Skully Game

WHAT IS SKULLYS?
The Skullys game is played on a mat with round plastic pieces. The game includes a 4ft x 4ft square durable plastic mat, four playing pieces, and a storage tube. It can be played indoors or out.

HISTORY
Skullys is a legendary street game played for almost 100 years in the boroughs of New York City. It is said that the game has existed as long as the crown rimmed bottle cap (Circa 1910). The game is said to be the “quintessential NYC street game.” It’s history has been documented more recently on the websites and blogs of folks longing for the innocence and outdoor fun of their youth. Skullys joins the ranks of hopscotch, potsie, stickball and hide and seek as favorites that reigned long before the likes of board games or video game systems. The game is known by a variety of names, including: Skullys, Scully, Skeltzies, Bottlecaps, and in Philadelphia it is known as Deadbox.

* News - Skullys board game to go on sale

1/28/2007
There’s a new game in town. Skullys, a legendary street game played in playgrounds, sidewalks, streets and at urban fairs for the past 100 years, has been adapted for indoor, year-round play.

Skullys will be launched in New York City and Western New York in the coming weeks.

The re-thinking of this street game is the brainchild of Dunkirk resident Tommy Roque. Roque is a well-known and accomplished boxing coach and enthusiastic youth advocate who grew up in the Bronx and for the past 20 years has lived in Western New York. Roque, who played the game as a child, had the idea to re-create it for a broader audience over a decade ago.

His Dunkirk based company, La Roque Inc., will produce and market the game.

For generations skullys has been drawn with chalk anywhere children could find a flat surface, and the game was played in many cities in the Northeast, including New York City, Baltimore and Philadelphia since early 1900s. Children from different neighborhoods knew the game by different names: skullys, skeltzies, bottle caps and deadbox.

The game has been played as far back as the first crowned top bottle caps were around and someone thought of pitching them across the sidewalk at a target. It has evolved to become a staple competition in neighborhood and street festivals in New York City. The game provides fun and competition for young children and offers challenge and a test of skill to players of all ages.

The Skullys version is played on a four-by-four foot mat. Chips or “shooters” are pitched into numbered boxes to proceed to the center box of the mat. The game has been test marketed at schools and youth programs. Universally students and teachers alike have praised it as a source of fun-filled, team oriented, learning. The game package will be available for sale on the Web and at selected stores. The game will be marketed in the New York Metropolitan area, Philadelphia and the East Coast.

“Skully has been played for generations,” Roque said. “It brought all of the kids in the old neighborhoods together to play and gave us all a lifetime of memories. Skully can be played anywhere. Any age, race, gender and nationality can play. The game makes you think and will help get the kids away from the computers to interact with each other (and it won’t hurt the parents and grandparents to play as well).”

Roque plans to use a part of the profits from game sales to promote various youth activities including his beloved boxing program “2XL.”