Game reference

Skull

骷髅牌 / 骷髏牌

CategoryBluffing · BiddingPlayers3–6 playersDurationAbout 15–30 minutesRules learning effort2/5 · Easy

Learning the rules: Few actions, with extra care needed for bidding, reveal order, and losing discs. Handbook estimate: 1 = very easy, 5 = very demanding. This rates learning effort, not strategy depth or game quality.

DMs who know this game: Jayde

Based on the team catalogue and reported play experience. An empty entry means not recorded, not necessarily unfamiliar with the game.

On Board catalogue: 骷髅

Full rulebook (English PDF) ↗

Overview

Players secretly place flowers or skulls, then bid on how many flowers they can safely reveal. The highest bidder must attempt the challenge.

Edition scope. Base rules, with the newer Last Chance variant noted below. Decide whether to use it before starting; do not introduce it midgame.

Key terms / 关键词. disc (圆牌); stack (叠放的牌堆); bid (叫价／承诺翻开的数量); challenger (挑战者); reveal (翻开); eliminated (出局)

Objective

Win two challenges, or be the only player who has not been eliminated.

Setup

Give each player a matching set of 3 Flowers, 1 Skull, and a mat with the unscored side up.
Choose a first player. At the start of each round everyone places 1 disc face down; the first player chooses theirs last.
Stack discs so their number remains visible. Agree whether to use Last Chance.

How to play

Everyone places 1 disc → add a disc or open bidding → raise / pass → reveal your own first → flowers succeed, a skull fails.

Player actions and turn sequence for Skull. The complete rules are provided in the adjacent text. Open full size. Illustrative symbols are not official game components.

Add or open
On your turn, add 1 disc face down to your own stack OR announce a positive bid up to the total number of discs on the table. If you cannot add a disc, open bidding.
Bid
Once bidding opens, no more discs can be placed. Raise the bid or pass. Passing is final for this bidding round, but your discs remain available to reveal.
Challenge
When only the highest bidder remains, they reveal discs. Reveal your own before anyone else’s. Reveal only the topmost face-down disc in any stack; you may switch between opponents’ stacks.
Resolve
Reveal the number you bid, all flowers: score one success. Reveal a skull: stop immediately and permanently lose one of your own discs.

Newer Last Chance variant

If a failed challenge leaves you with only one disc, take the publicly known Flower Last Chance disc for the next round only, then return it. If you fail as challenger during that round, lose both the temporary disc and your final disc and be eliminated. Each player can receive it only once per game.

Worked example

Bid of four: reveal your two flowers first, then an opponent’s flower, then another opponent’s skull. Stop and lose one of your own discs. Open the figure for full size. Original AI-generated teaching diagram.

You placed two flowers and won with a bid of 4. Reveal your own two first, then two discs from the tops of other stacks. If the second outside disc is a skull, you fail immediately.

Ending & scoring

Win by succeeding twice or being the last player remaining. Failure does not erase an earlier success. If you reveal another player’s skull, mix all your remaining discs; that player removes one at random without looking. If you reveal your own skull, secretly choose one of your discs to remove. Lose your last disc and you are eliminated. Everyone retrieves surviving discs between rounds. The challenger starts the next round unless eliminated; then the skull’s owner starts. A self-eliminated challenger chooses the next starter.

Ending and winning conditions for Skull. The complete rules are provided in the adjacent text. Open full size. Illustrative symbols are not official game components.

Rules to double-check

Passing withdraws you from bidding; it does not remove your discs from the table.
You cannot reveal an opponent’s discs before revealing your own.
Do not reach below a stack’s top disc or continue after revealing a skull.
The failed challenger loses a disc, not the player whose skull was revealed.

Player tips / 玩家建议

Beginner suggestions based on the rules, not guaranteed winning moves. DMs can share these with the whole table before play.

Use flowers when you want to win the challenge. You reveal your own discs first. Putting a skull in your stack makes your own challenge dangerous.
Set a limit before raising. Count your own known flowers and estimate how many outside reveals you trust. Passing (放弃本轮叫价) is better than chasing a bid (叫价) you cannot justify.
Change your pattern. Always placing flowers makes you a safe target; always placing skulls makes others avoid you. Mix your choices so your bluff (虚张声势) is harder to read.
Watch revealed choices, not just confident talk. Remember how players behaved in earlier rounds, but treat that as a clue, not proof. Even someone who passed can have flowers or a skull.

Sources & edition notes

Space Cowboys · Skull rulebook ↗

Chinese name reference ↗. Chinese names help identify the game; edition details may differ.

Box artwork: Space Cowboys · via Asmodee Italia. Image source ↗. Artwork belongs to its respective rights holders; packaging may vary by edition.

Rules sources checked on 13 November 2026. Teaching scripts and practice tasks are suggested hosting aids. The publisher’s rules and the edition in the box remain the reference for exceptions.

DM tools

Optional teaching and practice aids. Excluded from printing.

Teaching script

“You bid how many flowers you can reveal safely. Before bidding opens, you can keep adding discs. Once someone bids, you can only raise or pass. The challenger reveals their own discs before anyone else’s. Succeed twice to win.”

Stay neutral. Repeat the current highest bid and whose turn it is. Players can bid quietly; there is no need to encourage everyone to tell a story.

Setup checklist

Give each player a matching set of 3 Flowers, 1 Skull, and a mat with the unscored side up.Choose a first player. At the start of each round everyone places 1 disc face down; the first player chooses theirs last.Stack discs so their number remains visible. Agree whether to use Last Chance.

Practice checklist

Use three sets to rehearse raising, passing, and revealing discs.Practise losing a disc after revealing your own skull versus someone else’s.Ask another DM to check a complete practice round.

Local notes

Notes for this game

Saved only in this browser, never uploaded or shared. Keep a backup of important notes.

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Hacky mode / 代码模式

Optional pseudocode for readers who like programming. The normal rules are above.

Frequently asked questions

Someone reveals my skull. Do I lose a disc?

No. The failed challenger loses one of their own discs.

Does a failure erase my previous success?

No. You need two successes in total, not two consecutive successes.

If I win the bid, must I reveal my own stack first?

Yes. Reveal your own discs from the top, one at a time. You may reveal other players’ discs only after all your own discs have been revealed. Stop immediately at a skull, or succeed as soon as you have revealed as many flowers as you bid (叫价数量). You do not reveal extra discs after reaching your bid.

Skull / Hacky mode

Base game only. Last Chance is excluded. Read top to bottom: while / loop = 重复; if / else = 如果 / 否则. Choices belong to players, not the DM.

# Base game / 基础规则 — no Last Chance variant
# Pseudocode / 伪代码: a reading aid, not runnable code.

players = everyone
for p in players:
    p.discs = [FLOWER, FLOWER, FLOWER, SKULL]
    p.wins = 0
starter = choose_player()

while count(players) > 1:
    # PREPARE / 准备
    everyone.place_one_facedown(starter_chooses_last=True)
    turn = starter

    # PLACE / 放牌 → BID / 叫价
    loop:
        if turn.has_unplaced_disc() and chooses("place"):
            turn.add_one_to_own_stack()
            turn = next_clockwise(turn)
        else:
            bid = choose_integer(1, total_placed_discs)
            leader = turn
            break

    bidders = copy(players)
    turn = next_clockwise(leader)
    while count(bidders) > 1:
        if chooses("pass") or bid == total_placed_discs:
            bidders.remove(turn)  # 退出叫价；桌上圆牌保留
        else:
            bid = choose_integer(bid + 1, total_placed_discs)
            leader = turn
        turn = next_clockwise_remaining_bidder(turn)

    # REVEAL / 翻牌
    challenger = leader
    flowers = 0
    skull_owner = NONE
    while flowers < bid:
        if challenger.has_facedown_discs():
            stack = challenger.stack
        else:
            stack = choose_opponent_nonempty_stack()
        disc = flip_top_facedown(stack)
        if disc == SKULL:
            skull_owner = stack.owner
            break  # 立即停止
        flowers += 1

    # RESOLVE / 结算
    if skull_owner == NONE:
        challenger.wins += 1
        if challenger.wins == 2:
            WIN(challenger); STOP
    else:
        pool = challenger.all_surviving_discs()  # 包括未放出的
        if skull_owner == challenger:
            secretly_discard_one_chosen(pool)
        else:
            skull_owner.randomly_discards_one_unseen(pool)
        # Previous wins stay / 已有胜场不清零
        if pool.empty():
            players.remove(challenger)  # 出局

    if count(players) == 1:
        WIN(players.only_player); STOP

    everyone.retrieve_surviving_discs()
    if challenger in players:
        starter = challenger
    elif skull_owner != challenger:
        starter = skull_owner
    else:
        starter = challenger.choose_from(players)

A simplified teaching model. See the official rulebook ↗ for the full rules and edition differences.

Skull

Overview

Objective

Setup

How to play

Add or open

Bid

Challenge

Resolve

Newer Last Chance variant

Worked example

Ending & scoring

Rules to double-check

Player tips / 玩家建议

Sources & edition notes

Frequently asked questions