I had heard of Skyjo before; apparently the England football team were addicted to it during the recent World Cup. So when the opportunity came around to review it, I thought I would give it the once-over, or twice over…… well, I actually played it a lot. It is simple enough and anything like this fits into my family gaming group very well, I knew they would all enjoy it and they sure did.
Ease of Play
Skyjo fits very firmly in the family-friendly, easy-to-learn category. It's so easy that you can just get started and explain during the first turn. Everyone will understand, get the gist of things and the game will be underway in seconds. I feel that, in a game like this, which is very luck-heavy and breezy, a quick setup and teach is paramount. Skyjo is definitely that.
Flip ‘n’ Fill
The objective in Skyjo is to have the lowest score once another player has hit 100 points. You do this by flipping and replacing cards in your grid; the first player to reveal all their cards initiates the end of the round, then you are on to the next until someone hits 100.
I initially thought there would not be much to this game when I read the rulebook. Thankfully, this did not turn out to be the case. Even though luck plays a massive part, there are decisions to make and there are a few rule wrinkles that make pushing your luck and gambling a large part of whether you win or lose.
Turns
Every round starts with you flipping 2 cards in your 4x3 grid. This gives you something to start with and possible decisions straight off the bat. Each card can range from the horrible 12 all the way down to the elusive -2. On your turn, the first thing you can do is take the top card of the discard pile and replace either a face-up or face-down card in your grid. This is a good option if the player before you has discarded something that benefits you.
The second thing you can do is draw blindly from the top of the deck. Your choice is then to replace a card in your grid or discard it. If you discard it, you can then flip another one of your cards instead. The trouble with all of this, though, is that replacing cards that are face down is a dangerous game and you never quite have perfect information. You may draw a nice 2 card but then blindly replace a -2 card and gift that to your neighbour. At times it is quite painful and the whole table laughing in unison is pure joy.
Wrinkles
As I said above, there is more to Skyjo than first meets the eye. Firstly, there are 2 rule wrinkles. The first being that if you get a column of all the same number, you can discard the whole column. This encourages keeping a high number or two on the off chance you will get a third. It's always a great feeling throwing away a column of high-scoring numbers. Especially when the card is gifted to you by accident by your neighbour.
The second wrinkle is that if you are the player to reveal all your cards and initiate the round end, and you do not have the lowest score, you score double. Plus, everyone else gets one more turn. This creates a very interesting game state. Say you have one face-down card left; draw off the top and it's a 12. You look around the table and don’t think you have the lowest score, you have to replace a probably better card with that 12 as to not end the round. At times, Skyjo is painful. It’s also very entertaining to laugh at other players' misfortunes.
Components
While there is not much to Skyjo in a component sense, it's just a deck of cards; after all, everything is well made and very clear to decipher. The cards are coloured in a way that makes them easy to read, with the bad cards being red for example. The cards are also made of a very thick and robust card stock; for its price point and target audience, I have no quibbles with the components or presentation at all.
Final Thoughts
I honestly thought, after reading the rulebook, that Skyjo would be too simple and dull. I was very wrong. While it is luck-heavy and a light affair, it has a lot of room for decision-making and table talk. Willing your opponents to throw away good cards is a joy, as is finding that third card to throw away a column.
Getting a group around a table, with a lighter yet interactive game such as this is always entertaining. As long as you go into Skyjo knowing it won't be the most strategic game you have ever played, you will have a good time. We all did.
Rating:
- Artwork ***
- Complexity ***
- Replayability ****
- Player Interaction *****
- Component Quality ***
You might like:
- Shouting at your mates
- Praying to the card gods for good luck
You might not like
- Randomness
- Sometimes it seems the luck and the card gods are against you
