Shashank Sabniveesu

Skip-Bo Rules

Index

1. Distributing cards
2. Gameplay
3. Goal
4. Further references:

1. Distributing cards

• Make sure that any blank cards are put away. Wild cards (with “Skip-Bo” written) stay - they are joker cards.

• A player (“Dealer”) distributes 30, 20 or 15 cards. More the no. of cards, longer the game takes to complete. All cards should be dealt face-down

• Unlike in the game of cards, the order in which a player receives cards is important i.e the first card recieved should go to the bottom and the next stays over it.

• At the end of distribution, every player turns just the first card face-up from their own pile(“Stock Pile”).

• No player can know what’s below that first card of theirs until that first card goes away.

• Place the remaining cards face-fown in the center(“Draw Pile”).

Game can start now.

2. Gameplay

• Let the player on the right hand side of the distributor start.

• Game goes anti-clockwise.

• Any player, during the start of their turn should hold 5 cards in hand i.e if they have 2 cards remaining from previous turn, they must pick 3 from the draw pile in the center.

• Only if a player has a ‘1’ card or a wild card can they start building a pile (“Build Pile”). A build pile should always start from 1, go in ascending order until 12.

• When 12 is reached, the pile is cleared and put away.
  • At any time there can be no more than 4 build piles.
• If a player has to end their turn, they should put one card from their hand into a discard pile (“Discard Pile”) just in front of them.
  • Only then can the next player start their turn.
• At any time no player can have more than 4 Discard Piles. All cards in discard piles are always face-up.

The player, during their turn, can choose to use -

1. the top card from their stock pile or
2. any of the cards in their hand or
3. any of the top cards in their Discard Piles

to continue “any” build pile.

• If a player uses the card from their pile, they get to immediately turn the next card face-up.

• If a player uses up all cards in their hand during their turn, they get to pick 5 more cards and continue playing.

• Remember, dropping the last card into their own discard pile doesn’t enable them to pick 5 new cards. Their turn, in such a case, ended by playing 4 cards - not 5.

• If at any point, the draw pile in the center runs out, shuffle all those put-away finished build piles together and re-use.

3. Goal

The player to first finish all cards in their pile wins.

Note that the cards reminaing

1. in their hand and
2. in Discard Piles before them

do not matter.

4. Further references

• A 2-minute+ video you may choose to watch after reading the above