Skull rules: how to play and how to score

Skull quick rules

The goal

Each player has four discs: three roses and one skull. To win, you need to succeed at two challenges, that is, win two rounds. You also win by being the last player still in the game, once all the others are eliminated.

Placing a disc

At the start of each round, everyone places a disc face down on their mat, the first player last. Then, in turn clockwise, you either place another disc on top of the previous one, or start a challenge. If you have no disc left to place, you must start a challenge.

The challenge

Announce how many discs you think you can flip without hitting a skull: at least one, and no more than the total number of discs placed. Nobody places discs any more. In turn, the others raise with a higher number, or pass for good. The last player left becomes the challenger.

Flipping the discs

The challenger flips as many discs as they bid, one by one, starting with all of their own. Then they freely choose which opponents to continue with. On a mat, you always flip the top disc, never one under a disc that’s still hidden.

Success or failure

With no skull revealed, the challenger wins the round and flips their mat to the rose side. If they flip a skull, even their own, they fail, stop and lose a disc for good. If the skull was an opponent’s, that player draws one of the challenger’s discs at random and puts it in the box; if it was their own, the challenger secretly chooses which disc to lose. With no discs left, they’re eliminated.

The next round and the end

Everyone takes their discs back, and the previous challenger starts. If they were eliminated, the player whose skull they flipped starts; if they eliminated themselves with their own skull, they pick the first player. The game ends when a player whose mat is already flipped wins a second round, or when only one player is left.

Beginner traps

Flipping the remaining discs at the end of a challenge: you never do. Forgetting that a challenger who flips their own skull also loses a disc. Showing the lost disc: only its owner knows it. And anything goes when talking, true or false.

How to score Skull

No points

There are no points: you count successful challenges, that is, rounds won.

Rounds won

A round won is a successful challenge: you flip your mat to the rose side. The game ends at 2.

Last player in the game

If all the other players have been eliminated, you win the game, however many rounds you’ve won.

Worked example

Emma bids 4 and flips her 2 discs, then 2 roses on Jake’s mat: challenge won, her mat flips to the rose side. Later, she bids 5 and flips a skull on Alex’s mat: Alex removes one of her discs at random. Next round, Emma wins a challenge of 3: second round won, she wins the game.

Common mistakes

• Giving the round to whoever started the challenge: only the final challenger, who kept the bid, plays it out.
• Winning on a first successful challenge: you need two, with your mat already flipped.
• Forgetting the last-player-in victory, even with one successful challenge or none.
• Giving the challenger back their lost disc next round: it’s lost for good.

How to set up Skull

Setup is the same for 3 to 6 players. The first player is the last person to have given flowers, or a skull.