Skulls & Roses - Why you should play it

Original post on

Best Play⁠

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TL;DR

What: The feeling of poker distilled into a straightforward game of bluff.

Players: 3-6 players

Time: 5-15 minutes (but you’ll have fun playing multiple times)

People: Ideal for pubs, small gatherings…anything with a drink. Suitable for anyone, even my gran likes it.

Available: ~£15 on Amazon

here⁠

or $10-20 for

US peeps here⁠

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The Gist

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Why we recommend it

Skulls distills poker down to its best parts, taking risks and bluffing. You will all take it in turns to raise the stakes until everyone else wimps out, leaving you as the bravest person left.

All you need to do is find the flowers without hitting a skull. This time you must find four of them amongst five face down cards, if you find one skull, you’re dead. Everyone’s eyes are on you.

Firstly, you flip your own cards…two flowers, two to go. You’d be surprised how many push their luck and bluff so hard only to instantly lose, “You’ve skulled yourself!”

The table will erupt with laughter. It’s not your finest moment…but when you push the stakes higher with a well timed bluff forcing someone else into a situation they can’t win you will grin to yourself.

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Adam is to your left, “Well I have a skull, I always have a skull”. He smiles, it’s a shit eating grin, you fucking hate that smug smile as he strokes the back of his card.

“Skull” he mouths. He loves to play the skull, he plays it so often he has even coined a term for it “ABS, Always be skulling”.

He is insistent it’s the best strategy there is. It isn’t.

Then there is Jasmine. “Yeh I have a skull as well” she tries to keep a straight face but the corner of her mouth bends. Her tell. “LIAR!”

You flip it over and a beautiful flower blossoms back. Just one more flower and you’ve won.

Joel is to your right. “I didn’t look, I just put one down at random”. It’s a left field move, did he pick at random? Did he really do that? He likes to play games with you.

He only has two cards left, it’s 50/50. Or is it, he might be toothless, all bark no bite.

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He might not even have a skull left. You look back at Adam, “I told you. I’m ABS, Always be skulling.” He usually is, he revels in putting that skull down.

He loves nothing more than people trying to call his bluff only to shove it in their face.

Joel is a 50/50 you win, maybe even better than that. Your head tells you, it’s obvious you flip his, it’s very likely you win.

The table is silent, the tension is palpable. Your heart though, it wants to flip Adam’s card. It’s much less likely, but you know if it’s a flower you get to wipe the grin off his face.

The sweetest of victories.

You put your hands out and rest them on each card, ready to flip either. Joel starts a drum roll with his hands “ooooOOOhh”. Head or heart, Adam or Joel, Joel or Adam, who do you choose.

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❤️Joel

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🤔Adam

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Buy this game and support Best Play by clicking here (

UK⁠

US⁠

). This game is cheap and never fails to deliver…so you really should get it.

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