Skull King: Kraken, White Whale and Loot cards — how they score
The recent edition of Skull King added three cards unlike anything else in the game: they don’t win tricks, they change the way the trick is won. It is also where most scoring mistakes happen. Here is how they work, and how the counter handles them.
In short
In the recent edition of Skull King, the Kraken makes the trick vanish: nobody wins it, so there is one trick fewer to share out in the round. The White Whale turns every character in the trick into an escape: the highest numbered card wins, whatever its colour. A Loot card ties the player who played it to the player who wins the trick: if both make their bids, each scores a 20-point bonus. None of these three cards earns a bonus by itself.
The Kraken: the trick vanishes
When the Kraken is played, nobody wins the trick: the cards are discarded, and the player who would have won the trick without the Kraken leads the next one. The direct consequence for scoring: in a 7-card round where the Kraken comes out, there are only 6 tricks left to win. The bids, though, were made on 7. If the table’s bids added up exactly, somebody is bound to miss.
The Kraken has no value and earns no bonus. It “captures” nothing: a mermaid or a pirate discarded by the Kraken gives their bonus to nobody at all. In the counter, you simply enter the tricks actually won; the sum check then accepts one trick fewer than the round number.
The White Whale: characters become escapes
When the White Whale is played, every character in the trick (pirates, mermaids, Skull King, Tigress) becomes an escape, and the trick goes to the highest numbered card, whatever its colour: black is no longer trump, a yellow 9 beats a black 8. If there is no numbered card in the trick at all, the trick is discarded as with the Kraken, and the player who put down the Whale leads.
Two consequences for the points: a Skull King or a mermaid turned into an escape earns no bonus, and loses nobody a bonus (nobody has “captured” them); on the other hand, a 14 in the trick does give its bonus of 10 (or 20 for the black 14) to the player who wins the trick, if their bid is made.
Kraken and Whale in the same trick
If both are played in the same trick, the last one played wins: Whale then Kraken, the trick vanishes; Kraken then Whale, the highest numbered card wins the trick. That is the rule in the 2021 edition’s rulebook; players of the older edition who add these cards “by hand” sometimes use the opposite convention. The counter doesn’t take sides: it records the result the table observed.
Loot cards: a 20-point alliance
The Loot card (there are two) is played like an escape: it never wins the trick. But it creates an alliance between the player who played it and the player who wins the trick: if, at the end of the round, both have made their bids, each scores a 20-point bonus. If either of them misses, nobody gets anything. If the trick is destroyed by a Kraken, or if the Loot player wins the trick themselves (impossible in principle, except in a trick made only of escapes), there is no alliance.
Loot is therefore a card to play early, on a trick that the most reliable player at the table is in the process of taking: you hand someone 20 points in order to earn 20. The site’s Skull King counter allows for this bonus in the “other bonus” field of each player concerned (two entries of 20).
Example: a round 6 with all three cards
A 6-card round. On the third trick, Pat plays the Kraken: the trick is discarded. On the fourth, Emma plays a Loot on a trick that Nico wins with a black 12. On the fifth, the White Whale comes out while Léa has put down the Skull King and Nico a green 9: the Skull King becomes an escape, Nico takes the trick with his 9. Five tricks are awarded instead of six.
| Player | Bid / tricks | Calculation | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emma | 1 / 1 | 20 + 20 (Loot, Nico made his bid too) | +40 |
| Nico | 2 / 2 | 40 + 20 (Loot) | +60 |
| Pat | 2 / 1 | 1 trick off (the Kraken cost him a trick) | −10 |
| Léa | 1 / 1 | 20; the Skull King neutralised by the Whale neither earns nor costs anything | +20 |
Should you play with them?
These cards make bids less predictable, which pleases tables who find the game too calculable and annoys those who like tight bids. Our practice: Kraken and Whale from 4 players upwards, Loot always (it rewards reading the table rather than luck). With 2 or 3 players, the Kraken comes out at the wrong moment too often and we take it out. The counter works in every case; for the rest of the scoring rules, see the Skull King page and our guide to bidding zero.
Frequently asked questions
Who leads after a Kraken?
The player who would have won the trick if the Kraken hadn’t been played, according to the rulebook of the recent edition. Check the rulebook in your box: editions differ.
Does the White Whale earn a bonus?
No. It is worth nothing and captures nothing; only a 14 in the trick gives its bonus to the player who wins it, if their bid is made.
What happens if the trick is nothing but escapes and a Loot?
As with a trick made only of escapes, the first card played wins. If that was an escape, its player takes the trick and becomes the Loot player’s ally. If the Loot itself was led, it wins the trick and no alliance is formed.
Does the Loot bonus count if only one of the two makes their bid?
No: both allied players must make their bids for each to score 20. Otherwise, nobody scores the bonus.
Published on 2 October 2026, updated on 13 October 2026.