Kemps, also known by many other names, like Kent, is a matching card game for two to six teams of two players each. It is played with a standard 52-card deck. The game is said to have originated in Brazil.
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Names
Objective and game play
The object of Kemps is to get four of a kind (i.e., four cards of the same rank), and then to covertly signal this your partner. The partner must yell "Kemps!" to score.
Prior to the game, partners confer to pick the secret signal that will indicate to each other that they have four of a kind. There are many kinds of signals, such as tapping, gesturing, holding your cards a certain way, etc. However, signals that are below the table are illegal.
Partners sit diagonal each other, with the playing surface in the middle, so that opponents have a chance to see the signal. (Or not.)
If a player calls "Kemps!" their partner must have four of a kind. If yes, they gain a point, if not, the team loses a point.
However, if a player believes that an opponent has four of a kind, but before "Kemps!" is called by their partner, they may cut by saying "cut!" (generally used as the counterpart to "kent"), "counter-Kemps!", "stop Kemps!", or another word depending on the name of the game and rules established beforehand. When you cut, the opponent you think has four of a kind must show their cards. If they have it, you get a point, if not, you lose a point.
Double Kemps
In some rule sets, especially those in French, one has the option of waiting for both you and your partner to have 4 of a kind, and if this happens you can yell "Double Kemps!" and get 2 or 3 points (the players should choose the point value at the beginning of the game.) You can also call "counter double kemps!"
Guess the Sign Kemps
A player does not have to call the correct person when calling counter Kemps. In this variation of Kemps, after a correct call of "Kemps", the opposing team has an opportunity to guess the signal of the calling team. If they guess it correctly, then the point earned for the call is canceled, and neither team scores. This is used to prevent obvious signal from being used just because they work the first round. When this variation is used, it is very common to use the "Silent Kemps" variation as well, because guessing verbal signal is very hard (especially if someone gets wise and makes their signal "an elephant", and not just "elephant" or similar).
Silent Kemps
In this variation of the game, players are prohibited from using verbal signals, or making loud noises during play. Teams are encouraged to use subtle signals, putting emphasis on concentration and perceptivity.
Super series Kemps
In the Super series Kemps variation of the game four players for each side are required. The game still uses the basic principles of Kemps with two pairs competing, but at the very start both teams flip a coin and the winning side decides who will go first. There are six rounds per game, and each of the four players will play in three of the six rounds. The team who, according to the coin flip, is "going first" will have to decide their pairs for the first three rounds first. It will then swap for the second half of the game, and the other team will decide their pairs first. The supersub is a designated extra player, one for each team, that cannot call Kemps or use cards; they can only call contra-Kemps.
Three-player Kemps
Ideally played with two teams of three players each. Played the same way as normal Kemps but two of the three players must have four of a kind and the third player on the team must call Kemps. Because there is a delay for 2 of the 3 players to get four of a kind, five cards per hand are used for the fifth card to serve as decoy for the player to avoid being called "contra-Kemps" on.
Five-player Kemps ("Chemist")
In five-player Kemps, or "Chemist", each player forms two independent teams with the players sitting across from them. For this reason, each player has a unique team composition. Players directly adjacent are the only players able to counter-claim Kemps. Scoring is as in the traditional game, with a correct "Kemps" claim yielding one point for the pair of players involved in that interaction. Often this variant is played with the word "Chemist" spoken as the signal for Kemps.
Others
Another variation includes a winning hand that is a run of four ascending cards of the same suit rather than four of a kind.