Skull & Roses

How to play

Each rider holds 3 Roses and 1 Skull. Win two challenges — or be the last rider holding cards.

1. Lay down. Everyone puts one card face-down on their mat.
2. Stack or challenge. On your turn, add another card on top of your stack — or start a challenge by announcing how many cards you think you can flip without hitting a skull. With no cards in hand, you must challenge.
3. Bidding. Going around the table, each rider raises the bid or passes for good. The last one standing is the challenger. Bid the total number of cards on the table and you're the challenger immediately.
4. Reveal. The challenger flips all of their own cards first, then flips the top cards of opponents' stacks, one at a time, until they hit their number.
5. All roses? Challenge won. Your mat flips to its rose side. A second win takes the game.
6. Hit a skull? You lose a card for good. Your own skull: you choose which card to lose. Someone else's: they take one at random — and only you see what it was.
7. Out of cards? You're eliminated. The challenger starts the next round (if they're out, the skull's owner — or, for their own skull, a rider of their choosing — does).

Tip: bluff with your skull, and remember who bids high.