How to Play Skip-Bo Junior

The box: numbers 1 to 10 plus wild cards

Mattel has sold two versions. Check the card count on your box; the rules below fit both.

A wild card can stand for any number, just like in the grown-up game. The numbers only go up to 10, so there are 10 different numbers to learn.

Setup: the oldest deals, the youngest starts

1. The oldest player is the dealer and shuffles the cards.
2. The dealer deals each player 10 cards face down. This is your stockpile. For a longer game deal more; for a shorter game deal fewer.
3. Everyone turns the top card of their stockpile face up and leaves it on the pile.
4. The dealer keeps the rest of the cards to deal from.
5. The youngest player goes first. Play passes to the left.

Level 1: your hand lies face up in front of you

1. At the start of your turn the dealer deals you 3 cards face up, side by side. That is your hand. If cards are left from last turn, the new ones go on top, making 3 stacks.
2. Play onto the building piles in the middle. There can be up to 4, and everyone plays on all of them.
3. A new building pile starts with a 1 or a wild card. Each card after that must be one number higher.
4. Try your stockpile card first. When you play it, turn up the next one and try that too.
5. You can also play the top card of any hand stack. The card under it is then free to play.
6. When you can’t play any more, your turn is over.

When a building pile reaches 10, it is finished. Put it aside so a new pile can start. If the dealer runs out of cards, shuffle the finished piles and keep dealing from them.

Level 2: hold your cards and add discard piles

Level 2 is in the current box. Everything works as in Level 1, except:

• You hold the 3 cards in your hand instead of laying them out.
• At the end of your turn, cards left in your hand go face up in front of you as discard piles, in any order. You can have up to 3.
• On later turns you may play your stockpile card, your hand cards and the top card of each discard pile.
• If you play all 3 hand cards, the dealer gives you 3 more and your turn goes on.

Tip from the rule sheet: stack discard piles going down, like 7 on 8. Then they are easy to play back up later.

Winning: empty your stockpile

The first player to play the last card of their stockpile wins. Cards left in your hand don’t matter. The instruction sheets give no scoring; just play again.

How Junior differs from regular Skip-Bo

Level 2 makes a good bridge. Once a child is happy holding cards and planning discards, the jump to the regular Skip-Bo rules is small.

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