Q&A for How to Play Skip Bo

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  • Question
    Can I discard a wild card?
    Community Answer
    Yes. You may decide to end your turn even if you could still make a play, and discard any card. This may be a good idea if the wild card is your last card in hand and you'd rather save it in your discard pile until you get five more cards next turn.
  • Question
    What do you do when you cannot discard a card?
    Community Answer
    You can always discard a card, unless you have no cards in your hand. If that's the case, then pick up more cards until you have a full hand and keep playing until you have a card to discard.
  • Question
    What do I do with the card I pull from the stock pile on each turn?
    Community Answer
    Only pull it from the stockpile if you are going to use it. Don't discard it or keep it in your hand. Always keep the first card of the stockpile flipped over, on top of the pile.
  • Question
    Can I play any card from the discard pile?
    Community Answer
    Yes, as long as they are from your discard pile and you play them in the opposite order that you originally placed them down in. You can't take cards from the bottom/middle of the pile. Only the top.
  • Question
    Can I place Skip Bo on top of Skip Bo?
    Community Answer
    Yes, the Skip Bo card is a wild card and can be used as a substitute for any card, regardless of the previous card.
  • Question
    Do I have to play my stock pile first?
    Community Answer
    No you don't, but since you want to win, using the stock pile cards first should be your priority. But the heat of the action could make a player forget the stock pile and thus "accidentally" play another card (from the hand or discard pile) instead of off the stockpile. Players can easily forget that the cards in the hand and the discard piles are simply tools to be used to eliminate the stock pile cards in order to win.
  • Question
    Do I have to create four discard piles first before I stack more cards on my discard piles, or can I have only one, two, or three discard piles with multiple cards in them?
    Community Answer
    The highest you can have is four. But if you do less, that's going to be hard to win. Have two that up put you discarded cards in them and the other two, try to get them to 12 in sequential order.
  • Question
    What if nobody has the next numbers?
    Community Answer
    You always end your turn by discarding one card. Eventually someone will get a next number.
  • Question
    Can I play cards from an opponent's discard pile?
    Community Answer
    No, you can only use your own discard piles.
  • Question
    What happens if I play all of my cards in hand but haven't a card to discard?
    Community Answer
    Great news! You get to draw an additional five cards and continue play to attempt to get rid of all cards in your stockpile.
  • Question
    What happens if I get a skip Bo card on my stockpile?
    Community Answer
    If you get a Skip-Bo card in your stockpile, just play it like any other Skip-Bo card. You just pick whatever number you want it to be and play it.
  • Question
    Can I only play one card from my stock pile each turn?
    Community Answer
    No. You can play as many as necessary, since that is the pile you want to get rid of.
  • Question
    Does each player have their own building piles?
    Community Answer
    No, there are up to four communal building piles. Any player can add cards to any building pile.
  • Question
    When using a skip-Bo or wild card, do I have to be able to cover it with the next card in the sequence?
    Community Answer
    The Skip-Bo or wild card acts as the next number in the sequence. If you place a Skip-Bo or wild card on a two, it is acting as a three, so the following card must be a four (or another Skip-Bo or wild card acting as a four).
  • Question
    What happens when the draw pile runs out?
    Community Answer
    Take the cards from the completed building piles and shuffle them to form a new draw pile. Continue playing until one of the players has used every card in their stockpile.
  • Question
    Can I use a card from the stock pile to play in my discard pile?
    Community Answer
    No, you may not discard a card from your stock pile. The discard card must be played in the course of the game.
  • Question
    Can I move a discard card and take the card beneath it, then put the top card back on?
    Harrypotterlvr
    Community Answer
    No you may not! You have to play the top card first!
  • Question
    Do I have to match colors in Skip Bo?
    Community Answer
    No. It just goes in numerical sequence and a Skip-Bo can be used as any number in the sequence.
  • Question
    Can I discard multiple cards from my hand?
    Community Answer
    No, you can only put one card into a discard pile before the end of your turn.
  • Question
    Can I discard multiples of the same card?
    Community Answer
    Yes, you may. Simply stack the multiples on top of each other and then they can be their own pile.
  • Question
    Can I keep score? If so, then how?
    Community Answer
    Yes, 25 points to the winner of the game plus they also get 5 points for each card in the other players draw pile.
  • Question
    Do I have to have 4 discard piles before I can stack my discards? For example, can I put several cards in one discard pile even though I haven't got 4 discard piles yet?
    Harrypotterlvr
    Community Answer
    Yes, you can have as many in each discard pile as you want, but only 4 piles.
  • Question
    How many cards are allowed in each of the 4 discard piles?
    Elizabeth Stevenson
    Community Answer
    As many as you want/have, for there is no limit as to how many cards you can have in your discard pile.
  • Question
    After playing a Skip Bo wild card, does that mean the next player in line skips their turn? My friends play that way but I never saw that in the rules.
    Elizabeth Stevenson
    Community Answer
    That is not in the official rules but that is just a rule your friends made up.
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