2021Philippe des Pallières, Hervé Marly
- Videos
- 5
- Creators
- 5
6 - 12 players30 minLight weight

2011Hervé Marly
Mainly reviews. Skull is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 40 reviews, 19 how-to-play guides, 14 recorded sessions, 6 unboxings, and 1 other video.
From BoardGameGeek
Edited description from Bruno Faidutti's write-up of the game in his Ideal Game Library: Skull & Roses is the quintessence of bluffing, a game in which everything is played in the players' heads. Each player plays a face-down card, then each player in turn adds one more card – until someone feels safe enough to state that they can turn a number of cards face up and get only roses. Other players can then overbid them, saying they can turn even more cards face up. The highest bidder must then turn that number of cards face up, starting with their own. If they show only roses, they win; if they reveal a skull, they lose, placing one of their cards out of play. Two successful challenges wins the game. Skull & Roses is not a game of luck; it's a game of poker face and meeting eyes. Skull & Roses Red features the same gameplay as Skull & Roses, with the only change being alternate rules that allow each player to control two biker gangs. Both Skull & Roses Red and Skull are playable on their own, with each game containing six different biker gangs. Each Skull or Skull & Roses set can be combined with another to allow for games with more than six players.
Skull has 80 videos from 75 creators: 40 reviews, 19 how-to-play guides, 14 playthroughs, 6 unboxings and 1 other video. They date from 2011 to October 2025.
To learn the rules, start with "Skull: How to Play and Tips" by Games Made Easy, which runs 5 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Miami Dice, Episode 22 - Skull and Roses" by The Dice Tower. 39 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "non-extreme, entirely normal $0,000 game of Skull" by Tom Scott plus, one of 14 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Gathering of the Wicked, The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow and The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow: The Pact, also by Hervé Marly, or Downforce, which shares several of its mechanics.
8 of 75
2021Philippe des Pallières, Hervé Marly
6 - 12 players30 minLight weight
2001Philippe des Pallières, Hervé Marly
8 - 18 players30 minLight weight
2014Philippe des Pallières, Hervé Marly
9 - 47 players40 minMedium weight
2017Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, Wolfgang Kramer
2 - 6 players20 - 40 minLight weight
From BoardGameGeek:
Edited description from Bruno Faidutti's write-up of the game in his Ideal Game Library: Skull & Roses is the quintessence of bluffing, a game in which everything is played in the players' heads. Each player plays a face-down card, then each player in turn adds one more card – until someone feels safe enough to state that they can turn a number of cards face up and get only roses. Other players can then overbid them, saying they can turn even more cards face up. The highest bidder must then turn that number of cards face up, starting with their own. If they show only roses, they win; if they reveal a skull, they lose, placing one of their cards out of play. Two successful challenges wins the game. Skull & Roses is not a game of luck; it's a game of poker face and meeting eyes. Skull & Roses Red features the same gameplay as Skull & Roses, with the only change being alternate rules that allow each player to control two biker gangs. Both Skull & Roses Red and Skull are playable on their own, with each game containing six different biker gangs. Each Skull or Skull & Roses set can be combined with another to allow for games with more than six players.
Designer
Hervé Marly
Artists
Rose Kipik, Thomas Vuarchex
Publisher
Lui-même
Categories
Mechanics