Skull Queen Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components and Setup
• How to Play
  • 1. Deal out the cards
  • 2. Place your Pirates
  • 3. Play your cards
  • Special Cards
  • 4. Round End (and End of Game)
• Special Rules for 2 Players

Components and Setup

• 50 cards (1-12 in each of the 4 colors; 1 each of 0 and 13)
• 24 Pirate pawns (6 x 4 colors)
• 6 Planks

1. The person who was last on a boat takes the stack of cards, ready to deal them out (see below).

Note: For 2-3 players, take out the 4 cards of value 1 and 4 cards of value 12 before you start. You won't be using these cards for this game, but you can leave them near the playing area to remind you that they are not in the stack.

2. Each player takes 1 Plank and 1 Pirate pawn in each color (4 in total).

How to Play

You play as many rounds as there are players. For example, if there are 3 players, you play 3 rounds.

Each round has 4 phases, as follows:

1. Deal out the cards

If you are holding the stack of cards, shuffle them and deal them out equally between the players, face down. Important: With 4 or 6 players, there will be 2 cards left over. Place those 2 extra cards face up in the center of the table.

2. Place your Pirates

Now place your Pirate pawns on your Plank:

• First, take a look at your cards.
• Decide which side of your Plank you want to use this round: The front (higher values at the top) or the back (higher values at the bottom). Always place your Plank so that the narrow end points away from you and the wider end points toward you.
• Place your 4 Pirate pawns on your Plank.

You can each choose freely which Pirates to place on which of the 5 spaces on your Plank. If you wish, you may place more than one Pirate on a single space.

Your goal is to make sure that as many of your Pirates as possible are on high value spaces at the end of the round.

At first, you may be unsure how best to arrange your Pirates, so you may want to set them out as follows for the first round: If you have plenty of high-value cards in your hand, use the side of your Plank with the number 8 at the top. If you have low-value cards, use the other side instead. Place all your Pirates on the center space of your plank. Once you've played the first round, you should be able to work out how best to arrange your Pirates.

3. Play your cards

The next player clockwise around from the dealer plays their first card face up. In turn, the other players also play exactly 1 card face up. This "small round", in which each player plays 1 card, is called a trick.

Play your card face up in front of yourself so that everyone always knows who played which card.

The first card of the trick can be any card from that player's hand. The color of that card is the trick color. Each other player must play a card of that color, if they can. This means that:

• If you have at least one card of that color in your hand, you must play one of them.
• If you have no cards of that color in your hand, you can play any card you choose.
• You can play a card of any value (the number on the card).
• Cards already in the center of the table do not affect play.

Example: Antonia plays a blue 6. Beatrice does not have a blue card in her hand, so plays a green 7. Charlotte does have a blue card, so plays a blue 12. Daisy also has blue cards in her hand and so plays a blue 8. There are a yellow 4 and a blue 3 already in the center of the table.

Make sure you pay attention to the 4 special cards (see Special Cards).

Once you have all played exactly 1 card in front of yourselves, you check the outcome of the trick.

Important: In addition to the cards you have all played, the cards in the center of the table also form part of the trick (i.e. the extra cards from when you dealt out or cards left over from a previous trick). These cards are neutral and so do not "belong" to anyone, but they still influence the outcome of the trick.

First, check whether there are one or more single cards of a particular color in the trick. Move these "single cards" to the center of the table. They do not affect the outcome of this trick, but instead remain in play and could affect the outcomes of later tricks.

Now compare the cards for which there is more than one card of that color in the trick.

Whoever played the highest value card of those colors must move their Pirate in that color 1 space up their Plank (towards the narrow end).

Whoever played the lowest value card of those colors must move their Pirate in that color 1 space back down their Plank (towards the wider end).

It could be that one of the cards in the center of the table is the highest or lowest card of a color. Since this card belongs to no one, no Pirate is moved in that case. The players who played intermediate value cards do not move their Pirates.

Example: At the end of this trick, the yellow 4 stays in the center of the table. Beatrice's green 7 is added to it. These two single cards will not affect the outcome of this trick and so just remain where they are. Only blue has multiple cards in the trick. Charlotte has the highest blue card (12), so she must move her blue Pirate up her Plank. Since there is also a blue 8 (Daisy's card) in the trick, Charlotte must instead move her Pirate 2 spaces up (see descriptions for the 4 special cards below). The blue 3 from a previous round is the lowest value blue card. Since this card is one of the cards in the center of the table and therefore neutral, no one moves their Pirate back down their Plank. Antonia's and Daisy's blue cards have numbers between those values, so they do not move their Pirates. Neither does Beatrice move any of her Pirates, because her card was the single green card in the trick.

Important: If you are forced to move your Pirate beyond either end of your Plank, that Pirate falls into the water and so is out of play for this round. You cannot return that Pirate to your Plank and so it will not score you any points this round.

Example: Charlotte's blue Pirate is on the center space. She moves it 2 spaces up, onto the number 8 space. Charlotte now needs to be careful not to play the highest blue card in a trick with more than one blue card, to make sure her blue Pirate doesn't fall off the Plank.

Special Cards

Make sure you keep aware of the 4 special cards when playing your cards and checking the outcome of the trick.

• Aye, Ma'am! The value of this card is 8 and there is one of each color in the game. You follow the usual rules when playing this card. If this card is in the trick, the player with the highest value card of that color must move that Pirate 2 spaces up their Plank instead of 1 space.

• Quick Snack The value of this card is 5 and there is one of each color in the game. You follow the usual rules when playing this card. If this card is in the trick, the player with the lowest value card of that color must move that Pirate 2 spaces down their Plank instead of 1 space.

  Important: The usual rules for determining the outcome of the trick still apply:

  • You only move a Pirate if there are more than one card of that color in that trick.
  • Only the players with the highest and lowest value cards of that color move their Pirates. That player is not necessarily the person who played the 5 or the 8.

• Monkey The value of this card is 0 and it takes on the required color for that trick. You can play the Monkey whether or not you have a card in your hand that matches the color needed. If this card is played first in a trick, the trick color is set by the next card played.

  The Monkey will always be the lowest card of the color it takes on, so you will be the player to move your Pirate of that color down your Plank.

• First Mate The value of this card is 13 and it takes on the required color for that trick. You can play the First Mate whether or not you have a card in your hand that matches the color needed. If this card is played first in a trick, the trick color is set by the next card played.

  The First Mate will always be the highest card of the color it takes on, so you will be the player to move your Pirate of that color up your Plank.

Once you have checked the outcome of the whole trick, set aside all the cards that were counted as part of the trick to face down. Any single cards stay in the center of the table.

The player who played the highest card (in any color) in the previous trick plays the first card in the next trick. If tied, whoever last played one of the highest tied cards starts.

Example: Since the only color in this trick with more than one card was blue, set aside all the blue cards. The yellow 4 and the green 7 stay in the center of the table. Then Charlotte plays a card from her hand to start the next trick.

Continue playing like this until you have played all the cards in your hand. Then the round ends and you score your Pirates.

4. Round End (and End of Game)

At the end of each round, you score points for all your Pirates still on your Plank. Each Pirate scores you the number of points on the space it is on. You do not get any points for Pirates who have fallen off either end of your Plank. Count up your points and write them down.

Example: At the end of the round, Antonia has her red Pirate on 8, her yellow Pirate on 5, her green Pirate on 2 and her blue Pirate has fallen off her Plank. She scores 15 points for this round.

After the end of the round, the dealer is the next clockwise player around from the previous round's dealer. They shuffle all the cards and then you begin a new round. (For 2 or 3 players, remember to leave out the cards with values 1 and 12.)

Reminder: You play as many rounds as there are players.

The player with the most points after the final round wins the game.

Special Rules for 2 Players

Set up the game as for 3 players. The 3rd facedown stack is a ghost player: The old Pirate King, who abdicated many moons ago, and he is especially old, so very set in his ways:

• He still believes he is king, and so he always plays the first card of the trick.
• He cannot understand the rules of the game and so simply reveals the top card of his stack and places it in front of himself (with a sly grin). The color of this card always determines the trick color.
• Then both Captains choose a card from their hand and places it face down on the table. Both Captains must play a card in the trick color if they can. Turn your cards over simultaneously. The outcome of the trick is then determined as usual.
• If the Pirate King reveals the Monkey (0) or the First Mate (13), you do not have to follow a color. If you have played 2 different colors, the Monkey or the First Mate count for both colors in this trick.
• His ship has long since sunk, so he no longer has a plank or crew. This means he does not move any Pirates if his card is the highest or lowest.