Skull King

Starting The Game

/join allows 3-6 players to join the game. /start begins the game. Alternatively, you can use the Game Tool!

Object of the Game

Skull King is a pirate trick-taking game, in which you have to predict the number of tricks you are going to take. Sounds easy, were it not for mean opponents...

Game Board

Card decks
Score pad (opens / closes by clicking this symbol)
your cards

Player's name
Total number of points so far (ahead of the current round)
Current point total in the current round
Number of tricks taken/number announced

Example: Nessi has collected 90 points so far. She announces 3 tricks, has only taken two so far (2/3). Because of the missing trick, she would currently have -10 points from this round, making (80) points in total.

Game Material < /h3>
The game consists of 66 cards:

Normal color cards with the numbers 1 - 13, in the colors red, yellow and blue.

Skull and crossbones cards (black) 1 - 13

Special cards:

Five pirates

Five escape cards
Two Sirens

One Skull King

One Tigress

< span>Flow of the game

The game goes for twn rounds. Each player has to announce the number of tricks they want to make this round. Then every player always plays one card and the highest wins the trick.

Every players gets one card in the first round, two in the second, etc. < /p>

Predicting Tricks

At the beginning of the round, all players secretly predict the number of tricks they want to make. < /p> Stiche vorhersagen

Playing cards

Once all the players have chosen, the starting player begins by playing one of their cards. He is the one seated furthest left, the other players follow to his right in the order of play. They each play a card, when it's their turn.

The color played first must always be followed.

< p> If, for example, the first player plays a red card, all the other players must also play red cards, if they have any. The only exceptions to this rule are the special cards: These cards can be played at any time, regardless of the color played first.

Winning the Trick

Once all the players have played a card, it is determined who will win the trick:

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Normal Color Cards:

The first of these colors played is trump. It must be followed (unless you play a special card). The highest card of the first-played color wins. Other color cards (apart from black) don't count anything and never trump.

Skull and Crossbones Cards (Black):

Skull and crossbones cards are not special cards, i.e. the may only be played if you can't follow the color played first! They trump any other colored card. If several skull and crossbones cards are played, the highest one trumps the others.

Escape

Escape has a value of 0 and is always the lowest card.

Sirene

The siren is higher than all color cards (including the black ones!). She also outsmarts the Skull King, but not the pirates (if no Skull King is down). If she overstabs the Skull King, she also receives the Bonus. If there are several sirens, the one placed first trumps.

Pirates

Pirates trump all color cards, skull cards and the siren. They can only be overtaken by a previously placed pirate card, the Skull King or a siren (if it has overtaken a Skull King).

Tigress

The Tigress can be played either as an escape or as a pirate. If you play it, you get a selection window in which you have to specify your choice:

Skull King< /span>

The Skull King is the highest card. He can only be beaten by a siren.

Special Cases

If the card that way played first is a special card, the first normal color card determines the color that has to be followed.
If the card played first is a skull and crossbones card , it doesn't have to be trumped by a special card in the case that you have no more skull and crossbones cards in your hand. Normal colored cards can also be played - but will never win the trick.
If only escapes were played, the first escape wins the trick.

< b>Scoring

At the end of each round, the tricks of each player are counted. Players who manage to get the number of tricks predicted get 20 points per trick won. Those who didn't lose 10 points for every additional trick they took or every trick they failed to take.

If a player announces 0 tricks and makes it, they get the round number × 10 points. If, for example, they predict 0 tricks in the fifth round and go on not to make any, they will win 50 points. If, on the other hand, they make one or more tricks, they get this number subtracted. So you can earn lots of points by predicting 0 tricks but also lose lots.

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Bonus Points

Each pirate captured with the Skull King brings 30 bonus points. The Tigress always counts as a pirate, even if it was played as an escape
If you catch the Skull King with your siren, you get 50 bonus points

Attention: You only receive bonuses if you manage to stick to your prediction. If you don't make it, you also don't get the bonus.

Once a trick has been awarded to a player, that player starts the next trick.

At the end of the round, the scoring pad automatically opens:

Here you can see the points and predictions from all the rounds. Once everyone has accepted by clicking OK, the next round starts. The new starting player is the one who sat second in the last round.

The pad can be opened and closed at any point by clicking the pad symbol to the upper right. The points and predictions for the current round are always shown as well.

End of the Game

The game ends after 10 rounds. The player with the most points wins.

Game Options

Hook

Not much of an option, more like an extra for the interface, the entry SkullKingHook=On in the prop file allows you to mark a card before it's your turn. This card then gets a pirate hook. Once it's your turn, the card is automatically played. Of course you can always change your choice, as long as the card has not been played yet.