Don't Spill the Beans Board Game Rules Explained With Pictures

Objective of Don’t Spill the Beans

The objective of Don’t Spill the Beans is to be the first player to get rid of your last bean by placing it on the pot.

Setup

Attach the hands/holders to the game base.
Snap the two halves of the pot together. Place the lid on the top of the pot and twist it so it stays in place.
Put the pot on top of the hands/holders.
Evenly divide all of the beans between the players.
The player who most recently ate beans starts the game.

Playing Don’t Spill the Beans

On your turn you will choose one of the beans from in front of you. You will add the bean to the lid on top of the pot. Before placing your bean you should analyze the position of the other beans to figure out the best position to place your bean. You don’t want to place the bean somewhere that will tip the pot.

Placing a bean in Don't Spill the Beans — The current player placed one of their beans on top of the pot.

If you place your bean and nothing happens, your turn ends. Play passes to the next player. The game does not specify whether this is the player to your left or right.

Placing a bean and the pot doesn't tip — The player placed one of their beans on the pot. Since it didn’t tip, play passes to the next player.

Should the pot tip after you place your bean, you will gather all of the beans that fall out of the pot. You will add these beans to your pile of beans that you have to get rid of. The next player then takes their turn.

All the beans have tipped off the pot — After placing their bean, the pot tipped and dropped all of the beans. The player who placed the last bean has to take all of the dropped beans and add them to their pile.

Winning Don’t Spill the Beans

The players keep taking turns placing one of their beans on the pot. The game ends when a player places their last bean. The player who plays their last bean without knocking off any beans, wins the game.

Don’t Spill the Beans FAQ

If you have any questions about how to play Don’t Spill the Beans, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components

64 beans (2016 edition, This may differ based on the edition of the game)
Pot with lid
Base
Instructions

Year: 1957 | Publisher: Hasbro, Milton Bradley, Schaper

Genres: Children’s, Dexterity

Ages: 3+ | Number of Players: 2-4 | Length of Game: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate

For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.