Skat is a trick-taking card game designed for 3 players. For the rules of the somewhat modified version of Skat played in North American Skat clubs and elsewhere, please see our rules page for North American Skat. The rules given on this page are for the standard German version, also sometimes called International Skat. Being great fun and highly strategic it is not hard to understand why Skat is not only the national card game in that country but very popular in many other countries as well. The origins of International Skat (and thus it's variations) can be traced back to a card club inĪltenburg, Germany in approximately 1810. Since its development in the early 1800's, Skat was and still is, the most popular card game played in Germany and many other German speaking locales.