Uno (game)

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Uno

The game of Uno.
Players 2 +
Age range 5 +
Setup time < 1 min
Playing time > as long as needed for one player to get rid of his/her cards
Random chance Medium
Skills required Saving important cards; knowing when to put down those cards, concealing your hand.

Uno (pronounced /ˈuːnoʊ/) (spanish for one) is a card game played with a specially printed deck (see Mau Mau for an almost identical game played with normal playing cards). The game was originally developed in 1971 by Merle Robbins. It is now a Mattel product. The game's general principles put it into the Crazy Eights family of card games.

Contents

[edit] Official rules

A deck of English Uno cards from 1995. Notice that letters are used instead of symbols.
A deck of English Uno cards from 1995. Notice that letters are used instead of symbols.

The deck consists of cards of 4 colors: red, green, blue, and yellow. The ranks in each color are 0-9. There are 3 "action" cards in each color, labeled "skip", "draw two", and "reverse". There are also special black action cards, "wild" and "wild draw four". There are two copies of each colored regular and action card, except for the zero card, which only have one per suit. There are four "wild" and "wild draw four" cards each, producing a total of 108 cards. In older versions, only the 6 is underlined to distinguish it from the 9, which is not marked; newer versions have both the 6 and the 9 underlined to further distinguish the two ranks.

Before playing, a dealer must be selected. This is accomplished by drawing cards. The person with the card of the highest face value is the dealer. Only number cards are used for this purpose. Any other cards are then put back into the deck.

After the dealer has been selected, seven cards are dealt to each player, and the top card of the stock is exposed to start the discard pile. If the exposed card has a special ability, it is treated as if the dealer played that card, and the special effect occurs (i.e., skip, draw two, reverse, or wild). If the exposed card is a wild draw four, however, it is returned to the deck and the next card is exposed. Play begins with the person to the left of the dealer, i.e. clockwise.

At each turn, a player may play a card from their hand that matches the color or rank of the top exposed card, or play a wild or wild draw four. If a player has no legal card to play, that player draws the top card of the stock, and may either play it or place it in their hand. After playing a single card or drawing, the next player clockwise takes a turn, or counter-clockwise when a reverse is in effect. If the stock is emptied, the discard pile is shuffled and turned over to replenish the stock.

The hand ends a player plays all his/her cards. When a player plays down to only one card, that player is required to say "uno" to warn other players.

After a player plays all of their cards, the other players count the number of points pertaining to the values of the cards in their hands. Number cards are face value, colored special cards worth twenty, and wilds worth fifty. The first player to go out receives points for the cards left in his/her opponents' hands. The first person to reach a certain point value (officially 500) wins.

[edit] Action cards

Image
(New,
English)		 Image
(Old,
English)		 Image
(Old, non-
English)		 Card Description
Draw Two The next player must draw two cards and lose their turn.
Skip The next player must skip their turn.
Reverse The order of play is reversed from clockwise to counter-clockwise, or from counter-clockwise to clockwise. If there are only two players, reverse acts as a skip. If the initial exposed card in the discard pile is reverse, then the dealer makes the first play.
Wild The person playing it names a color, and the next legal play must be that color, unless another wild is played.
Wild Draw Four Acts like a wild, but the next player must draw four cards and skip their turn. This card may only be played if the player holding it doesn't have any card matching the current color. See penalties for more information about this card.

Note: The newer style English Uno action cards bear symbols which denote their action, except for the Wild cards which still bear the word "Wild." Before the design change, such cards in English versions of the game bear letters. Especially old English versions can be denoted by the absence of the white rim that surrounds the edge of most Uno cards. Other versions also use symbols and images in both old and new designs, especially those with Wild cards that do not bear the word "Wild." The Xbox 360 version of the game uses the new English style of the cards in gameplay.

[edit] Penalties

If another player catches someone not calling "Uno" (after the second to the last card touches the discard pile but before the next player starts their turn), the player who did not call "Uno" must draw two cards.

If a player plays a wild draw four card when a card of the same color (number doesn't matter) is present in his or her hand, he or she can be challenged by the player having to draw the four cards. If he or she played the card correctly, the challenging player must draw six cards instead of four. If the player playing the card cheated, he or she returns the wild draw four card, makes the correct play and has to draw four penalty cards.

[edit] Special packs

Special action cards from a language-free deck. From left to right: Skip, Reverse, Wild, Draw Two, and Wild Draw Four.
Special action cards from a language-free deck. From left to right: Skip, Reverse, Wild, Draw Two, and Wild Draw Four.

There are some different games of Uno. These games come with slightly different directions and special cards.

  • Barbie Uno - which features the "friendship" card, where the player can swap his/her hand with another player.
  • Barbie Cali Girl Edition Uno
  • Batman Uno - feature a Joker, when you discard this card you can choose 1 to 3 players to draw 1 to 3 cards
  • Batman Begins Uno
  • Betty Boop Uno
  • Bob The Builder Uno
  • Care Bears Uno two different packs. One a heart shaped tin, one a lunch box style. Features "Care-a-lot" card, when played allows all players to discard any card in their hand to the discard pile without causing any consequences to other players.
  • Car-Go Uno Packaged in a round barrel designed to fit in a car's cup holder
  • Cars Uno
  • Coca Cola Uno
  • Curious George Uno
  • Disney Theme Park Uno - "Evil card: the player holding this card can steal the top card from the DISCARD pile at any point in the game, even if it's not his/her turn."
  • Disney Electronic Uno
  • Disney Princess Uno - Features the Dragon Card, when played, all players must discard a prince card (regardless of color or number) to kill the dragon before continuing play.
  • Dog Uno - The deck features pictures of various dogs on each of the cards, and contains a Fetch Wild Card.
  • Dogs Herding Breeds Uno
  • Dogs Terrier Breeds Uno
  • Doraemon Uno (Released in Japan)
  • Doctor Who Uno
  • Elvis Uno - "Vegas" Command Card.
  • Family Guy Uno - in which players can try for world domination, à la Stewie Griffin, with the exclusive "Dominate" card and rule.
  • Fantastic Four Uno
  • Ferrari Uno
  • Fraggle Rock Uno - Includes the Travel card (featuring Traveling Matt), which allows the player to 'travel' to another player's spot and view his/her entire hand.
  • Golden Compass Uno
  • Hannah Montana Uno
  • Hanna-Barbera Uno - Yogi Bear adds to the fun with the exclusive "pic-a-nic" card – the player with this special card gets to steal the top card from the discard pile at any point in the game.
  • Happy Feet Uno - "Mambo! card: the player who plays it must give each opponent one card from his/her hand, and then places a card on the discard pile to start the next round."
  • Harry Potter Uno - which features a Draw Three (instead of Draw Two) card; also features a "howler" wild card where, if played, the player who uses the card may select another player to say all of their cards aloud; also features an "invisibility" wild card where, if played, the player can block any card placed down (such as, a card that forces them to draw cards)
  • Hello Kitty Uno
  • High School Musical Uno
  • High School Musical 2 Uno
  • Hot Death Uno - features 27 additional or modified cards
  • Hulk Uno
  • Koala Brothers Uno
  • Macy's Parade Uno
  • Magic Tree House Uno
  • Manchester United Uno
  • Mini Party Favors Uno
  • Muppet Show Uno - "Mayhem card: the player who plays it causes everyone one swap hands. The direction of the swap is determined by the player playing the card."
  • My 1st Uno card sets only have 36 cards designed for children at least 3 years of age. These sets come in several variants, based on titles for children (such as Winnie-the-Pooh and Sesame Street).
  • My Scene Edition Uno
  • Nascar Uno
  • National Parks Uno
  • New York City Uno
  • NHL Uno
  • Nightmare Before Christmas Edition Uno
  • Nintendo Uno - Has pictures of various Nintendo characters on each card and has writing in classic 8-bit style. Also contains the Power card; this card can be used as a regular Wild card at any time, but can also be used to block a Draw 2 or Wild Draw 4 card played against the player after which it acts as a regular Wild card.
  • Notre Dame Uno - Artwork contains scenes from the University of Notre Dame, mostly football-related. Includes a special "Irish" card which can be played as a wild card or to block a draw two or four.
  • NSYNC Uno
  • One Piece Uno - Released in Japan. The gameplay is the same as normal, but all card's artwork is made into One Piece related artwork.
  • Over The Hedge Uno
  • Peanuts Uno - "Good Grief card: this is a wild card; the player playing the card designates the recipient who must start drawing cards from the draw pile until he/she draws a card with Charlie Brown on it."
  • Peanuts - A Charlie Brown Christmas Uno
  • Peanuts - It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Uno
  • Peanuts Be My Valentine Uno
  • Polly Pocket Uno
  • Rangers Uno
  • Ratatouille Uno -The exclusive Recipe for Chaos card and special rule lets players stir up trouble as the make their opponents scoop up additional card
  • Ren and Stimpy Uno
  • Scooby Doo (only at Warner Brothers) Uno
  • Sesame Street Uno - Features a Grouch card, which allows players to give up to three un-needed cards in their hand to another player, so it removes their "garbage". The character featured on it is Oscar the Grouch. There are 4 Grouch cards in the 112 card deck.
  • Shrek Uno
  • Shrek 2 Uno
  • Shrek The Third Uno - In a Shrek faced package
  • The Simpsons Uno - features a Draw Three card
  • The Simpsons: Great Scot Uno - which features a "GREAT SCOT" card, with Groundskeeper Willie, where a player selects another player and gives that player two of the former's cards.
  • The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror Uno - features a Witchcraft; the player who plays this card can use it to block any Draw 2 or Wild Draw 4 played against him/her.
  • The Simpsons: Springfield Edition Uno
  • South Park Uno - The special card is called "Dead Kenny". When you play this card, you decide which player will share Kenny's bad luck. You may choose any player's hand to "kill" by having that player draw cards from the DRAW pile. The chosen player must keep drawing cards until he/she draws any card with Kenny on it.
  • Spider-Man Uno - the special card lets you know the player's hand.
  • SpongeBob SquarePants Super Absorbency (#1) Uno - which features the Super Absorbency card, a wild card which requires the next player to draw one card from all other players hands at random. There is controversy as to what happens when the Super Absorbency card is played as the player's penultimate card. Some contend that the person playing the card would win as the next player would be required to take that card from him/her. However, some say that there is an exception whereas the Super Absorbency requires a card to be drawn from all player's hands except those who are in the uno stage.
  • Sponge Bob Square Pants Secret Recipe (#2) Uno -Secret Recipe - Allows the player to look at another players hand. The player can also select a new color just like a wild card.
  • Sponge Bob - Lost In Time (#3 Uno)- Daredevil - Can be played to counter a Draw 2 or Draw 4 card. Can also be used as a wild card.
  • St. Louis Uno
  • Star Trek Uno - based on the original Star Trek series with special cards, each of which appears once per pack: Double Tribble card - The player who plays this card chooses the color of play, then next player doubles the amount of cards in their hand and forfeits their turn; Beam Me Up, Scotty card - This can played to stop any command card (a "Draw 2" card, for example) and allows for the color of play to be chosen; Mind Meld card - This commands the next player to show the person who played this card their hand; Live Long & Prosper card - This can be played at any time to discard the players hand and pick up an entirely new one, then allows him/her to choose color of play.
  • Superman Uno - This version features a battle card. When this card is played, the player who plays it selects another player to "battle". The player who played the card chooses to be either Superman or Bizarro, and the player he/she selected is the other character. Superman must discard a blue card since Bizarro is vulnerable to blue Kryptonite, and Bizarro must discard a green card since Superman is vulnerable to green Kryptonite.
  • Superman Returns Uno
  • Sydney 2000 Uno
  • Teen Titan Uno
  • Texas Uno
  • Toy Story Uno
  • Uno 35th Anniversary - A special deck made to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the first edition of Uno released in the United States in 1971. In this deck, there are specialty "35" cards, when, if the card is in play, only 3s or 5s of any color must be played after the card is delt.
  • Uno H2O - A deck with transparent water-proof cards. It includes 2 extra cards called "wild DownPour" cards; when played, all the other players must pick up the number specified on the card (either 1 or 2) and may choose the next color of play.
  • Uno H2O Splash - Features a special "whirlpool" device that has you shake the Magic 8 ball type of thingy to reveal what you must do such as Wave Left or Wave Right
  • UNO Delux in box with erasable score pad
  • UNO Delux in Wood Box
  • WWE Legends Uno
  • Versions available on the Xbox 360 version of Uno:
    • Project Gotham Racing Uno - In this game, the cards are drawn like cars seen in the Project Gotham Racing series of video games. In this game, the rules include a card called the "Gotham Live" card, which is the same name used as the replay feature in Project Gotham Racing 3. This card allows a player to look at the hand of any of the other players.
    • Kameo: Elements of Power Uno - This pack was released on November 1, 2006. This is a custom deck with artwork from the Kameo game. In addition, a special play card allows you to swap your hand with the hand of another player in the game.
    • Uno 35th Anniversary (see above)
  • X-Men Uno - Includes the "Mutate" card, which when played, allows the player to exchange all but one of their cards with new cards from the draw pile. Alternatively, the player can choose to force another player to do the same.
  • Several sports teams each have 112-card sets, featuring players from those teams. The special cards in each deck vary depending on the card set itself. The following teams have confirmed Uno sets.

[edit] Other Uno-related games

[edit] Similar games

Uno is a member of the shedding family of card games. The shedding family of card games consists of games where the objective is to get rid of all your cards while preventing the other players from getting rid of their cards.

[edit] Slogan

In olden days, their slogan was The Colored Card Game. Presently, they are using You know. Their motto is You get one, you get Uno.'

[edit] External links