Published card games
Skull King
Bid exactly the number of tricks you will win, no more and no less.
- players
- 2–8
- minutes
- 40
- variants
- 4
You’ll need the game box. Marquoir sums up the rules and keeps score.
Setup
- Ten rounds. In the first, one card per player; in the tenth, ten cards each.
- The game contains four numbered suits, black trump cards, pirates, mermaids, Escape cards and the Skull King.
How to play
- After looking at their hand, everyone bids at the same time the number of tricks they expect to win, from zero to the number of cards.
- Tricks are then played: you must follow the suit led if you can.
- Black cards are trump and beat all the other suits.
- The Skull King beats all pirates, pirates beat all numbered cards, mermaids beat the Skull King.
Scoring
- Bid made: 20 points per trick bid.
- Bid missed: a 10-point penalty per trick off, as negative points.
- Successful zero bid: 10 points multiplied by the round number. Missed: the same amount as negative points.
- Card bonuses: 10 points per coloured 14 — green, purple, yellow — won in a trick, and 20 points for the black 14, the one with the pirate flag.
- Capture bonuses: 20 points per mermaid captured by a pirate, 30 per pirate captured by the Skull King, 40 if a mermaid captures the Skull King.
- Bonuses only count if the bid is made. It is the most common scoring mistake: a bonus scored on a missed bid throws off the whole table.
End of the game
- The game ends after the tenth round.
- The highest total wins, often after passing through negative scores.
Variants
Number of rounds
10 rounds (official)
5 rounds (short game)
Up to five cards in hand. A twenty-minute game.
Card and capture bonuses
With bonuses
Coloured 14s, black 14, captured mermaids and pirates. They only count if the bid is made.
Without bonuses
Only the bids count. Easier to score with children.
chosen when starting, the scorer follows
Frequently asked questions
Do bonuses count if you miss your bid?
No, and it is the most common scoring mistake. A black 14 or a captured mermaid scores nothing unless the bid is made exactly.
What is an Escape worth?
Nothing: it never wins the trick and obliges you to nothing. You can play it even when you could follow the suit led. If everyone escapes, the first Escape played takes the trick.
How much is a successful zero bid worth?
Ten points multiplied by the round number: 10 in the first round, 100 in the tenth. Missed, it is the same amount as negative points — the zero bid is the most rewarding and the most dangerous bet in the game.
Must you follow the suit led?
Yes, if you have it. Characters — pirates, mermaids, Escape and Skull King — are exempt from this: they can be played at any time.
Who wins a trick with the Skull King in it?
The Skull King beats all pirates and all numbered cards, but loses to a mermaid. The mermaid then wins the trick, and its owner scores a 40-point bonus if their bid is made.
What if you bid three tricks and win five?
A twenty-point penalty: 10 per trick off, as negative points. Winning more than planned costs exactly as much as winning fewer.
The box
- Released
- 2013
- Age
- Ages 8+
- Designers
- Brent Beck, Jeffrey Beck
- Artwork
- David Bock, Eckhard Freytag, Apryl Stott
- Publisher
- Schmidt Spiele
- Mechanics
- Gestion de mainAnnonce de plisPierre-feuille-ciseauxPlis
- Expansions
- Skull King: Extension · 2025
Rules on video
Videos in French, hosted on YouTube.
Where to find it
Specialist French shops. Marquoir earns nothing from these links.