Skip-Bo is a fun, easy-to-play card game that can be enjoyed by two to six players.

Be the first player to exhaust your stock pile to win this game!

Find the video tutorial and written explanation for how to play the card game Skip-Bo below.

Skip-Bo Tutorial

Needed

Two to six players; Skip-Bo card deck, pen and paper for scorekeeping

Deal

Thirty cards to each player when playing with two to four players. Twenty cards to each player when playing with five or six players. Place the remaining deck (draw pile) in the middle.

Objective

The object of the game is to be the first player to play all the cards from his stock pile. Cards from the stock pile can be played onto the middle building piles. There can be up to four building piles in the middle that are started with a 1 and are built up to a 12. The deck contains Skip-Bo cards that are wild and can be used as any number.

Game Play

The player left of the dealer plays first. Each player’s first turn begins by drawing five cards from the draw pile. A player can then move any acceptable cards from his/her hand or stock pile onto a middle building piles. The player ends his/her turn by discarding one card.

Each player has his/her own discard piles and can have up to four total discard piles made in a row with his/her stock pile. Play moves clockwise left. On a player’s second turn, he/she will draw enough cards to return his/her hand to five cards. The player can move acceptable cards onto building piles from his/her hand, stock pile, or discard piles.

Winning

The first player that plays all the cards from his/her stock pile wins the game.

Rules

  • Discards can be stacked on top of each other, but only the top card of a discard pile can be moved onto a building pile.

  • If a player is able to play all five cards from his/her hand, another five cards are drawn, and the turn continues.

  • If a building pile reaches a 12, the pile is removed. A new pile can be started with a 1 or Skip-Bo wild card.

  • If the draw deck runs out of cards, reshuffle the completed building piles to create a new draw pile.

Score

A score can be kept if multiple rounds are being played. The winner of a round is awarded 25 points for winning the round plus 5 points for each card left in the opponents’ stock piles. The first player to 500 points wins the game.