Skip-Bo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Object
Components
The Piles
Setup
How to Play
Scoring (Multi-Game)
Partnership Play

Object

Be the first player to play every card from your Stock pile by adding cards, in numerical order 1 through 12, onto the shared Building piles.

Components

A deck of 162 cards: 144 number cards (values 1 through 12) plus 18 Skip-Bo cards, which are wild and may stand for any number. Remove any blank cards—they are not used.

The Piles

Stock pile — each player has one, placed facedown to their right, with its top card turned faceup. Emptying this pile wins the game.
Draw pile — the remaining cards after the deal, facedown in the center.
Building piles — up to four shared piles built in the center during play. Each is built upward in sequence, 1 to 12. Only a 1 (or a wild Skip-Bo card) may start one. When a pile reaches 12 it is complete, removed, and its space can be reused.
Discard piles — each player may build up to four discard piles to the left of their Stock pile. Cards may be stacked in any order, but only the top card of each is available to play.

Setup

Shuffle the deck. Each player draws a card; the highest deals (Skip-Bo cards don't count for this). The deal passes to the left after each game.
The dealer deals each player a facedown Stock pile:
- 2–4 players: 30 cards each.
- 5–6 players: 20 cards each.
Each player turns the top card of their Stock pile faceup, without looking at the cards beneath it.
Place the rest of the deck facedown in the center as the Draw pile. The Building piles and Discard piles start empty and are created through play.

How to Play

Play begins with the person to the left of the dealer and proceeds clockwise.

Your first turn: Draw 5 cards from the Draw pile to form your hand. Then play as many cards as you can and wish to:

Start a Building pile with a 1 or a Skip-Bo card, or add to any Building pile in ascending sequence.
You may play from your hand or from the top of your Stock pile.
If you play all 5 cards from your hand, immediately draw 5 more and keep playing.

Ending your turn: When you cannot or choose not to play further, end your turn by discarding one card from your hand onto one of your four Discard piles.

Later turns: At the start of each turn, first draw enough cards to bring your hand back up to 5. Then play cards onto the Building piles (always in sequence) from any of three sources: the top of your Stock pile, the top of a Discard pile, or your hand. End your turn with a discard as before.

Key strategy: Only emptying your Stock pile wins, so play from the top of your Stock pile whenever you can.

If the Draw pile runs out: gather the completed Building piles, shuffle them, and they become the new Draw pile.

Scoring (Multi-Game)

To play a series, keep score. The winner of each game scores 5 points for every card remaining in each opponent's Stock pile, plus 25 points for winning. The first player to reach 500 points wins.

Partnership Play

With four players you may play in two partnerships. All rules stay the same, except:

On your turn you may play from your own Stock and Discard piles and your partner's.
Your partner must stay quiet during your turn—only the active player may ask a partner to make a play (e.g. "Partner, play your Skip-Bo as a 4" or "Partner, play your 7").
Anyone caught coaching out of turn (cheating) takes 2 cards from the Draw pile into their Stock pile, unseen.
The game ends when both Stock piles of one partnership are emptied.

The Piles

Stock pile — each player has one, placed facedown to their right, with its top card turned faceup. Emptying this pile wins the game.

Draw pile — the remaining cards after the deal, facedown in the center.

Building piles — up to four shared piles built in the center during play. Each is built upward in sequence, 1 to 12. Only a 1 (or a wild Skip-Bo card) may start one. When a pile reaches 12 it is complete, removed, and its space can be reused.

Discard piles — each player may build up to four discard piles to the left of their Stock pile. Cards may be stacked in any order, but only the top card of each is available to play.

Setup

Shuffle the deck. Each player draws a card; the highest deals (Skip-Bo cards don't count for this). The deal passes to the left after each game.

The dealer deals each player a facedown Stock pile:

2–4 players: 30 cards each.
5–6 players: 20 cards each.

Each player turns the top card of their Stock pile faceup, without looking at the cards beneath it.

Place the rest of the deck facedown in the center as the Draw pile. The Building piles and Discard piles start empty and are created through play.

How to Play

Play begins with the person to the left of the dealer and proceeds clockwise.

Your first turn: Draw 5 cards from the Draw pile to form your hand. Then play as many cards as you can and wish to:

Start a Building pile with a 1 or a Skip-Bo card, or add to any Building pile in ascending sequence.

You may play from your hand or from the top of your Stock pile.

If you play all 5 cards from your hand, immediately draw 5 more and keep playing.

Ending your turn: When you cannot or choose not to play further, end your turn by discarding one card from your hand onto one of your four Discard piles.

Key strategy: Only emptying your Stock pile wins, so play from the top of your Stock pile whenever you can.

If the Draw pile runs out: gather the completed Building piles, shuffle them, and they become the new Draw pile.

Partnership Play

With four players you may play in two partnerships. All rules stay the same, except:

On your turn you may play from your own Stock and Discard piles and your partner's.

Your partner must stay quiet during your turn—only the active player may ask a partner to make a play (e.g. "Partner, play your Skip-Bo as a 4" or "Partner, play your 7").

Anyone caught coaching out of turn (cheating) takes 2 cards from the Draw pile into their Stock pile, unseen.

The game ends when both Stock piles of one partnership are emptied.