How to keep score in Skull King

Skull King is 10 rounds of bidding: round 1 deals 1 card each, round 10 deals 10. Make your bid exactly and score 20 a trick, plus any bonuses. Miss it and lose 10 for every trick you're off. After round 10, the highest total wins.

At a glance

• Players: 2 to 8

• Who wins: Highest total after 10 rounds

• Rounds: 10, from 1 card each up to 10

• Bonuses: Only when you make your bid

How each round scores

These are the rules of the current edition from Grandpa Beck's Games, the 2021 box with the White Whale card. Everyone bids at once, then you play the round.

A zero bid in round 7 is worth 70 if you take no tricks, and −70 if you take even one. When you miss a bid of 1 or more, the tricks you took score nothing.

Bonus points

Bonuses count only when you make your bid exactly. Miss it and you lose every bonus for that round.

• Each 14 of a coloured suit (green, yellow or purple) in the tricks you won: 10

• The black 14, the Jolly Roger: 20

• Each mermaid taken by your pirate: 20

• Each pirate taken by your Skull King: 30

• The Skull King taken by your mermaid: 40

• Loot, if you play with it: 20 each for the player who won it and the player who played it, when both made their bids

Older boxes, before 2021, gave 50 for a mermaid taking the Skull King. Check which rules you have before you start.

When the game ends

After round 10, add up and the highest total wins. Totals can go below zero, so keep the minus signs.

With 7 or 8 players the deck runs out before everyone can have 10 cards, so the last rounds repeat the biggest deal you can give everyone. A zero bid still scores 10 × the cards dealt, not the round number.

Rascal's scoring and other variants

The rulebook offers an optional way to score, Rascal's scoring, where everyone plays for the same stakes whatever they bid.

• Each round is worth 10 × the cards dealt, for every player.

• Exact bid: all of it, and all your bonuses.

• Off by 1: half of it, and half your bonuses.

• Off by 2 or more: nothing.

• Cannonball or grapeshot: with Rascal's scoring, everyone also chooses after the bids. Grapeshot scores as above. Cannonball scores 15 × the cards dealt for an exact bid, and 0 for any miss.

What people often get wrong

• A missed zero bid costs more than 10. Take one trick on a zero bid in round 8, and you lose 80.

• Bonuses need the exact bid. Catch the Skull King with your mermaid but miss your bid by one, and the 40 is gone.

• Missed bids don't score tricks. Bid 3 and take 4, and you lose 10. The 4 tricks are worth nothing.

A scoring example

Four players, the first three rounds. The bid · won rows show each bid and the tricks taken.

In round 2 Ben won a trick with the yellow 14 in it: 20 for his bid plus a 10 bonus. In round 3 Dev's Skull King took Ana's pirate: 20 for his bid plus 30. Ana's zero bid in round 2 failed, so she lost 10 × 2 = 20.

Cleo bid zero three times and made it every time: 10, 20 and 30, because more cards were dealt each round. She leads with 60, with 7 rounds left to play.

Keep score in Tallynight

Skull King isn't one of Tallynight's built-in games yet, but it takes a minute to set up. Choose Something else, then Rounds, with the highest score winning.

Work out each player's score for the round, bonuses included, and type them on one keypad. Add it to your favourites, and after round 10, tap End game.

• Everyone's round on one keypad, with a minus key for missed bids

• The table keeps the totals and who's in front

• Tap any round to add a bonus you forgot

• A race chart that replays all 10 rounds at the end

• Get Tallynight on the App Store: free, no ads.

• Print a Skull King score sheet if you'd rather keep score on paper.

Questions

How do you score Skull King?

Bid 1 or more and make it exactly: 20 points a trick, plus bonuses. Miss it and lose 10 for every trick you're over or under. A zero bid scores 10 × the cards dealt that round, or loses the same if you take a trick.

What happens if you bid zero in Skull King and win a trick?

You lose 10 × the number of cards dealt that round, however many tricks you took. In round 5 that's −50.

Do you get bonus points if you miss your bid in Skull King?

No. Bonuses for 14s and captures count only when you make your bid exactly. Miss it and they're gone for that round.

How many points is the Skull King captured by a mermaid?

40 in the 2021 edition, as long as the mermaid's player makes their bid. Older boxes gave 50.

How many rounds are in Skull King?

10. Round 1 deals 1 card each, round 2 deals 2, and so on up to 10 cards in round 10. The highest total after round 10 wins.

What is Rascal's scoring in Skull King?

An optional way to score where every player's round is worth 10 × the cards dealt. An exact bid scores all of it, one off scores half, and two or more off scores nothing.

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