Skyjo

Objective of the Game

The objective of Skyjo is to finish the game with the fewest points. This involves skillfully flipping, trading, and ultimately minimizing the points on your cards.

Game Components

• 150 cards in various colors with point values ranging from -2 to 12.
• A game rulebook.

Setup

• Shuffle the cards: Thoroughly shuffle the deck and deal 12 facedown cards to each player to form a 3x4 grid in front of them.
• Draw pile: Place the remaining cards as a draw pile in the middle, and turn over the top card to begin the discard pile.
• Choose a starting player: Select the starting player by any preferred method.

Gameplay

The game proceeds in clockwise order. Each player has the following options on their turn:

1. Draw a card:

   • Take either the top card from the draw pile or the top card from the discard pile.

2. Perform an action:

   • Keep the drawn card: Exchange the drawn card with one of your face-down cards and place the exchanged card face-up on the discard pile.
   • Discard the drawn card: Choose not to keep it and instead flip over one of your face-down cards, then place the drawn card on the discard pile.

Strategic Tip

• Avoid high-value cards: Quickly reduce or swap high-value cards as they increase your score.
• Complete rows: If you manage to have an entire row of identical numbers face-up, you may discard this row to the discard pile. This drastically reduces your score and is a major strategic advantage.

Ending the Game

A round ends when a player has revealed all their cards.

• Each player then tallies their points:
• Count points: Include both face-up and face-down cards.
• If any player reaches a total score of 100 points or more, the game ends.

The player with the lowest score wins.

Special Rules

• The top card of the discard pile may be chosen in the first round.
• Tip: Apply pressure to your opponents by strategically revealing face-down cards or completing card rows.

Enjoy playing Skyjo!