How to play Skip-Bo

What you need

• A Skip-Bo deck: 144 cards numbered 1 to 12 plus 18 wild SKIP-BO cards, 162 in total. Remove any blank cards; they are not used.
• Space in front of each player for one stockpile and up to four discard piles in a row, plus a shared area in the middle for up to four building piles and the draw pile.
• Paper and pencil only if you play the scored match.

Set up the game

1. Choose the dealer. Shuffle, and everyone draws a card. Highest card deals; SKIP-BO cards don’t count. The deal moves left after each game.
2. Deal the stockpiles. With 2 to 4 players, deal 30 cards to each player. With 5 or more, deal 20 each. These cards go face down in a pile: your stockpile.
3. Turn up your top stock card. Each player flips only the top card of their stockpile face up and leaves it on top of the pile. Do not look at the rest.
4. Make the draw pile. The dealer puts the remaining cards face down in the centre.
5. Leave the rest empty. Building piles and discard piles start as empty spaces. They are created during play.

Playing Skip-Bo

1. Fill your hand to five. The player left of the dealer starts by drawing 5 cards from the draw pile. On every later turn, draw just enough to bring your hand back up to 5.
2. Start building piles with a 1. Only a 1 or a SKIP-BO card can start a building pile. There can be up to four in the centre at once, and everyone shares them.
3. Build upward in order. Each building pile climbs one number at a time, 1, 2, 3, up to 12. A SKIP-BO card is wild and can be played as whatever number the pile needs next.
4. Play from three places. You may play the top card of your stockpile, any card from your hand, or the top card of any of your own discard piles. When you play your stock card, turn the next one face up straight away.
5. Clear finished piles. When a building pile reaches 12, remove it from play and set it aside. A new pile can start in that space.
6. Empty your hand, draw again. If you play all five cards from your hand during a turn, draw five more and keep going.
7. End with one discard. When you can’t play, or choose to stop, discard one card from your hand onto one of your four discard piles. Discards can go in any order on any of your piles, but only the top card of each pile can be played later.
8. Win by emptying your stockpile. The first player to play their last stock card wins at once, even with cards left in hand or on discard piles.

When the draw pile runs out, shuffle the completed 12-piles that were set aside and use them as the new draw pile.

A sample turn, card by card

Two players, 30-card stockpiles. The board matches the diagram: building piles show 3 and 9, with two empty spaces. Your stock card is a 6. Your discard piles show 10 and 7. You draw up to five and your hand is: 4, 4, SKIP-BO, 1, 11.

1. 4 on the 3 pile. That pile now shows 4.
2. SKIP-BO as 5 on the same pile. It shows 5.
3. Stock 6 on the 5. Your stock is one card shorter, and you flip the next stock card: a 2.
4. Discard pile 7 on the 6. That pile shows 7, and your second discard pile is now empty.
5. 1 from your hand starts a new building pile in an empty space.
6. Stock 2 on the new 1. Flip again: a 12. Nothing shows 11 yet.
7. Discard 10 on the 9 pile, then 11 from your hand on top. The pile shows 11.
8. Stock 12 on the 11. The pile is complete, so it is set aside. Flip again: an 8.
9. End the turn. You hold one 4. No pile wants a 4, so you discard it onto an empty discard space.

That turn cleared three stock cards, and an 8 now waits on top. Notice the order: the SKIP-BO was spent to reach the stock 6, not to finish a pile that didn’t touch your stock.

Scoring with a worked example

A single game ends when someone empties their stockpile, and that player wins. For a longer match, Mattel’s 42050 sheet gives optional scoring: the winner of each game scores 25 points for winning plus 5 points for every card left in opponents’ stockpiles. First to 500 points wins the match.

Example. Three players. Rosa empties her stock. Sam has 7 cards left in his stockpile and Tia has 12. Rosa scores 25 + (7 + 12) × 5 = 25 + 95 = 120. Sam and Tia score nothing that game.

A match to 500 typically runs several games, so it suits a long evening rather than a quick round.

Beginner strategy

• Look at your stock card first, every turn. Mattel’s own advice is that it is best to use playable stock cards first, since the stockpile is the only thing that wins. Before you play anything, ask: what chain of cards gets my stock card onto a pile?
• Spend SKIP-BO cards to reach your stock. A wild that unlocks a stock card, and possibly the one under it, is worth far more than a wild that only extends a pile.
• Build discard piles in descending order. Putting 9, then 8, then 7 on the same discard pile lets you play them back as 7, 8, 9 later. Mixed piles bury useful cards.
• Keep one discard pile as a dumping spot. Many players reserve one pile for high cards like 11s and 12s that will be needed eventually but not soon.
• Watch your opponent’s stock card. If their stock shows 8 and a pile is sitting at 6, playing a 7 there hands them a free stock play. Sometimes it is better to build elsewhere.
• Empty your hand when you can. Playing all five cards gives you five fresh ones the same turn, which can unlock another stock card.
• Don’t discard what your stock needs next. If your stock is a 5 and you hold a 4, keep the 4 unless a pile is already at 4.

Common mistakes and rule disputes

• Thinking you must empty every pile to win. Only the stockpile counts. Mattel’s rules say the first player to use up all the cards in their stockpile wins.
• Digging in a discard pile. Only the top card of each discard pile is playable. You can’t reach beneath it.
• Playing onto someone else’s discard pile. Your discards go only on your own piles, and in individual play you play only from your own piles.
• Building down or skipping numbers. Building piles go up one number at a time from 1 to 12. A SKIP-BO card fills one missing number, never two.
• Starting a pile with a 2. Only a 1 or a SKIP-BO card can start a building pile.
• Drawing too many cards. Mattel’s special-situations rule: shuffle the extra cards into your own stockpile. That is a real penalty, since it lengthens your stock.
• Playing out of turn. If it is noticed before the turn ends, the illegal turn stops and play goes back to the right player. The offender then plays their next turn without drawing first. If nobody notices until the turn is complete, the play stands.
• A fifth discard pile. You get four discard piles, no more.

Variants

The first two are official options in the 42050 instructions. The last is a house rule.

• Short game (official). Deal only 10 stock cards each. Everything else stays the same. A game takes a fraction of the time and is good for younger players.
• Partnership play (official). Partners may play from their own and their partner’s stockpile and discard piles. During your turn your partner must stay quiet, though you may ask them to make a play, such as “Partner, play your 7.” Cheating costs two draw-pile cards added unseen to the offender’s stockpile. A partnership wins when both of its stockpiles are finished, and partners can keep playing from discard and building piles after one stockpile is empty.
• Open hands for learners (house rule). For a first game with kids, play with hands face up and talk through options aloud.

Teach it in five minutes

1. Point at the stockpile. “This is the only pile that matters. Get rid of it and you win.”
2. Point at the middle. “These piles go 1, 2, 3, up to 12. Anyone can play on them. Only a 1 or a SKIP-BO starts one.”
3. Explain wilds. “SKIP-BO cards are any number you need.”
4. Explain your turn. “Fill your hand to five. Play from your hand, your stock card, or the top of your discard piles. When you’re done, put one card from your hand on one of your four discard piles.”
5. One tip. “Every turn, look at your stock card first and work backward.”
6. Play the first two turns with hands open, then close them.

Age and group-size advice

Mattel lists Skip-Bo for 2 to 6 players, ages 7 and up. Counting up to 12 and planning one step ahead is comfortable at that age; the short 10-card game is the best first match. Two to four players with 30-card stocks is the classic game. Five or six players drop to 20-card stocks, which keeps the game length reasonable but means more waiting between turns. Four players also opens up partnership play, which is a good way to pair a new player with an experienced one.

Check yourself

Questions people ask

Sources and edition notes

Mattel 42050 classic 162-card Skip-Bo, individual play. Partnership rules are separate.

Sources and stated format checked October 2026. This records a document check, not a claim of hands-on testing. The sheet reviewed carries part number 42050-0922.

• Mattel: 42050 instructions
• Mattel: product archive

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