Review : Skunked by Marina Games

When I first heard of Skunked, I’ll admit, I was expecting some kind of odorous twist to the game.  Instead, I found out that Skunked looks like this:

Game play is quite simple.  Each player rolls the dice and records their score.  As you roll again and again, you add to your score until you either decide to stop or you roll a one.  If you stop, that round’s total is added to your score.  However, if you roll a one, then your score that round is reset to zero and you must put a chip in the pot.  Beware of double-ones.  That will reset your entire game’s score to zero.  Just to add insult to injury, you’ll need to toss four chips in the pot.

If a player reaches (or exceeds) 100, then the game turns into a high score competition.  Each player must match or top the high score on their next turn or they are eliminated.  The last player standing gets all the chips in the pot.  The player with the most chips after three games wins.

B and I played this one night and it was quite enjoyable.  Being a geek, I kept score with a spreadsheet program.  It let me add up multiple rows quickly and tally up total game scores.  (It was late and I wanted to give my brain a rest from math.)  We had fun trying to keep rolling higher and higher scores without hitting the dreaded one.  (Yes, I hit a double-one once, but luckily it was on my first roll of a game so my score went down to zero FROM zero!)

This is definitely a game that I would play again.  In fact, I might try playing this with NHL next time.  (JSL could easily roll the dice but is too young to understand the scoring portion.)  In fact, I think the fun factor of this game would only increase the more players you add.

Disclaimer: This post was written for Family Review Network & Marina Games
who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.