Skull King is a trick-taking game similar to Oh Hell!, Wizard, Euchre and Spades, with players needing to state how many tricks they think they'll win each round. A unique element of this game is that bidding takes place simultaneously, leading to rounds that are sometimes over, or under-bid. As players must win the exact number of tricks that they bid to earn points, winning too many tricks is just as bad as winning too few and this leads to intense competition where losing a trick can be as exciting as winning one.

Skull King uses a 66-card deck that consists of five Escape cards, four suits numbered 1-13, two Mermaids, five Pirate cards, 1 Tigress card, and 1 Skull King card. The game lasts ten rounds, and in each round, each player is dealt as many cards as the number of the round. All players simultaneously bid on the number of tricks they think they'll take by holding out a fist and on the count of three revealing a certain number of fingers (or possibly a closed fist for a bid of zero tricks).

Standard rules apply for the playing of cards, with one player leading off a card and other players following suit, if possible, and playing something else if not; however, a player may always choose to play one of the special, unnumbered cards — and the power of those cards might let you win a trick that otherwise would have gotten away. In more detail, the black Jolly Roger suit trumps the other three suits, a Mermaid trumps all numbered cards, a Pirate trumps the Mermaid, and the Skull King trumps everything — except if he appears in the same trick with a Mermaid, in which case she captures him and wins instead. An Escape card loses to any other card, and the Tigress card serves as either a pirate or escape card as desired by the player. Whoever wins a trick leads in the next trick.

If a player makes their bid exactly, they score 20 points per trick; if they collect more or fewer tricks, they lose 10 points per trick they are off. If a player makes a bid of zero tricks, they win points equal to ten times the current round number — but if they take even a single trick, they lose this many points instead. If a player catches pirates with the Skull King, or the King with a mermaid, they score bonus points. Whoever has the most points after ten rounds wins.

The Dice Cup Shipping, Delivery & Collection Terms: 

We post to the UK only.  We also offer collection from the store.

We aim to post all orders received before 12 noon on the following day.

New releases will be shipped, at latest, one day after we have received them into our stock.

During the run up to Christmas and during other busy periods (including when we have a sale) there may be short delays in dispatching goods due to the volume of orders.

Games are sent by Royal Mail or DPD Local Courier for heavier orders.

All orders over 2 Kilos will be sent by DPD. DPD is a next working day delivery service (i.e. Monday to Friday). The charge is based on the rate for the weight of the games. We will confirm that the games have been shipped by email.

In most cases deliveries should arrive one working day after the order is placed (during the Christmas period deliveries may take longer to arrive). If there are postal strikes or severe weather these times can be significantly longer. We reserve the right to substitute one mail service for another if it is equivalent and will result in the games being delivered faster than by Royal Mail. Please note that all orders for large quantities of games will ship by courier.

The collection option is only available for those that are able to come to the store during our opening hours.

Please check Facebook for what these are as they will change as Covid restrictions change. Currently we are open AT LEAST from 11am-6pm each day. Please bring some ID as well as proof of purchase when picking up your games.

We reserve the right to change the method of shipment and there may be a surcharge if the actual delivery cost is great than the amount charged.