Skyjo
- fmtcumd
- Jun 17
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 31
Players draw and discard to minimize the total value of their tableau of 12 cards
—BGG
Grade Band: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Time to Play: 15-45 minutes (adjustable depending on target score)
Number of Players: 2-8 (best 4)
Game Style: competitive, consecutive play
Complexity: Level 1
This game can be explained quickly without a full round demonstration, and students will be able to play independently.
Price:
Mathematical Skills:
Strategic Thinking
Decision Making
Probability
Computational Fluency (Summing digits -2 to 12)
Description of Game: Skyjo is a competitive card game where the goal is to have the lowest total score when the game ends. The game is played over several rounds, and players strategically reveal, swap, and collect cards to reduce their score.
Rules:
Objective - End the game with the lowest total score after one player reaches or exceeds 100 points.
Setup - Shuffle all cards and deal 12 cards face-down to each player.
Arrange your 12 cards in a 3x4 grid (3 rows × 4 columns) in front of you, face down.
Each player flips 2 of their cards face-up (any 2). Highest total starts. (After this initial round the person who ends the previous round will start the following round). Place the rest of the deck in the center as a draw pile. Flip one card face-up to start the discard pile.
Gameplay - Turns go clockwise. On your turn,
Choose a card: Draw the top card from either the draw pile or the discard pile.
If you take the discard, you must replace one of your 12 cards (face-down or face-up).
If you draw from the draw pile, you can:
Replace a card from your grid (flip the replaced card face-up and discard it), OR
Discard the drawn card and flip one of your face-down cards face-up instead. Replaced cards are always discarded, and the new card goes in their place (face-up).
Ending the Round - Once one player has all 12 cards face-up, the round ends after everyone else gets one last turn.
Scoring - Add up all the value of your face-up cards.
Some versions use this twist: If the player who ended the round doesn't have the lowest score, their score is doubled!
New Rounds & Game End - Start new rounds, keeping a running total of scores. When any player reaches 100+ points, the game ends. Lowest total score wins.
Special Rule (Optional/House) - If a player forms a column of 3 identical cards, that entire column can be removed, reducing total score.
Teacher Resources:
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