Why skat is the king of German card games The game's rules can appear mysterious to the noninitiated, yet more Germans play it than football. It's also listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage asset. To start out, full disclosure: I'm not sure I'll ever learn. I've tried, a bit. But to be honest, as a Canadian who's been living for 15 years in Germany and who's otherwise well integrated in the country, it's nice to know I still have something left to learn that would "make me even more German": how to play skat. And to my defense, it's not a game you can simply pick up through observation.