How Skelly is played
Every rule the game plays by: the run out to 13 and home, landing a box, the skull, killers, and every way to skip a box.
The court
- Thirteen boxes are chalked on the street. Box 13 sits in the middle, inside the skull (the K zone).
- Everyone starts in the START box, going for box 1.
- The outer chalk line is a wall: caps bounce off it and never leave the court.
The run
Out to 13 and home again, every box in order. Only then are you a killer.
- Land the boxes in order: 1 up to 13, then back down from 12 to 1.
- Landing 13 on the way out turns you round: your next box is 12.
- Landing box 1 on the way home makes you a killer.
- Landing 13 doesn't make you a killer, and neither does touching other caps.
A turn
One flick
Each turn is one flick. Put your finger on your cap, pull back and let go: the further you pull, the harder it goes.
Some shots earn another flick straight away (see below). After a clean box you set your cap down anywhere inside that box, clear of the chalk, and shoot again from there.
The shot clock
20 seconds a turn, for setting your cap down and aiming. Run out and the turn is lost; a cap being set down stays where it was put.
Online, every phone counts the same clock, and pausing doesn't stop it.
Turns go round everyone still in the game. A player sitting out in the skull loses their turn.
How a shot is judged
When every cap has stopped, the game looks at it in this order.
First: did your cap touch anyone?
- Killer Every cap you touched is knocked out, even one stuck in the skull. Two at once is a double kill. You shoot again.
- Rescue Not a killer and you knock a cap out of the skull: its owner is back in at once, you get two boxes, and you shoot again.
- Knock-in Not a killer and you knock a cap into your target box (its centre in the box): you get two boxes and shoot again. It has to be knocked in; a cap already sitting there when you flicked doesn't count.
- A rescue and a knock-in in the same shot pay once: the rescue. After either, you shoot from where your cap ended up.
Then: where did your cap stop?
Only if touching someone didn't already earn another shot.
| Where it stops | What happens |
|---|---|
| Fully inside your box, clear of the chalk | Box. Set your cap down anywhere inside it and shoot again. |
| The same, shot from inside the box you won last, touching nobody | POT. The box counts, the next one is skipped, and you shoot again. |
| On any chalk line: a box, the skull or the edge | Your turn is over. Nothing else is lost. |
| Centre in the skull | You sit out two turns. A killer loses being a killer instead. |
| Fully inside box 13 when it isn't your box | Parked in 13: safe, no penalty. Your turn is over. |
| A killer, fully inside box 13 | Back home: shoot again. |
| Anywhere else | A miss. Your turn is over. |
Last: is anybody left?
When only one cap is left on the block, the game is over and that cap wins.
Skipping a box
Three ways. Each one counts the box you were going for and skips the one after it.
- The pot. From inside the box you just won, straight into the next one in a single flick, touching nobody.
- The knock-in. Knock another cap into the box you're going for.
- The rescue. Knock a cap out of the skull.
- A pot into 13 on the way out turns you round and skips 12: your next box is 11.
- A pot into box 1 on the way home makes you a killer straight away.
The skull
The K zone round box 13. Stay out of it.
- Land in it and you sit out your next two turns.
- Anyone who isn't a killer can knock you out of it: you're back in straight away, and they get two boxes for the rescue.
- A killer who lands in it stops being a killer, and has to land box 1 again to be one.
- A killer who touches a cap stuck in the skull knocks it out.
- Knocked into the skull (or onto the chalk) by somebody else: no penalty. Only the shooter's own landing is ever judged.
Killers
- Finish the run (land box 1 on the way home) and your cap turns killer.
- Hit other caps to knock them out of the game. Every cap you touch in one flick goes, and each knockout earns another flick.
- Knock everyone else out and the block is yours: last cap standing wins.
What's poured in
The fill changes how your cap moves, never the rules.
| Fill | How it plays |
|---|---|
| Empty shell | Straight off the bottle: the baseline. |
| Candle wax | Light and slick: runs on and on for the same flick. |
| Crayon melt | A touch more body than candle, still quick. |
| Floor wax | Heavier in the hand, holds a line, still slides well. |
| Roof tar | The heaviest: hits like nothing else and shrugs off a hit, but goes no further than an empty shell. |
Ways to play
Versus the machine
You against one to three computer players, on easy, normal or hard.
Pass and play
Two to four of you on one phone.
Play online
Share a four-character room code and play live, two to four players, phone to phone.
Ranked
One on one with a player near your rating (Elo). Walking out of a ranked game that has started counts as a loss, and a player not heard from for a minute has left.
Solo run
The whole run on your own. Stars for how few shots it takes.
How to play
The game in six quick steps on a real court. No clock and nothing counted.
Challenges
200 levels, each its own puzzle on its own court, with up to three stars. Land a stretch of boxes; a long single shot; bank it off the edge; two caps with one flick; knock caps out; push a cap into a box or a route of boxes; free caps from the skull; race the computer to a box; or win a whole game.
Some levels add a twist: don't touch any cap, the skull ends it, the chalk ends it or costs shots, a shorter clock, or a set fill.
XP
| For | XP |
|---|---|
| A box | 10 |
| A pot | 15 more |
| A knock-in | 25 |
| A rescue | 25 |
| A knockout | 40 |
| Winning a game | 120 |
| Playing a game | 30 |
| A solo run | 40, and 20 for each star |