To play SKYJO, players attempt to reveal all face down cards in their 3×4 card grid by exchanging cards from the deck. The round ends when a player has revealed all cards in their grid. Players count up total card values in their grid, and the player with the least amount of points wins the game.
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While WWOOFing at Mountain Meadow Farm in Cape Breton, Canada we were invited one night to play a game that we had never played before called Skyjo, which is originally from Germany and is a simple number card game that we fell in love with instantly. You can find it on Amazon, by clicking here.
It is for ages 8 and up but if your child is good at maths there is no reason they couldn’t play it when younger, you can play with 2-8 players and it takes around 30 minutes to an hour.
The aim of the Skyjo is to get rid of as many high cards as possible and so get the lowest score, it is played over multiple rounds until someone reaches 100 points and will then end the game.
Each player receives 12 cards which they place face down without looking (no cheats), then turn one card of the remaining cards over in the middle for all to see, this starts the discard pile. You then layout your cards in 3 rows of 4 like this:
Setting up Skyjo
For the first round, all players turn 2 random cards over each, then the player with the highest points when added together goes first (you keep those cards up-turned). In the rounds following the player who wins the last round will go first, so there’s no need for this step.
The first player has a choice to either take the card everyone can see (the top of the discard pile) or take a blind card. If they choose to pick up the top card from the discard pile that everyone can see they then have to replace that card with any card of their choosing from their deck (blind or open).
If the player chooses to take a blind card from the deck they then look at that card and choose whether or not to replace one of their cards out of their deck (blind or open), if they do they then replace that card and put it on top of the discard pile, if they decide that they do not want the card they picked up they can place that in the discard pile and reveal any one of their blind cards. Player’s turn is over.
Each player takes a turn moving in a clockwise order around the table until the round is over.
As soon as one of the players reveals all of their deck everyone except that player will have one more turn each and the round is then over. Everyone must reveal all their remaining cards, then calculate the amount they have and add it to their score board/piece of paper. If the first person who revealed their deck doesn’t have the lowest score, then their score is doubled (even if it is a tie).
There is one special rule and that is if a player manages to place 3 of the same number in a vertical line then that whole row is then burnt/discarded. The triplet is then placed onto the discard pile (after the card the player discarded) giving a big advantage.
When playing Skyjo, after each round the players’ scores are added together and when a player reaches 100 the game is over, and the lowest score wins.
A quick tip would be to watch your opponent’s deck especially the player to your left and try not to drop cards they may be wanting.
Skyjo is a very simple game once you get used to it, it is very addictive and replay-able, you can find an up to date price for Skyjo here.
If you’re interested in more great board, card and travel games, you can check out our game posts here.
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Product description:
SKYJO – This is the name of the new and exciting game from the publisher Magilano, promising fun and entertainment for many evenings to come. In card game SKYJO the goal is to collect as few points as possible over the course of several turns as after every round every player’s points are counted and added to his score. As soon as a player reaches 100 points or more the player with the fewest points wins. Collecting the fewest points means to look for low or even negative numbers. Further excitement is added by several special rules, which for example make it possible to remove several cards (and with it points) from the game – this can lead to unexpected turns. This motivates daring decisions that might even come back to bite, if the other players can counter faster than expected.
What is needed to play? Enough space for 12 cards in front of each player. A positive side effect: When playing, your hands are free, so you can count points or eat snacks. As the game rules are quite easy, small talk during your turns is no problem.
Lowest Price: £15.95
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