Gamehelpskyfive

Sky Five

Overview

Sky Five is a push-your-luck card game for 2–6 players.

Draw cards to collect points, or roll the die to safely bank your cards. Be careful! Drawing the wrong color or rolling the wrong number can cause you to BUST and lose your unbanked cards.

The player with the most banked points at the end of the game wins.

Components

• 107 cards, including 1 Reference Card
• 1 Rainbow Die

Card Deck:

• 5 different colors
• Each color contains two 0 cards and three copies of each number from 1–6
• 6 colorless Shooting Star cards, numbered 1–6

Each card's number represents its point value when banked.

Setup

1. Shuffle all cards together to form the draw deck and place it face down.
2. Remove cards randomly from the deck according to the number of players.
3. Place the Reference Card beside the deck.
4. The player who most recently experienced good luck goes first.

Cards Removed During Setup:

Players	Cards Removed
2	52
3	39
4	26
5	13
6	0

The number of removed cards does not need to be exact. Getting close is sufficient.

Gameplay

Players take turns clockwise.

On your turn, choose one of two actions:

1. Draw a card from the deck.
2. Attempt to Bank your face-up cards by rolling the Rainbow Die.

Your face-up cards are your unbanked cards. They remain at risk until successfully banked.

Cards that have been banked are placed face down in your scoring pile and are safe for the remainder of the game.

Action 1: Draw

Draw the top card from the deck and reveal it.

What happens next depends on the card's color.

New Color

If you do not currently have a face-up card of the drawn color:

• Keep the drawn card face up in front of you.
• It becomes part of your unbanked cards.

Duplicate Color

If you already have a face-up card of the drawn color:

• You must give the newly drawn card to another player.
• The receiving player must not already have a face-up card of that color.
• The receiving player places the card face up in front of them.

You cannot keep a second card of the same color through normal drawing.

All Players Have That Color

If you draw a card and every player, including yourself, already has a face-up card of that color:

• You immediately BUST.
• Resolve the bust according to the Busting rules below.

Action 2: Attempt to Bank

Instead of drawing, you may attempt to bank all your face-up cards.

1. Roll the Rainbow Die.
2. Compare the rolled number against the numbers on your face-up cards.

Successful Bank:

If the rolled number does not match the number on any of your face-up cards:

• Bank all your face-up cards.
• Move them into your face-down scoring pile.
• These cards are permanently safe and cannot be lost.

Failed Bank:

If the rolled number matches the number on any of your face-up cards:

• You immediately BUST.
• Resolve the bust according to the Busting rules below.

Example:

You have four face-up cards with values 6, 2, 2, and 1.

• Rolling a 3: Success! Bank all four cards.
• Rolling a 2: BUST! At least one card matches the rolled number.

Only the numbers on your face-up cards determine whether the banking attempt succeeds. Card colors do not affect the die roll.

Busting

You BUST when either of the following occurs:

• You draw a colored card and every player already has that color face up.
• You attempt to bank and roll a number matching at least one of your face-up cards.

Resolving a Bust

Step 1: Other Players May Take Cards

Starting with the player immediately clockwise from the player who busted:

• Each other player may take one face-up card from the busted player's cards.
• A player may only take a card if they do not already have a face-up card of that color.
• Continue clockwise until every other player has had the opportunity to take a card.

Step 2: Discard Remaining Cards

• After all other players have had their opportunity, discard the busted player's remaining face-up cards.
• Place discarded cards in a discard pile beside the draw deck.

Important:

• Only the busted player's unbanked face-up cards are at risk.
• Previously banked cards remain safe.
• Other players are not required to take a card when you bust.

Special Rules

Shooting Star Cards

Shooting Star cards have no color.

When you draw a Shooting Star:

• You always keep it.
• It is placed face up in front of you.
• You may have multiple Shooting Stars face up at the same time.
• Shooting Stars do not cause a duplicate-color bust.

Shooting Stars still have numbered values and are subject to the normal banking rules.

Example:

If you have a Shooting Star numbered 5 and roll a 5 while attempting to bank, you BUST.

Sky Five!

If you ever have face-up cards of all five different colors, you immediately achieve a Sky Five!

When this happens:

• Announce "Sky Five!"
• Immediately bank all your face-up cards.
• You do not need to roll the Rainbow Die.
• This happens even if it is not your turn.

Important:

A Sky Five can occur when you receive a card from another player, not just when drawing on your own turn.

Shooting Star cards have no color and therefore do not count as one of the five colors required for a Sky Five.

However, any Shooting Stars you currently have face up are also banked when a Sky Five occurs.

End of the Game

Final Round

The final round begins after the last card is drawn from the deck.

Every player takes one final turn.

During this final turn:

• Players must attempt to bank their remaining face-up cards.
• Players cannot choose to draw.
• Banking follows the normal die-rolling rules.
• A failed banking attempt causes a normal bust.

Special Final-Round Restriction:

After a player has completed their final turn, they may no longer receive cards from another player who busts during the final round.

The game ends after every player has completed their final turn.

Scoring

At the end of the game:

1. Each player adds together the printed numbers on all cards in their banked scoring pile.
2. The player with the highest total score wins.

Tiebreakers:

1. If two or more players tie for the highest score, the tied player with the most banked cards wins.
2. If the tied players also have the same number of banked cards, they share the victory.

Cards that were never successfully banked do not contribute to the final score.

Quick Reference

Situation	Result
Draw a new color	Keep the card face up
Draw a color you already have	Give the card to another eligible player
Draw a color everyone already has	BUST
Draw a Shooting Star	Always keep it
Bank roll matches any face-up number	BUST
Bank roll matches no face-up number	Bank all face-up cards
Collect all five colors	SKY FIVE! Bank all face-up cards immediately
BUST	Other players may take eligible cards; discard the rest
Draw deck runs out	Each player gets one final banking attempt

Credits

Game Design: Grace Kendall & Mike Belsole

Game Development: JB Howell and Michael Mihealsick

Illustration: Ben Daniel

Graphic Design: Matt Paquette & Co.

Play Testers: Bess Carnan, Kevin Akselrod, Leah Hamm, Simon & Galya Wechsler, and the Game Designers of North Carolina