Skitgubbe

Sweden’s game in two parts. Win tricks to collect your hand, then beat or pick up, and don’t be the last one holding cards. 2–5 players.

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How to play Skitgubbe

  1. 1A Swedish game in two parts, played with 52 cards. Aces are high. Everyone gets three cards and the rest make the stock. The last player left holding cards is the skitgubbe (a grubby old man) and loses.
  2. 2First part, collecting: two players face off in each trick. The leader plays any card, then the player on their left plays any card. You don’t have to follow suit, and suits don’t matter. The higher card wins: the winner keeps both cards face down in front of them and leads the next trick against the player on their left.
  3. 3If the two cards are the same rank, it’s a tie: they stay in the middle, the same player leads again, and whoever wins the next trick takes those cards too.
  4. 4After playing a card from your hand, draw back up to three. Instead of playing from your hand, you may turn up the top card of the stock and play that, as long as two or more cards are left in it.
  5. 5Whoever has to draw the very last card of the stock sets it aside face down: it’s the trump card. Play goes on from your hands until the player due to play has nothing left. Any cards still in the middle go back to whoever played them.
  6. 6Second part, shedding: everyone picks up the cards they won and adds any left in their hand; the trump card joins its owner’s hand and its suit is trumps. Whoever had the trump card leads.
  7. 7Lead any card. Each next player must beat the top card, with a higher card of its suit or any trump on a non-trump, or pick it up. After a pick-up, the next player must beat the card now on top, and if nothing is left, they lead.
  8. 8Once a trick holds as many cards as there were players with cards when it began, it is set aside and whoever played last leads. Run out of cards and you’re safe.

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