How to Play Skyjo

The goal of Skyjo

Skyjo is played over several rounds. Every card in front of you is worth points, and the player with the lowest total score at the end wins. Each round you try to swap high cards for low or negative ones and to clear cards off the table before your opponents do.

Setting up the game

Shuffle the 150-card deck and deal each player 12 cards face down, laid out in a grid of 3 rows and 4 columns. Put the rest of the deck face down as the draw pile, then turn its top card face up to start the discard pile.

Before the first round, every player flips 2 of their 12 cards face up. The player whose two face-up cards add up to the highest value begins.

How a turn works

On your turn you choose one of two options:

• Draw the top card of the deck. Either swap it for one of your cards (face up or face down), or discard it and flip one of your face-down cards face up.
• Take the top card of the discard pile. You must swap it for one of your own cards. The card you replace goes onto the discard pile face up.

Play then passes to the next player. Any card you swap in stays face up for the rest of the round.

The three-in-a-column rule

If you line up three identical cards in the same column, all three face up and equal, remove that entire column from your grid and discard it. Those three cards then count as zero points. Building matching columns is one of the best ways to cut your score, especially when you can clear three high cards like three 12s.

Ending a round and the doubling penalty

As soon as one player turns all 12 of their cards face up, every other player takes one final turn and the round ends. Everyone then adds up the value of their face-up cards.

Here is the twist: if the player who ended the round does not have the lowest score that round, their round total is doubled as a penalty. So only close out a round when you are confident you are in front.

Skyjo card values

The Skyjo deck holds 150 cards with values from -2 to 12. Negative cards lower your score, so they are always worth grabbing. Here is exactly how many of each card the deck contains:

How the game ends and who wins

Round scores add up across the whole game. The game ends the moment any player reaches 100 points or more. At that point the player with the lowest total score wins. A single strong round, or one doubling penalty, can flip the final standings.

Quick scoring tips

• Grab -2, -1 and 0 cards whenever you can.
• Build matching columns to wipe out high cards.
• Do not end the round unless you are sure you have the lowest score, or you risk the doubling penalty.
• Watch your opponents' face-up cards so you can tell when the round is about to end.