Skippity is a strategy game for two-four players. It takes only a few minutes to learn, and a game can be over in as little as ten minutes – depending on how strategic people get.
There are 100 “Skippers,” 20 of each of 5 different colors. The board is like a checker board with 10 rows and 10 columns, with squares of, as you might have already surmised, 5 different colors.
The board is seeded by placing all the Skippers anywhere on the board, until the entire playing area is filled. The four center Skippers are removed, and the game begins. Players take turns capturing Skippers by jumping over them (vertically or horizontally only). Multiple jumps are permitted. The goal is to capture the most Skipper sets (one of each color) by the time the last legal jump has been made.
You can block your opponents by doing your best to keep them from capturing the colors they need to win. The more strategic you get in your decision-making, the more interesting the game becomes, and, of necessity, the longer it takes to play.
Skippity is so easy to learn and play that it lends itself to all kinds of variations:
Try seeding the board in different patterns. For example, you could place all the same color on each row, or alternate between two or three different colors. Instead of removing just the four center checkers, remove one or maybe two from each corner.
Skippity is simple enough to be understood by players as young as five, and deep enough to interest the significantly mature. The colors of the pieces and the board add visual appeal. There are a lot of pieces, and they are not standard checker size or color, but you can lose as many as four without even a minor sense of tragedy.
Skippity was designed by Susan McKinley Ross, designer of the Major Fun Award-winning Qwirkle.