玫瑰与骷髅是一种吹牛类游戏，考验的是玩家的机智与胆魄。每位玩家可选择一种花色代表自己，每组花色有4张牌，3张花，1张骷髅。每位玩家都有一张正面朝下的底牌，然后每位玩家轮流加一张牌——直到有人愿意挑战翻牌。他需要报一个数字，代表他认为翻开这个数量的牌得到的都会是玫瑰，没有骷髅。其他玩家可以按顺序报一个更大的数字，然后，所报数字最大的人必须把翻开同等数量的牌，从他自己的牌开始。如果他翻开的牌全是玫瑰，没有骷髅，他就赢了一局；如果他的牌里有骷髅，他就输了，必须弃掉一张牌。赢了两局的人将赢得这场比赛。玫瑰与骷髅不是纯靠运气的游戏；这是一场观察、推断的游戏。

红版玫瑰与骷髅的游戏玩法与黑版玫瑰与骷髅一样，唯一的不同是红版允许玩家控制两组牌。红版玫瑰与骷髅与黑版都可单独游戏，两者都包含6组不同花色的牌。将红版与黑版任意组合可以将游戏人数扩充到多达12人。

Skull & Roses is the quintessence of bluffing, a game in which everything is played in the players' heads. Each player plays a face-down card, then each player in turn adds one more card – until someone feels safe enough to state that he can turn a number of cards face up and get only roses. Other players can then overbid him, saying they can turn even more cards face up. The highest bidder must then turn that number of cards face up, starting with his own. If he shows only roses, he wins; if he reveals a skull, he loses, placing one of his cards out of play. Two successful challenges wins the game. Skull & Roses is not a game of luck; it's a game of poker face and meeting eyes.

Skull & Roses Red features the same gameplay as Skull & Roses, with the only change being alternate rules that allow each player to control two biker gangs. Both Skull & Roses Red and Skull are playable on their own, with each game containing six different biker gangs. Each Skull or Skull & Roses set can be combined with another to allow for games with more than six players.