This post is about another classic, UNO. I think at some point in everyone’s life they’ve come across UNO. This plays a lot like a regular card game, it’s easy to take anywhere and the rules are straight forward. When I think of UNO, I think of cottages or camping, somewhere you want to play something without a lot of fuss. Personally at this point there’s a lot of card games I like better but it is still a staple for a lot of people, which is what makes it a classic. Uno is a 2 to 10 player game for ages 7 and up.
Components
- 19 each of Blue, Green, Red and Yellow cards 0-9
- 8 Skip cards – 2 in each colour
- 8 Reverse cards – 2 in each colour
- 8 Draw 2 cards – 2 in each colour
- 4 Wild cards
- 4 Wild Draw 4 cards
- 4 Blank Cards
- Instructions
Object of the Game
The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the round and scores points. The first player to score 500 points wins the game.
Setup
Shuffle the deck then deal each player 7 cards.
The remaining cards are place facedown to form a draw pile. Turn over the top card and if it’s a wild or a wild draw 4 card return it to the deck and turn over the next card. This is the discard pile.
How to Play
Player to the left of the dealer goes first. They will match the top card on the discard pile by either colour, number or word.
If the player doesn’t have a card that matches they will pick up a card from the draw pile. They can play that card if they are able. Then the next player to the left will go.
Before you can play your second last card, you must say “UNO”. If you don’t and another player catches you with one card before the next players turn you will have to pick up four cards from the draw pile.
Once a player has played their last card, points can be calculated before starting the next round.
SPECIAL CARDS
There are a few special cards used in the game.
Draw 2 Card – when this is used, the next player loses their turn and picks up 2 cards.
This card can only be played on a matching colour or on another draw 2 card and if it’s the first card in the discard pile the first player will pick up two.
Reverse Card – This card reverses the direction for turns and must be played on a match colour card.
Skip Card – The next player must skip their turn. If this is the first card of the game, the first player will be skipped. This card can only be played on a matching colour or another skip card.
Wild Card – With this card a player can change the colour being played. If this is the first card of the game, the person to the left of the dealer will choose the colour to play with.
Wild Draw 4 Card – With this card a player can choose the color to be played and the next player will lose their turn and pick up 4 cards. You can only play this card if you don’t have a card that matches the current colour in the discard pile.
Blank cards are just extra in case you lose any cards in your game.
Scoring
The first player to get rid of their cards gets points for all the cards the other players still have in their hands. The first player to get to 500 points wins.
- Number cards are all worth face value
- Draw 2 is worth 20 points
- Reverse is worth 20 points
- Skip is worth 20 points
- Wild is worth 50 points
- Wild Draw 4 is worth 50 points
There is not a lot to say about this one, it’s a pretty straight forward game. Again it’s not one of my personal favourites, but it does play well for families and kids. I think the biggest thing it has going for it is the cost. You can easily pick this up for well under 10 dollars which makes it really accessible.
If you like UNO try on of these games:
The Crew
The Game
The Skillful Meeple 