Skitgubbe

Skitgubbe (translated by David Parlett as "dirty old man, in the sense of unwashed rather than obscene"^[1]) is a multi-genre card game that originated in Sweden. The game occurs in two phases. The first phase is a multi-player version of War, in which players accumulate a hand. The second phase is a rummy game, where players attempt to discard the accumulated hand. The last player to go out is the skitgubbe. Sometimes, the skitgubbe must make a goat noise. There is no other scoring system.

The first phase is unusual for a trick-taking game, in that there is asynchronous sloughing of cards that match played cards, while play goes around the table. In a variation common in the United States, the second phase is unusual because sequences of cards are played, connected, and picked up during the rummy phase.

References

• Rules of Skitgubbe
• Rules + lore of Skitgubbe
• Wizards of the Coast version of Skitgubbe