Skull & Roses is a bluffing, hand management game.

Year Published: 2011

Designer: Hervé Marly

Publisher: Lui-même

Players: 3-6

Game Time: ~45 Mins

Set-up Time: >1 Mins

Ages: 10+

Theme: Biker Gangs

Mechanic: Bluffing, Hand Management, Auction

How to win: Win two rounds.

Game Description

Skull & Roses is the quintessence of bluffing, a game in which everything is played in the players’ heads.

Skull & Roses Set Up

Each player takes a mat and tiles of their colour placing the mat skull side up… erm done.

Skull & Roses Game Play

Each player puts one card on their mat face down to get the game going.

Starting with the first player and going clockwise, you either place another card or make a challenge. If you have no cards left in your hand you must challenge.

Going around the table, a player may increase the bid, or drop out by passing. The highest remaining bidder is the challenger and must reveal cards equal to their bid but must always start with all of their own cards first.

(Need help spotting those that feel they have gone too far? Check out my tips for spotting a gaming liar!)

The challenger then flips over the top card of any player’s stack in any order one at a time.

If they find enough Roses before revealing a skull, they win and they flip their mat over to the side of the roses.

You gather all the cards and play another round with the winner being the new start player.

If they flip over a skull you stop revealing cards, they have lost. All players take their cards back in hand and the opponent who had their skull revealed takes a random card from the loser and puts it in the box without looking.

This player also goes first in the next round.

If you revealed your own skull, you choose a card to discard from the game and choose who the next start player will be.

If you lose your last card, you are out.

Game End

You win the game by either winning 2 rounds or being the only player remaining.

Skull & Roses Round-Up

This is poker without the fluff. You need to bluff and sound confident when making a challenge knowing you’ve put a Skull down.

Losing your Skull is horrible, especially when the other players work it out…

Skull & Roses Rating

A fun, tense game.

I give it 6/10

Skull & Roses Initial Review August 2013

P-P-P-Poker Face

I have all the Roses… or do I?

Such a cute game, reminiscent of Perudo.

Bluffing is a huge part of this game. Playing your Skull and confidently bidding quite high can make people think you’ve played roses… Playing Roses and bidding low may make people think you’ve played a Skull and let you turn over a low number of cards.

This is a fun game, less interactive than Avalon but more casual fun than Coup. One I will play again and in my game group, assuming there are opportunities.

Jesta ThaRogue