Skat may be played by 2, 3 or 4 players. It is similar in mechanics to Sorry! with dice in place of cards and marbles in place of movers. The players roll a die in hopes of throwing a 1 to leave their start space in the moulded plastic game base. Traveling the track of the board, it is a race to see who can get all 4 of their marbles into their home first. When you land on a space occupied by another player you call out "skat" and send that player back to their starting spot.

In a 4 player game, you can play as teams with the goal of getting the 8 team marbles back prior to the other team. Once a player has all 4 of his in the home spaces, he can begin to move his partners marbles.

Another version of the game is Wild Skat, using an extra hole in the center of the board. This extra hole allows you the opportunity to cross the board in fewer moves, but increases your chance of being "skatted" by your opponent.