- Score sheets
- Family card games
- Skull King
How to score Skull King
Each round you bid how many tricks you will win. Hit it exactly and score 20 a trick, plus any bonuses; miss and lose 10 for every trick you were off. A bid of zero wins or loses 10 for each card dealt that round. Keep the 10 rounds on the free Skull King score sheet below, or in Tabletales.
- 2 to 8 players
- About 30 minutes
- Ends after round 10
- Highest total wins
Tabletales is free on iPhone and iPad.
This is the real Scorepad, live: each round is a hand, and a missed bid goes in as a minus. Tap any hand to change it.
Skull King
- BGG #284
- About 30 min
A pirate trick-taking game over 10 rounds, one more card each round. You bid how many tricks you will win, and only an exact bid scores; Pirates, Mermaids and the Skull King himself steal tricks and pay bonuses.
Year, players, time and rank from BoardGameGeek.
How to play Skull King, in brief
Every round of Skull King, you bid on exactly how many tricks you will win. The deck mixes four suits numbered 1 to 14 with special cards: Pirates, Mermaids, Escapes and the Skull King.
- Deal by the roundRound 1 deals 1 card each, round 2 deals 2, and so on up to 10.
- Bid togetherEveryone counts “Yo ho ho” and shows a bid on their fingers at once. Zero is a bid too.
- Play the tricksA trick is one card each. Follow the suit led if you can; the highest card of that suit wins, unless a black Jolly Roger (trump) or a special card beats it. Special cards can be played any time.
- Score, then deal againScore each bid against the tricks won. The highest total after round 10 wins.
Exactly right pays. Anything else costs.
Only an exact bid scores. A miss costs points for every trick you were off, a bid of zero is a bigger bet the later the round, and bonuses count only for a player who made their bid.
What a round is worth
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Bid 1 or more, made exactly | 20 a trick |
| Bid 1 or more, missedOver or under, and nothing for the tricks you took | −10 a trick off |
| Bid zero, made70 in round 7 | 10 × round |
| Bid zero, missedHowever many tricks you took | −10 × round |
| Each Pirate your Skull King capturesOnly with a made bid | +30 |
| Other bonuses, current rulesBoard Game Arena: 40 for the Skull King taken by your Mermaid, 20 for each Mermaid your Pirate takes, 10 for each standard 14, 20 for the black 14 | +10 to +40 |
- Bid the tricksLook at your cards and bid how many tricks you will win this round. Zero is a bid too, and a risky one.
- Score a made bidWon exactly what you bid? 20 points for each trick. Then add your bonuses.
- Score a missOff by any amount? Minus 10 for each trick you were over or under, and no bonuses at all.
- Score a zero bidTook no tricks: 10 times the round number. Took even one: minus 10 times the round number.
- Highest after round 10 winsAdd each round to the running totals. After round 10, the highest total wins.
Round 6: Dev bids zero and gets away with it.
Six cards each. Mara bids 2, Dev bids zero and You bid 3. Mara wins 2 tricks, one of them by playing her Skull King on top of your Pirate. Dev wins nothing. You win 4. This is round 6 on the Scorepad above.
| Player | Bid, tricks and bonuses | Round |
|---|---|---|
| You | Bid 3, took 4One trick off: minus 10, and no bonuses | −10 |
| Mara | Bid 2, took 2, her Skull King took your PirateTwo tricks and the Pirate: 20 + 20 + 30 | 70 |
| Dev | Bid zero, took noneA made zero in round 6: 10 × 6 | 60 |
Big swings, kept straight.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. In Skull King, scores go up and down every round. Type each player’s round score, plus or minus, and Tabletales keeps the running total.
- Ten rounds, ten rowsLeave the game on Highest wins and switch to By hand. Each round is a numbered hand, and the TOTAL line keeps the running score.
- Bonuses on the keypadType each round’s score, or type a made bid the way you count it (20 + 20 + 30) and Tabletales adds it up. A miss is a minus: tap ± and type 10. The keypad can’t multiply, so work out a zero bid first: 60 in round 6.
- The bids stay at the tableTabletales keeps the scores, not the bids or the captures. Write the bids on the sheet below and work each round out together.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo from the table. Skull King gets a history: how often you play it, who with, and who holds the high score.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Skull King, with its scores
Common Skull King scoring mistakes
- Scoring the tricks on a missA missed bid scores only minus 10 for each trick off. The tricks you took are worth nothing.
- Scoring a zero bid at a flat 10It is 10 times the round number, made or missed: 100 or minus 100 in round 10.
- Paying bonuses on a missed bidCaptures and 14s count only for a player who made their bid exactly.
- Giving the Pirate bonus to its ownerThe 30 goes to the player whose Skull King captured the Pirate, not to whoever played the Pirate.
Skull King scoring, answered
- How do you score Skull King?
- Made your bid exactly? 20 points a trick, plus bonuses. Missed it? Minus 10 for each trick you were off. A zero bid is worth 10 times the round number, or costs that much if you take a trick.
- How many points is a zero bid in Skull King?
- 10 times the round number when you take no tricks, so 70 in round 7. Take even one trick and you lose 10 times the round number instead.
- How many points do you get for capturing a Pirate in Skull King?
- 30 for each Pirate your Skull King captures, and only if you made your bid exactly.
Skull King score sheet
Print one for the table: six players and 10 rounds, with room for each bid, the round’s score and a running total, and the scoring at the bottom.
Score another game
Bonuses differ between editions: UltraBoardGames, which describes the older deck with Scary Mary, pays 50 for a Mermaid taking the Skull King and lists no bonus for 14s or for a Mermaid a Pirate takes, while Board Game Arena’s current rules pay 40 and add both. Board Game Arena calls a tied game a shared win, as Tabletales does. The optional Loot, Kraken, White Whale and Rascal cards change things further. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Board Game Arena and UltraBoardGames. Skull King is a trademark of Grandpa Beck’s Games. Tabletales is not affiliated with them.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
