How to Play the Snaps Guessing Game

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Snaps is the name of the game, and here’s how to play

Co-authored by Luke Smith, MFA Reviewed by Ashton Wu

Last Updated: January 10, 2026 Fact Checked

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Playing Snaps

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In Snaps, one player spells a name by snapping, and others guess it. The game was featured in the TV show The League and has recently taken off on social media like TikTok, with users playing a round of the game for the camera. But often, these users don’t explain the game, leaving viewers guessing. So what’s going on? Basically, one player is using clues and snapping their fingers to hint at a name, and the other player is trying to decode the clues and snaps to guess it. We’ll teach you how to play below!

What is the Snaps game?

Snaps is a classic party game where someone spells out the name of a famous person or character using a system of coded snaps, and everyone else tries to guess the name. It’s recently taken off on TikTok, Instagram, and other social media sites, but the game itself is pretty old!

Section 1 of 2:

Playing Snaps

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Choose the name of a person for the other players to guess. Start by deciding who gives clues first, and who guesses—a coin flip works for this. Then, as the clue giver, your first job is to pick a person to give clues about. Since the idea of Snaps is to guess the name of someone, choose one that everyone can easily guess, such as a politician or celebrity. Fictional characters or mutual friends also work well.^{[1]
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- For example, you might use celebs like Lady Gaga, Lizzo, Doechii, Tom Cruise, or Timothée Chalamet. Or, use fictional characters like Buzz Lightyear, Percy Jackson, or Peter Pan. For this guide, we went with Michael Jordan.
- Avoid difficult names or names that start with difficult letters. For example, the name Xavier would be difficult to use because of the “X.” Less common letters are harder to code, so keep that in mind!
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Decide if you want to give the guesser the exact name or just a clue. As the clue giver, you can choose to either give the answer itself as a code, or you can code a clue to the answer if the answer is a bit too easy. It doesn’t really matter which you choose, but it does affect how you start the game.^{[2]
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- If you’re giving them the exact name, start by saying, “Snaps is the name of the game.”
- If you’re only giving them a hint, start by saying “Snaps isn’t the name of the game.”
- Example: if your person is Michael Jordan, but you’re giving a clue and not his actual name, you’d start by saying “Snaps isn’t the name of the game.” Your clue word might be “Air,” like his brand Air Jordan.
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Spell out the hint with snaps for vowels and random sentences for consonants. Now you give your hint by spelling it out. When you spell it out, you snap your fingers in place of vowels, like A, E, I, O, and U—each vowel is assigned a different number of snaps, which we show below. For consonants, speak a random sentence where the first letter of the first word is the consonant you want to communicate.^{[3]
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- Vowel codes:
  - A = 1 snap
  - E = 2
  - I = 3
  - O = 4
  - U = 5
- Example: If your person is Michael Jordan and your clue is “Air,” you’d say “Snaps isn’t the name of the game,” then start with one snap for A, pause, then 3 snaps for I, pause, then say something like, “Ready to guess?” to indicate R.
- Example: If you want to just spell Michael Jordan as your clue instead, you’d say, “Snaps is the name of the game.” Then, say something like, “Make sure you’re listening” to indicate M, then snap 3 times to indicate I, and so on.
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Let other players guess, and give another clue if you need to. Once you’ve spelled out the name of the person or a clue to their name, wait for other players to guess. If they get it right, it’s their turn to come up with a name and offer clues. If they need some help, think of another clue and snap another coded message until they get it right. Play until you’re stumped!
- For example, if the guesser decodes the clue “Air,” then they use that clue to try to guess the name. They’ll probably need another clue before they can, though! Try “basketball,” for example.
- There are no winners or losers in Snap, it’s just for fun! But if you want to make it more competitive, keep track of how many clues you get right on the first try and tally up your score. Whoever has the most correct guesses after 3 rounds wins.

Section 2 of 2:

Similar Games

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Snap! card game If you landed on this article looking for a card game, then this is probably what you’re looking for. Playing Snap! is super simple: players take turns revealing cards, then shout “Snap!” when two cards of the same rank appear. The player who called it first takes the cards. Try to be the player who takes all the cards to win.
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Who Am I? Who Am I? is a classic game of group deduction with a twist: everyone knows the answer, save for 1 player. That player tapes the answer to their forehead and asks the group questions about it, and the group can only answer Yes or No. Then, the player who’s “it” tries to guess the answer based on their clues.
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20 Questions This is a beloved time killer, great for ice breakers and road trips. To play 20 Questions, one player starts by thinking of any object or person. Then, the other players get to ask 20 questions, and they try to guess the answer before their questions run out!
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I Spy[endold] What’s more classic than a game of I Spy? Great for kids and adults alike, players take turns finding a secret object, then giving clues like “I spy with my little eye something red.” Keep giving clues until someone guesses the object correctly. Then, it’s their turn to give clues!

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So how many times do you snap at the end "E" of Selena Gomez?

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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 make two clear snaps for an “E.”

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What if a word has two vowels right next to each other, such as in "eat." How would I tell if it's an A then E, and not an I?

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You do 2 snaps (to indicate the letter E), pause, and then 1 snap (to indicate the letter A). Make sure you pause in between.

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If I have a name that starts with a vowel, like Adam, would I snap to begin with, or say a sentence that starts with an A?

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You snap clearly once to indicate the first letter is 'A', then continue with a statement for 'd'.

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