How to Play the Skype Pig Game

Morgan O'Connor has been writing professionally since 2005. Her experience includes articles on various aspects of the health-insurance industry for health-care newsletters distributed to hospitals as well as articles on both international and domestic travel.

Skype is not just for business; you can play games, too.

No matter how much you like someone, a time may come when chatting or making phone calls over Skype is no longer interesting. Perhaps you've run out of things to talk about, or perhaps you simply want a change of pace. Fortunately, Skype offers games that can help you get over this boredom. One of these games, "Pig," lets you play a card game with up to seven of your Skype friends.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Getting to "Pig"

   • 1
     Open Skype and sign in. You should use the account that has the contacts with whom you wish to play "Pig."
   • 2
     Click "Tools" and then hover your mouse over "Extras." Click "Play Games" in the list of options that appears. This opens a new window with a list of available Skype games.
   • 3
     Click the arrow at the bottom of the new window to go to Page 2 of the games. "Pig" is located on the second page, near the bottom of the second column. Click it to open a new window with a list of your contacts.
   • 4
     Select up to seven contacts to invite to play "Pig." When you are done, click "Continue." This starts "Pig."

   Playing "Pig"

   • 1
     Click any of the facedown red cards in the circle to see what the card is.
   • 2
     Place the card you picked up into the empty rectangle in front of you if it is anything other than a 6. If it is a 6, put it in any of the four empty rectangles within the circle of red cards. If you drew a 6, you must now draw another card. Again, place anything other than a 6 or 7 into the empty rectangle in front of you, or place a 6 into any of the remaining empty rectangles in the middle. If you draw a 7, however, you must place it atop the 6 in the center. If you drew a 6 or 7, draw again. Continue to build on the piles in the center until you draw a card you cannot use. Put it into the rectangle in front of you.
   • 3
     Watch while your opponent plays his turn. He follows the same rules as you, with one exception. Because you now have a card showing in front of you, he can place his card onto one of the middle rectangles (if it is a 6 or builds upward on one of these piles), onto the rectangle in front of you (if the card builds downward from the current card showing in front of you) or onto his own pile if the card fits nowhere else. Wait and watch while each opponent plays in turn.
   • 4
     Draw another card when it is your turn and play as before. This time, however, you also can place your card on any opponent's pile if it builds down from his current cards. If at any point during one of your turns you can play the top card of your personal pile onto one of the middle piles, you must do so.
   • 5
     Continue taking turns until all the cards in the red circle are gone. When this occurs, you can see all the cards previously in your pile. You and your opponent or opponents begin taking turns stacking the cards from your personal piles onto the four piles in the center. As before, these cards must build up in order. Your goal is to empty your personal pile of cards onto the four piles in the center before any of your opponents.