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How to Win at Skip-Bo: Strategy Tips

Quick answer

How to win at Skip-Bo: on every turn, look first for a way to play your stock card, using hand cards and discard-pile tops to build up to it. Save wild cards for the gap right below your stock card, never leave a pile one below the next player’s stock card, and stack your discard piles going down.

Practice with a guided gamePlay Spite & Malice freeFree, no sign-up. Spite & Malice is the classic card game Skip-Bo is based on, and the guided game shows you the best play.

Play toward your stock card before anything else

Only stock cards win the game. Every other card is a tool. So start each turn with one question: can I reach my stock card? Count up from each building pile to your stock number. Then check whether your hand and the tops of your discard piles fill every step in between.

In the first puzzle below, the computer plays 3 cards in a row to get one stock card out. It starts with a hand card, takes the next number from a discard pile, then plays the stock card.

Save wild cards for the gap nothing else fills

There are 18 wild Skip-Bo cards in a 162-card deck, about one card in 9. Spend one when it bridges the last gap to your stock card. Don’t spend one to play an extra hand card, and don’t use it where a number card from your hand or a discard pile would do the same job.

Don’t set up the next player

Before you play, look at the stock card of the player after you. If it is a 7, don’t leave any building pile at 6. Either stop at 5 or play on past 7. In a two-player game this matters on every turn; with more players, watch the next player most closely.

Build your discard piles going down

You have up to 4 discard piles. Put a 9 on a 10, then an 8 on the 9. Later you can play them back up in order, 8, 9, 10, all in one turn. Burying a low card under a high one does the opposite: the low card is stuck until the high one is played.

  • Keep one discard pile for odd cards you don’t expect to need.
  • Don’t discard a wild card unless you have nothing else to discard.
  • Fill an empty discard pile before you bury a useful card.

Empty your hand to draw fresh cards

If you play all 5 cards from your hand, you draw 5 more and keep going. When a safe play is open, take it: fewer cards in hand means a full new hand sooner. But a free play is never worth handing the next player their stock card.

Try it: three best-play puzzles

Pick the play you would make. Then see what the computer chooses, and how it plays out the whole turn. Here the Skip-Bo wild card stands in for the king, which is the wild card in Spite & Malice.

Puzzle 1: reach your stock card

Opponent’s stock pile (20 cards)

Building piles (shared)

  • A: at 2 needs 3
  • B: empty
  • C: empty
  • D: empty

Your stock pile (20)

Your hand (5)

Your discard piles (top card shown)

  • 1: 1 card
  • 2: 0 cards
  • 3: 0 cards
  • 4: 0 cards

Your stock card is a 5. Building pile A shows a 2. Which card do you play first?

Best play: Play the 3 from your hand on pile A. Use number cards from your hand and the tops of your discard piles first. Keep the wild card for a gap nothing else can fill.

How the computer plays the whole turn:

  1. Play the 3 from your hand on building pile A.It is a step toward your stock card, a 5.
  2. Play the 4 from discard pile 1 on building pile A.It is a step toward your stock card, a 5.
  3. Play your stock card, the 5, on building pile A. 19 cards left in your stock pile.Stock cards are the only cards that win the game, so they come first.
  4. Discard the 12 on discard pile 1. That ends your turn.An empty discard pile is the safest place for a card you can’t use yet.

Puzzle 2: don’t set up your opponent. You can’t reach your stock card (a 12) this turn. Your opponent’s stock card is a 7. Which play is best? Best play: Play the 4 from your hand on pile B. Never leave a building pile one below your opponent’s stock card. A 6 on pile A would let them play their 7 straight away.

Puzzle 3: the smart discard. Nothing fits the building piles, so you must discard. Your discard piles show a 10 and a 6. Which discard is best? Best play: Discard the 9 on discard pile 1. Build discard piles going down: 10, then 9, then 8. Later you can play them back up in order in a single turn.

Skip-Bo is a registered trademark of Mattel, Inc. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mattel.

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Questions people ask

What is the best strategy in Skip-Bo?

Always look for a way to play your stock card first, using cards from your hand and the tops of your discard piles to build up to it. Then make safe plays that don’t help the next player, and end with a tidy discard.

When should you play a Skip-Bo wild card?

Mostly to bridge a gap right below your stock card. There are only 18 wild cards in 162, about one in 9, so don’t spend one just to get rid of a hand card.

Should you always play your stock card if you can?

Almost always. It is the only card that brings you closer to winning. Mattel’s own rules say it is best to play from the stock pile first.

How should you use your discard piles?

Stack them going down, like 10, 9, 8, so you can play them back up in order later. Keep one of your 4 piles for odd cards you don’t need.

Is Skip-Bo luck or skill?

Both. The deal and the draw are luck, but choosing what to play, what to hold and where to discard decides many games between players with similar cards.