SKULL

I can teach you this game in 2 minutes. One play of it will make you an expert, and you could probably then teach others in 2 minutes too.

It's a betting game, a quiet game or a raucous game, a mind game, and one of my favorite games in a tiny little square box.

Your SKULL coaster is your KILL-CARD (they're actually cardboard coasters, not cards). You can lay it down in front of you like a landmine, even boldly bidding yourself just to bait your trap. If other players suspect then they can avoid your coasters or worse leave you holding the skull, because you have to flip your own coasters first. But you all have to play to win, so you're going to have to bid sometime and flip roses, avoiding the skulls, taking your shot. You only have to pull it off twice to end the game victoriously.
The tension of the game is amazing - the hands reaching across the table hesitantly, the suspicious looks, the bitter recriminations. You can often feel that energy around the table building as someone is successfully flipping roses, and the eruption when a skull is revealed or deflation when they flip their final rose and they only need to do it once more to win.
Adding to all that is that somehow it seems like whenever the Skull is flipped it's the final coaster you needed to win the round- you've managed to flip all roses on say 3 coasters of a bid of 4 and you're suddenly denied on that 4th. If you'd went with your first choice maybe you'd have pulled it off, or maybe all your options were Skulls. You'll never know.

I often think of board games as a mechanism for interpersonal interaction. I also like to think of a lot of games as 2 in 1 - the game on the table in front of you, and the invisible game above it across the table between the players' minds. Skull is an amazingly elegant demonstration of those lines of thought.
WHAT DID PEOPLE DO?
... or maybe...
HOW CAN I MAKE THEM DO WHAT I WANT?
... and always...
WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?

It is a simple enough game that you could play it with playing cards, but why would you want to when the 2013 edition is so beautiful?
The previous editions were biker art theme and the game was called "Skull & Roses" while this new edition has beautiful, colorful art inspired by different world cultures. I always reach for the Central American set, I don't know why.

Quick Hits:

Theme: skull, or roses?
Gameplay: Easy to teach & learn, outstanding player interaction
Components: Latest edition has gorgeous art & quality coasters (some print wear inevitable)
Replayability: There's no reason not to play a game of Skull any time you get together to play games.
Rulebook: Gets the job done, you really won't need it after your first few games.

SKULL on BoardGameGeek.com