHORT, HONEST HISTORY

COMING SOON

Speed Slap is in development and is coming to Steam, iOS, macOS, Windows and Android. One account follows you across all of them: your level, your wins and your rating.

  • STEAM
  • iOS
  • macOS
  • WINDOWS
  • ANDROID

WHAT'S IN IT

  • Six spots, six regulars, six house rules, and a tutorial with a spoken coach.
  • Hundreds of voiced lines: the regulars greet you, gloat, panic and congratulate, and have a separate script for tournament night.
  • Online play against people: quick games by skill, invite codes for friends, ratings and a leaderboard.
  • Player levels, from Rookie to Legend.
  • No chat with strangers and no ads. An email address is optional, and only used to keep your progress.