Skip-Bo is a highly sought after card game sold by Mattel. It has a well-
rounded playing audience. Skip-Bo is a family friendly game, which can be played on
the go, or as a sit down game. Skip-Bo is one of the few games you can control the
length. It can be played in 10 minutes or 2 hours. One moment you are losing the
next you are in the lead, defeating your opponents. Skip–Bo is always keeping you on
the edge of your chair, wondering what will happen next.
The invention of Skip-Bo took place in Brownfield, Texas in 1967 by a woman
named Hazel “Skip” Bowman. She created this game while spending time with her ill
husband in the hospital (“Invention”). There are many different versions of this card
game such as “Spite and Malice” or “Cat and Mouse,” but Skip-Bo is the one that was
most sought after. Skip-Bo’s popularity grew outrageously and due to this, a
company by the name, International Games purchased the rights in 1980, which
would later return to International Games being purchased by Mattel (“History”).
Just like any other game, Skip-Bo has rules, but they’re easy to understand.
Anyone can join in on the fun, as long as they are seven years old or older and have
two to six players. There are numbers 1-12 cards and the Skip-Bo cards which play
as wilds. The wild card can be used as any number throughout the game as/when
needed. There are 162 cards in the deck, which are spilt up into four different piles;
the stockpile, the draw pile, building piles, and discard piles. Each one of these piles
has its significance.
The players are in charge of the stockpile by deciding how many cards to
deal, It can be anywhere from 10 to 30 cards for each player, the less cards, the
shorter the game. The stockpile is to remain face down, expect for the first card on
top at all times. If the card on the stockpile can be played, flip the next card in the
stockpile over. As long as the card on top plays in sequence on the building pile, the
player may lay as many cards as they can in their turn (“Rules”).
During the game the next pile is the draw pile. It is placed in the middle of the
table where all players can reach; this is where the remaining cards go after being
dealt. It is used on every persons turn throughout the game. The building piles are
the third set of piles in Skip-Bo. They remain right beside the draw pile. The
building pile is where cards are played. The building pile must be started with a one
or Skip-Bo card and worked up to twelve. Once a building pile reaches twelve it
must be reshuffled and put back into the draw pile, meaning now that the building
pile starts back at one. Which leads us to discard piles (“Rules”).
