How to Play Skat
Description
The national card game of Germany — three players, one of whom goes solo against the other two. Knowing when to bid and when to sit back is the entire art of the game.
Objective
Bid for the right to play alone against the other two, then either score enough card points to make your bid, or (as a defender) stop the lone player from doing so.
Setup
Three active players, using a 32-card deck — just 7 through Ace in each suit.
Deal ten cards to each player, plus two extra cards face down in the middle — the skat.
Rules
Bidding decides who plays alone: players bid increasing point values, and the highest bidder becomes the declarer, playing against the other two as a team.
The declarer can pick up the two skat cards and discard two of their own in exchange, or leave the skat untouched for a bonus.
The declarer names the game type — a suit as trump, an all-trump "Grand" game, or a trickless "Null" game where the goal flips to avoiding tricks entirely.
In a suit or Grand game, all four Jacks are always trump, ranking above everything else. Follow suit if you can; if you can't, play anything.
Winning
In a normal game, the declarer needs at least 61 of the 120 card points in tricks (including the skat) to win; the two defenders win together if they hold them to 60 or fewer.
In a Null game, the declarer wins only by taking zero tricks at all.
Points are scored per hand based on the game type and how convincingly it was won or lost — play continues across an agreed number of hands, highest total wins.