Skull & Roses

Objective

The objective of Skull & Roses is to outwit your opponents and be the first to successfully complete two challenges by uncovering flowers without revealing a skull.

Components

• Each player receives a set of 4 tiles (3 flowers and 1 skull).
• A notebook or paper is needed to track successful challenges for each player.

Setup

1. Each player takes their 4 tiles and shuffles them facedown.
2. Each player selects a tile to place face down in front of them.

Game Play

The game is played in rounds consisting of several phases:

1. Tile Laying: Starting with the first player, each player takes turns adding another facedown tile to their stack. This continues until a player decides they want to issue a challenge.

2. The Challenge:

3. The player who wants to issue a challenge announces how many tiles they will flip over without revealing a skull. They can bid more tiles than those currently face up in front of players.
4. Other players can choose to outbid by stating a higher number of tiles to flip.

5. Bidding continues until no one wants to bid higher. The highest bidder then begins flipping over tiles.

6. Flipping Tiles:

7. The player starts by flipping their own tiles before moving to the tiles of others.
8. If they successfully flip the declared number of flower tiles (without hitting a skull), they win the challenge. If this is their second successful attempt, note it to track their progress.

9. If a skull is revealed, they lose the challenge and must discard a random tile (without looking). The player whose skull was revealed chooses which tile is removed.

10. End of Round:

11. A new first player is selected, and all revealed tiles are returned to their owners.

Victory

A player wins by successfully completing two challenges.

Strategy Tips

• Use psychology: Bluff by suggesting a safe flower stack while keeping your skull hidden.
• Weigh risks: When many players lay down more tiles, seize the opportunity to challenge and potentially reveal bluffs.
• Read opponents: Try to understand the playing patterns of others to better anticipate their gameplay strategy.

Skull & Roses is a strategic bluffing game where intuition and understanding human nature play key roles.