Kemps (card game)

Kemps is a matching card game played by teams of two, typically ranging from two to six partnerships at once, using a standard 52-card French deck. The object is to be the first partnership to collect four cards of matching rank in hand, then secretly signal that achievement to a teammate without alerting the opposing pairs, making nonverbal communication and bluff detection central to play. Kemps is often described as a hybrid of the older games Commerce and Authors, distinguished by its unusual reliance on partnership play rather than solo competition. It emerged in its modern form in the early 1990s, first appearing in France under the name Carre-Coupe before spreading to English-speaking countries under names including Kemps, Canes, Cash and Kent, where it remains a popular party and family card game.