How to Play Spillikins

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Spillikins is a dexterity game for 2 to 6 players in which a bundle of thin decorated sticks is dropped into a heap and players then take turns retrieving one stick at a time without moving any other. Each stick carries a point value, and the player with the highest total when the pile is cleared wins.

The game demands patience and a genuinely steady hand, which is precisely why it travels so well across ages. It needs no table, works just as well on a carpet or a kitchen floor, packs into a small tube, and can fill ten minutes or a focused half-hour depending on how competitive the group gets.

A little history

Spillikins is one of the oldest manual dexterity games in the European tradition, and its origins are unclear in precise detail. It appears under various names across many cultures: pick-up sticks in North America, Mikado in parts of continental Europe, and jonchets in France. Sets made from bone, ivory, and wood are documented across Europe from at least the seventeenth century, and the game was widely sold as a parlour amusement in Victorian Britain. Beyond that the historical record is thin, and any more specific claim to a single origin should be treated with caution.

Setting up

1. Clear a firm, flat surface large enough for the sticks to fall freely in all directions.
2. Gather all the sticks into one hand, holding them loosely in a vertical bundle with the lower tips resting on the surface.
3. Open your hand so the sticks fall and scatter naturally. Do not arrange or adjust them after they land.
4. Decide who goes first. The youngest player is a common convention; alternatively, each player draws a stick from a closed fist and the highest value goes first.
5. Keep a simple tally sheet or a small pile of counters nearby to record each player's score.

How to play

1. Players take turns in a fixed order, going clockwise around the group.
2. On your turn, choose any single stick from the pile and attempt to remove it completely without causing any other stick to move visibly.
3. You may use only your fingers unless a special hooking stick (often the highest-value stick in a set) has been earned, in which case you may use it as a tool to lift or pin other sticks while you work.
4. If you remove your chosen stick cleanly, you keep it, note its point value, and immediately take another turn.
5. Your turn ends the moment any stick other than the one you are retrieving moves, even slightly. Place the stick you were attempting back on the pile exactly where it lay, then pass play to the next player.
6. If it is genuinely impossible to judge whether a stick moved, the active player's call is final unless all other players disagree, in which case a majority vote settles the question.
7. The hooking stick, when present in the set, is identified by a distinctive colour or marking. The player who retrieves it legitimately may then use it as an aid on subsequent turns. If that player's turn ends, the hook is set aside until their next turn begins.
8. Play continues until every stick has been claimed. Players then total their points.

Winning and scoring

Each stick in a standard set carries a face value, typically ranging from 1 point for plain sticks up to 10 or 20 points for the rarer, distinctively marked pieces. When the last stick is taken, every player totals the values of the sticks they have collected. The player with the highest point total wins. In the event of a tie, the tied players each drop the sticks they collected, replay from that sub-pile only, and the player who takes more sticks from that secondary heap wins. If no point values are marked on your set, score 1 point per stick and the player with the most sticks wins outright.

The fine points

The most common dispute is whether a stick genuinely moved. The working standard is any visible displacement: rotation on the spot counts, a slight lift counts, a faint tremor does not. Establish this agreement before play begins so there is no ambiguity mid-game. The active player should pause and ask the table before declaring success; inviting that check prevents arguments after the fact.

A second regular question concerns the hooking stick. Most traditional rulings hold that it can be used only to reposition or steady other sticks, not to flick or launch them. Using it to catapult sticks clear of the pile is not permitted and forfeits the turn. If the hooking stick itself is buried deeply and cannot be reached without disturbing others, it is treated like any other stick and must be retrieved cleanly by hand when conditions allow.

How to win more often

• Study the pile for several seconds before you touch anything. Look for sticks that lie on top with no others resting on them: these are your free picks.
• Work from the outside edges of the pile inward. Peripheral sticks are almost always resting on fewer others and carry less risk.
• Control your grip. Pinch the stick near its centre of gravity rather than at one end so you can feel the moment tension changes beneath it.
• When using the hooking stick, use it to gently press down on a crossing stick and create clearance rather than pulling the target stick toward you at an angle.
• Keep your non-playing hand still and well away from the pile. Accidental nudges with a resting elbow or a sleeve are surprisingly common and end good turns instantly.

Variations

No-Hook Rule

Play without any hooking stick being used as a tool, regardless of what is printed on the set. Every stick must be retrieved by bare fingers alone. This strips out a layer of tactical play and is a good rule for younger children or for a faster, purer test of dexterity.

Target Score

Rather than playing until the pile is exhausted, set a winning threshold before the game begins, commonly 50 or 100 points. The first player to reach that total wins immediately, even mid-pile. This creates sharper pressure late in the game and suits groups that want a quicker finish.

Team Play

With four or six players, pair up into teams and alternate turns within each pair. Point totals are pooled at the end per team. This works well with younger children paired with adults and keeps everyone equally invested in each attempt by their partner.

Blind Draw

Before each turn the active player must commit out loud to which specific stick they are going for before they touch anything. They cannot switch target once named. This adds a layer of forward planning and stops players touching multiple sticks while searching for an easy one, a habit that frequently goes unpenalised in casual play.

Spillikins: frequently asked questions