SKIP-BO
Encyclopedia
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
Spite and Malice
Spite and Malice
Spite and Malice, also known as Cat and Mouse, is a card game for two or more players. It is a form of competitive solitaire and has a number of variations that can be played with two or three regular decks of cards. A variation sold by Hasbro is called Spite and Malice, and another variation ...
. In 1967, Ms. Hazel Bowman of Brownfield, Texas
Brownfield, Texas
Brownfield is a city in Terry County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,940 at the 2009 census. It is the county seat of Terry County near Lubbock in West Texas.-Geography:...
began producing a boxed edition of the game under the name Skip-bo. In 1980 the game was purchased by International Games, which was subsequently bought by Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
in 1992.
Deck
The deck consists of 162 cards, twelve each of the numbers 1 through 12 and eighteen "SKIP-BO" wild cardWild card
Wild card may refer to:* Wild card , a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games* Wild card , a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play...
s which may be played as any number. Alternatively, the 162 cards could be three regular decks of playing cards, including the jokers, with ace to queen corresponding to 1 to 12 and the kings and jokers corresponding to the SKIP-BO cards. Before 1980, the commercial game consisted of three decks of regular playing cards with six SKIP-BO cards replacing the standard two jokers
Joker (playing card)
Joker is a special type of playing card found in most modern decks, or else a type of tile in some Mahjong game sets.-Name:It is believed that the term "Joker" comes from a mispronunciation of Jucker, the German/Alsatian name for the game Euchre. The card was originally introduced in about 1860 for...
in each deck.
Game play
Two to six people can play at a time as individuals or 6+ players in partnerships (no more than 3 partnerships). The object of the game is to be the first player or partnership to play out their entire stock pile(s). Each player is dealt 30 cards for their stock pile. With only the uppermost card visible, and a hand of 5 cards, and the remaining cards are placed face down to create a common draw pile. The shared play area allows up to 4 build piles, which must be started using either a "1" card or a Skip-Bo, and each player also has up to 4 personal discard piles. Each turn the active player draws until he has 5 cards in hand, and plays on the build piles. He must play either the next card in sequential order or a wild Skip-Bo card, using either cards in hand, the top card of his stock pile, or the top card of any of his 4 discard piles. If the player can play all 5 cards from hand, he draws 5 more and continues playing. When no more plays are available, the player discards one card to either an empty discard pile or on top of an existing one and play passes to the next player. If the next player needs a card out the discard pile that the other player has laid down he may get the card to help him continue playing. When a build pile reaches 12, it is removed from the board and that space becomes empty for another pile to be started; play continues until one player has played his final start card.Make it even more challenging
Have 2 build piles that build up from 1 to 12 and have the other 2 build piles that build down from 12 to 1. When a build pile reaches 1 or 12, it is removed from the board and that space becomes empty for another pile to be started. Be careful! You will have to play your discard piles cautiously; remember, whatever card you play on the top of a discard pile, must be played before you can play the card(s) under it!Scoring
If multiple games are going to be played then a point system may be used.After a player wins a game then he/she receives 25 points for winning plus 5 points for each card in his/her opponents' stock piles.
The first player to reach 500 points wins.
Like most games, the point values can change and the end-point-total-to-win can change so long as all players agree before playing starts.
Partnerships
Another option for game play is to pair up players as partners.Game play remains the same except:
- Each partnership only has 2 stock piles and 2 sets of 4 discard piles (8 discard piles total) regardless of the number of individuals per partnership
- The active player can use their partner's stock and discard piles in addition to their own stock and discard piles
- The active player's partner(s) must remain silent while their partner is playing
- To win: both stock piles of one of the partnerships must be cleared
- If a player is caught cheating (e.g., the non-active partner(s) telling the active player what to play) then two cards from the draw pile are placed into the cheating player's stock pile