Skip-Bo Masters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Object
• Set Up
• Things To Know Before You Play
• Sample Playing Area (For 2 Players)
• Let's Play
• How To Use The Various Piles
• Using Coins
• Dealing Coins Back
• Scoring and Winning
• Remember
• Short Game

Contents

• 168 Cards
• 72 Coins

Object

Be the first player to play all of the cards from their Stock pile.

Set Up

• Shuffle the deck.
• Deal each player 15 cards FACEDOWN (these cards will be each player's Stock pile). Do NOT look at the cards in your Stock pile.
• Place the remaining deck facedown in the middle of the play area to create a DRAW pile.
• Give each player 12 Coins.
• Each player turns over only the top card of their Stock pile and leaves it FACE UP on top of their Stock pile.

Things To Know Before You Play

• The cards from your Stock pile are what you're trying to get rid of to win the game.
• During play, up to 4 BUILDING piles will be created and used by all players. Create the BUILDING piles in the middle of the playing area, close to the DRAW pile.
• During play, each player will also create up to 4 DISCARD piles in front of them. Players will only use their own DISCARD piles.
• A Skip-Bo card is wild and may be used as any number card you need.
• Coins are used: (1) in place of a card you need, (2) to buy a card from another player, (3) to pay a toll. More details on using Coins later.

Sample Playing Area (For 2 Players)

Note: the piles with dotted lines will be created, as necessary, during play.

• Player A: Stock Pile (Player A), Discard Piles (Player A).
• Both Players: Draw Pile (Both Players), Building Piles (Both Players).
• Player B: Discard Piles (Player B), Stock Pile (Player B).

Let's Play

The youngest player goes first.

On your turn, you will do several things in the following order:

1. Draw from the DRAW pile until you have 5 cards. This is your hand. (At the beginning of every turn, you will draw back up to 5.)
2. If possible, add to BUILDING piles from your hand, Discard piles and Stock pile. (See below for what you're allowed to add to a Building pile.)
3. When you've played all the cards from your Stock pile or hand that you can, end your turn by adding 1 card from your hand to any of the 4 Discard piles in front of you.

Play now moves to the next player.

Note: if you play all 5 cards in your hand during a turn, draw back up to 5 IMMEDIATELY and continue playing your turn. You may continue to immediately draw back up to 5 any time you use ALL 5 cards. (Discarding your 5th card DOES NOT count as getting rid of all of your cards in one turn.)

How To Use The Various Piles

Stock Pile: You will get rid of your Stock pile by playing the top card, when you can, on the Building piles. When you've used the top card of your Stock pile, turn over the next card. On your turn, you may keep playing the top card as long as there are available plays.

Discard Piles: At the end of your turn, you will discard ANY one card from your hand onto ANY of your discard piles. (They do NOT have to be in sequential order.) On your turn, you may play the top cards from any of your Discard piles onto any of the Building piles, if there's an available play.

Building Piles: A 1 or a Skip-Bo card is required to begin any of the 4 Building piles. Cards must be added to the Building piles sequentially. For example, if a 4 is the top card on a Building pile, you may put either a 5 or a Skip-Bo card on top followed by a 6, etc. (A Skip-Bo card is wild and may be used as any card you need.)

A Building pile is completed when a 12 is played. Move completed piles to the side of the playing area. (You'll need to shuffle and re-use them if the DRAW pile runs out of cards.)

There may only be 4 Building piles at any time. If you have a card to start a new pile but there are already 4 piles, you must wait until a Building pile is finished and a slot opens up to start a new pile.

You may add to the Building piles with cards from your hand, from your Discard piles or from your Stock pile. But, remember, the Stock pile is the one you're trying to get rid of so this should always be your first choice.

Using Coins

You can spend coins in 1 of 3 ways:

1. You can pay coins in lieu of a card you need to play. For example: there is a 3 on a Building pile, the top card of your Stock pile is a 5, but you do not have a 4 or Skip-Bo card in your hand. You are able to spend 4 coins as a 4 card, then play your 5 card to that Building pile. You must play the next card in sequence after spending coins in this way. Put the spent coins next to the Building pile you used them on.
2. You may spend coins to buy and play a card from another player's discard pile or Stock pile. Pay 1 coin to that player to immediately play a card from their Stock pile or one of their Discard piles. The other player may not refuse. You must play the card as soon as you buy it. It does not go into your hand or Discard piles.
3. Some cards have a toll on them, indicated by the number of COIN ICONS on the card. This is how many coins you must pay to continue your turn after playing this card. If you do not pay the toll, you may not continue your turn, even if you have other playable cards. Put the spent coins next to the Building pile you played this card on. If you do not pay the toll, your turn ends.

Dealing Coins Back

Coins spent per rules 1 and 3 above are placed next to the corresponding Building piles.

When a Building pile is cleared, if there are any coins next to it, the coins are distributed between all players one at a time, beginning with the player that cleared the pile and proceeding in turn order. Not all players will receive the same number of coins and some players may not get any at all!

Scoring and Winning

The first person to get rid of all of the cards in their Stock pile wins!

You may wish to play several games and keep score: the winner of each game scores 5 points for each card remaining in their opponents' Stock piles, plus 25 points for winning the game. The first person to collect 500 points wins.

Remember

1. A player's 4 DISCARD piles are imaginary until they start them during play.
2. The BUILDING piles are imaginary until started by players during the game.
3. The object of the game is to get rid of the cards from your Stock pile.

Short Game

For a shorter game, deal a Stock pile of only 10 cards to each player.