Skip Bo is a card game published by
Mattel.
The Deck
The 162-
card deck is comprised of two types of cards. There are
144 numerical cards numbered from 1-12 and
18 SkipBo (Wild) cards.
The Stock Pile
Each player has a stock pile. Each stock pile is dealt face down. After they are dealt, each
player turns the top card of their stock pile face up. In a 2-4 player game, players have 30 cards in their stock piles. 5 or more players have 20 cards each. The stock pile is the most important element of the game. The first player who plays all the cards in their stock pile is the
winner.
The Draw Pile
After dealing the stock piles to each player, the remaining cards in the
deck are placed face down and named the draw pile.
The Four Building Piles
There are four building piles, situated beside the draw pile. These piles are where
game play occurs. Each pile must be built up sequentially starting with either a 1 or Skip Bo, and completed with a 12. At the start of each game these piles are
empty.
The Four Discard Piles
Each player has four discard piles. These are built in whichever way that suits the player. They are located beside each player's stock pile. At the
start of each game these piles are empty. Any cards that are not covered by another card can be played in a turn. Cards are only added to these piles at the end of a turn.
Game play
Player One picks up
5 cards from the draw pile.
Player One starts to build the building piles from hand cards and stock pile. Each building pile must be started with a 1 or SkipBo, and continued with 2,3,4,etc. SkipBo cards are wild. Once a building pile has been built from
1 through to
12, that pile is removed from play (to be reshuffled and added to draw deck if necessary).
Player One must lay a card in one of their four discard piles to end the turn. Player Two picks up 5 cards.
If a player uses all 5 cards in their hand before discarding a card to end their turn, that player draws 5 more cards and continues playing.
At the
beginning of each turn, draw enough cards from the draw pile to equal 5 cards in your hand. If a player draws too many cards at the beginning of their turn, they must shuffle the excess cards into their stock pile.
Diagram
PLAYER ONE
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|discrd| |discrd| |discrd| |discrd| |stock |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| draw | |build | |build | |build | |build |
| | |(1-12)| |(1-12)| |(1-12)| |(1-12)|
| | | | | | | | | |
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|stock | |discrd| |discrd| |discrd| |discrd|
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PLAYER TWO
Fun! Fun! Fun!
This card game is easy to pick up and great loads of fun! I recommend it to anyone aged 7 and up. This game can be played with very little thought or with much thought.
Some strategy considerations:
Where to play a SkipBo that is turned up in the stock pile.
When to set up the opposing player for their next stock card and when to block.
How to arrange your discard piles.
Have fun playing SkipBo!