Uno Variations

This page is part of the Invented Games section of the Card Games web site. It is a collection of variations of the commercial card game UNO.

Here are a couple of other websites for UNO information and variants


Birthday Suit Uno

orionca@earthlink.net wrote:

After my gaming group had played UNO for a couple of years straight, we invented this version of UNO out of boredom and found that it actually works after a fashion: Standard UNO rules, only the cards are dealt face up and kept visible. There's considerable strategy involved when you know who holds the Reverse and Draw 4 cards.

Cut-Throat Uno

Contributed by Frank Soukey (soukey@rocketmail.com)

This is similar to the "Uno From Hell" version of Uno.

As in Uno From Hell, special cards can be stacked on each other to avoid having to draw the cards. The variants for Cut-Throat Uno are:

  1. Dealer's choice as to how many cards initially dealt. We found ten or eleven cards plenty. Fifteen was too cumbersome and one was too frustrating.
  2. Draw 'til you play. Shuffle as needed. If you draw Wild cards, you don't have to play them but you must play the first matching color card you draw.
  3. Any Draw card starts a draw stack. The number cards and the standard Wild card cannot be played in the draw stack.
  4. Color IS relevant in the stack, i.e. A Draw Two can only have a Skip or Reverse of the same color, a Draw Two of any color, or a Wild Draw Four played on top of it.
  5. In normal play, you cannot play a Wild Draw Four if you have any of the appropriate color available. In a stack, the same rule applies but only counting special cards, i.e. You can't play a Wild Draw Four on a blue Draw Two if you have a blue Skip in your hand but you can no matter how many blue number cards you have. Also, when you play a Wild card, in normal play or in the stack, you cannot choose the current color as the new color.
  6. The Skip acts differently in the stack. It means skip the person playing the card. This rule applies ONLY during a draw stack. If no draw is involved, the Skip acts normally, even if following a special card.
  7. Be cautious of playing a draw card as your final card, it will start a draw stack! The hand will not end until the stack resolves and, if you end up drawing cards, play will continue.

For example: four players at the cardinal points, play is clockwise.
North plays a yellow Draw Two initiating a draw stack. East then plays a green Draw Two, passing four to South. South counters with a GREEN (Color matters!) Skip. The draw then skips South and is given to West, not North. West follows with a blue Skip. North counters with a blue Reverse. West plays a blue Draw Two leaving South to draw six cards. South has three blue number cards but no blue special cards so she slaps a Wild Draw Four on the stack and calls green. East has no green specials left and no Wild Draw Four's so, sadly, he draws ten cards, closing the stack. North returns to normal play with a green Reverse. Now East has a green special card so he plays a green Skip. It is now West's turn.

Note: We often played three player Cut-Throat and found it to be particularly vicious. The special cards weren't spread so thin so the draw stacks got quite large. The draw record in my circle was thirty-two! I know because I got stuck with it.


Deadly Uno

Contributed by Isaac Kuo (kuo@bit.csc.lsu.edu)

I was reading your web page about the rules to different card games, and thought you might be interested in an "Eights group" type game which me and my brother made up.

We called it "Deadly Uno", and it's basically just Uno played with normal cards, but with one major difference. If you can't play a card, you LOSE and immediately drop out of play (rather than merely drawing a card). The only ways to draw cards are if someone plays a "Draw 2" or "Draw 4 Wild" on you (in our variant, 2's represented Draw 2 and Jokers represented Draw 4 Wild), or someone calls out "Uno" when you have only 1 card left.

This makes the individual games very quick and exciting (to us), because there are now 2 ways to win. Either get rid of all your cards or be the last person who hasn't lost. It also makes the question of whether or not to say "Uno" when someone has only 1 card left a bit more puzzling.

I have a feeling this variation would work well with any "Eights group" card game. It would certainly make any such game quicker!


Ena

A Slovenian Uno variation, contributed by Wei-Hwa Huang (whuang@ugcs.caltech.edu)

See also the Slovenian Advanced Uno rules by Jure Leskovec.

When I was at the last World Puzzle Championship, I played a game called "Ena" with the members of the Slovenian team (and other people). "Ena" is apparently Slovenian for "One", and the special deck was similar to an "Uno" deck. It was quite worn.

I do not know if these are the official rules or just those used by the group I played with.

The game was similar to "Uno". Here are the differences:

  • Illegal plays (playing out of turn, drawing the wrong number of cards) incur a penalty of two cards. (Same penalty for not saying "Ena".)
  • A player who has the turn and has no legal play must keep on drawing cards until they have a legal play. (There does not appear to be a rule that prohibits drawing when you DO have a legal play.)
  • When the deck runs out, the discard is reshuffled. I don't know what happens if all cards run out (but it is possible!)
  • "Draw Two" cards do not have a color/suit. [They have a black background, and a picture of a hand holding a blue and a red card. The text "+2" is on the bottom.] They are somewhat like "half-wild" cards -- they can be played on any blue or red card, and only blue or red cards (and other wild cards) can be played on them. Unlike normal wild cards and other wild draw cards, the player who played the draw two card does not get to specify the next color/suit.
  • "Wild Draw Four" cards are normal.
  • There is a single "Wild Draw Five" card in the deck. May be played on anything. When played, ALL other players draw five cards.
  • Unlike Uno, there are two "0" cards in every suit. Instead of a normal "0", it depicts a large round bulls-eye-like figure.
  • When a player wins, they get -50 points. All other players get positive scores based on the cards they hold. Points are similar to Uno, with these differences: Wild Draw Five => 100 points; "0" cards => 50 points. Game is over when someone reaches 2000.
  • A player may play out of turn if the card is completely identical to the card at the top of the pile. Turn sequence immediately changes, as if the player had played in turn. If the card is a Draw Two or Draw Four, the draw penalty for the next player is increased. (Note that there is only one Draw Five in the deck, so this rule cannot apply.) This can get very messy with Reverses and Skips.
An example might help. Suppose, A, B, C, and D are playing. Legal plays out of turn are marked with *:
A: Red 3
B: Red 7
C: Red 0
*B: Red 0
C: Red Reverse
*A: Red Reverse
B: Red Skip
*A: Red Skip
C: Blue Skip
A: Draw Two
B: Draw Two
C: [draws four cards]
D: Draw Five
A,B,C: [all draw five]
D: "Green"
A: Green 0
*D: Green 0
A: Green 8
*A: Green 8
B: Draw Two
*D: Draw Two
*D: Draw Two
A: [draws 6 cards]
B: Blue Reverse
A: Draw Two
*C: Draw Two
*A: Draw Two
D: [draws 6 cards]
etc.

Hot Death Uno

Uno variation using at least two decks - one deck altered to make more special cards, featuring a lot of gratuitous strong language and profanity. From the Hot Death Uno page of BoardGameGeek you can download rules of the game and instructions for making the extra cards.


Personal Uno

se-no-fee-uh (queenofeverythang@yahoo.com) writes: "My friends & i invented this tournament version of Uno while bored and trapped out in Ohio with nothing else to do. The rules of the game are pretty simple (yet they can get kinda complicated)..."

The first game is played using the official Uno rules (right out of the box the cards came in). The game ends as soon as the 1st person loses all of their cards. This person now becomes the 'uno master' and gets to create a new rule for the next game. Rules can run from the functional kind to the crazy kind - The only limit is your imagination.

The winner of the next game then gets to add on a rule of their own for the next game (or maybe just banish the previous one). The game is usually played in ten rounds (that's a lot of rules) before the slate is wiped clean. You can play in five rounds if you're a wimp!

sample rules:

  • the 'stacking' rule,
  • whenever someone puts down a green 2 they have to give me a compliment,
  • everytime i pick a draw four i will choose a player to give two of my cards to <That's when the game starts getting personal :) >

try to avoid rules that will slant the game in an unreasonably unfair way - the group can veto a cheating rule. Still, any unresolved issues from a previous game can cause you to be the victim (ex: everytime someone puts down a yellow four YOU <specifically> have to pick up four cards)

You will never get bored with uno again because everytime you play it will be a new adventure.


R-M-D Uno

Contributed by Ronda

Two friends and I love planning Uno. I can OCCASIONALLY talk them into playing with some non- traditional rules. We each get to contribute one additional rule for R-M-D Uno (the first initials of each of our names.) By the way, they hate my rule (see ADD IT UP), but I think it really rocks!

Assume standard UNO rules. Add the following:

  1. Ronda's rule: ADD IT UP! If you cannot play a matching card on top of a number card, you may elect to ADD IT UP with a combination of cards in another color. For example, the card to match is a green 9. If you have no green or number 9 cards, you may put down two or more cards of the same color which add up to 9. (A blue 5 and 4, a yellow 3 and 6, or a red 2, 3 and 4.) The ADD IT UP cards must all be the same color. This is a great way to deplete your hand and make an unexpected comeback with a new color.
  2. Michael's rule: PAIN CAN BE SUMMED. Penalty cards in the same penalty family (the Draw Two family, the Draw Four family) may be Summed Up and passed onto the next player for maximum penalty. Only the last person receiving the summed penalty draws cards. If a Draw Two card is laid, the would-be recipient of the penalty may add another Draw Two card (any color) on top, forcing the next player to draw four cards. The more interesting and vindictive penalty is a Draw Four on top of a Draw Four, forcing the next player to draw 8! Draw Two cards may not be combined with Draw Four penalties. This is especially interesting with three players since your would-be attack may backfire. Note: The Summed Penalty card must already be in your hand. You may not accept the Draw 2 penalty, draw a "Draw 2" card as part of your penalty and pass on the pain.
  3. Dean's rule: PEACE AROUND THE TABLE, FIRST ROUND ONLY. The humane rule. No penalty/ attack cards (Draw Two, Draw Four, Reverse, Skip) may be played as the first card per player per hand. In essence, each player must play a number card the first time they lay down a card per hand. This gives everyone a chance to play without defense the first time around the table. If a player has only an attack card in the color shown, they should draw and play or pass as normal. Reverse and Skips are seen as attack cards in this situation since they disrupt the normal flow of play.

Enjoy!


Speed Uno

Contributed by David Swart (dmswart@uwaterloo.ca)

This is a wonderful game that can get dizzily confusing.

Similar to Deadly Uno, Speed Uno, follows the regular rules of Uno, with one major difference.

During play, if you have the same card as the one lying at the top of the pile (same colour and same number/word) you can play it before the next person plays his card, and then the play continues from you.

A few notes:

  • We play with the person to the left of the dealer starting. Going clockwise. It's usually polite for him to start after the dealer has sorted her cards.
  • Pick-up-4's and Pick-up-2's are tricky. If play is moving clockwise, the person to the left of the player of the pick-up card still has to draw, even if somebody else plays another pick-up card.
  • But to be fair, a second pick-up-4 card cannot be played until the player of the first pick-up-4 announces the colour. Similarly with Wild cards.
  • One or two people usually get burned and are effectively taken out of the game when 4 pick up 4's appear in a row (since picking up cards accumulate).
  • The draw pile is never replenished: When there are no more face down cards, pick-up-2 cards don't mean much and if you can't play, you pass.
  • If you have doubles of a card, you might as well play them both at the same time.
  • You need your wits about you, especially when two or more reverse cards are played from all different directions.
  • When it's you're turn and a 0 is sitting at the top, take a breather and perhaps sort your cards. For some reason, there is only one 0 per colour in an uno deck.

David Rutter contributed the following additonal / alternative rules for Speed Uno.

  • Two decks are used.
  • Players receive penalty points for whatever is left in their hand when someone goes out. The game continues until a player has at least 100 (or 200) points), and player with the lowest score then wins. The scale of points is:
    • 0: 50 points
    • 1-9: Face value
    • skip, reverse, draw two: 10 points
    • wilds/draw fours: 25 points
    • blanks: 25 points
  • Any time a zero is played, all hands are passed in the direction of play (as in Pirate Uno), but wait to make sure all zeroes that can be played are played before passing the hands that number of times.
  • When a wild is played, the player must call the color immediately, or someone else can throw a wild on top and call the color themselves. After the color is called, no more wilds can be tossed, with one exception: blank cards. These become "colored wilds". For example if someone plays a wild and calls green, then the person with the green blank can play out of turn and call a new color.
  • To accuse someone of not calling Uno when they are down to one card, point at them and say "UNO" yourself. As a house rule it is sometimes agreed that the person who calls "UNO" on another player plays next.
  • Note: the penalty for not having a card to play when it's your turn is to draw one card, which you play if you can and end your turn if you can't.

Uno from Hell

Contributed by S D Rhodes (rhodent@ipass.net)

This is essentially a variant of the "Stacking" version of Uno. For those who are unfamiliar with it, in regular "Stacking" Uno, Draw Two cards can be stacked on each other to avoid having to draw the cards (and to "spread the love"). If the player preceding you plays Draw Two, and you have a Draw Two in your hand, you may play your Draw Two on top of his, and the person after you must draw four cards, unless, of course, he plays a Draw Two, in which case the person after him must draw six, unless he plays a Draw Two, etc.

The variant for Uno from Hell is this: ANY WORD CARD CAN BE STACKED ON ANY OTHER WORD CARD. The "word cards" are simply any non-numeric card: Draw Two, Reverse, Skip, Wild, and Wild Draw Four. Color is irrelevant: putting a Red Skip on top of a Green Reverse is a perfectly legal play. If it's your turn and the top card is a Wild Draw Four with Blue being the announced color, you are nevertheless free to play a Red Draw Two on top of it. All cards serve their normal purpose -- Reverse reverses the direction, Skip skips over a player, and Wild changes the base color (although this doesn't matter much since the next player is free to play a word card of a different color on top of it). Any time a Draw card (be it a Draw Two or a Wild Draw Four) is played, its value is "stacked" to the total. The first person unable to play a word card is the poor sap who gets to draw however many cards (the record in my circle of friends is twenty-four).

EXAMPLE OF PLAY: Four players are playing; for convenience, call them North, East, South, and West. Play is passing to the left. North plays a Red Draw Two. East must play a word card or draw two. East then stacks a Green Draw Two on it. Now South must play a word card or draw four. South plays Yellow Skip; now North must play a word card or draw four. North plays a Blue Reverse; now West must play a word card or draw four. West plays a Wild Draw Four and calls Green; now South must play a word card or draw eight. South plays a Red Draw Two (he is free to ignore the "Green" because he is playing a word card); now East must play a word card or draw ten. East plays a Blue Skip; now West must play a word card or draw ten. West again plays a Wild Draw Four and again calls Green; now South must play a word card or draw fourteen. South lays a Wild on top and calls Blue; East must play a word card or draw fourteen. East now ignores the called color and plays a Yellow Reverse. South can not play a word card, so he must draw fourteen cards. It is now West's turn. Because a Yellow Reverse is on top, North may play any yellow card or any word card.


Give Two

Contributed by Diana Crain (DiWorld@kc.rr.com).

In this game you need two uno decks. You play like normal, except that when you play any #2 card, you give the next player 2 cards out of your hand.


Elimination Uno

Contributed by Allen J Price (joeprice66@hotmail.com)

The game follows normal rules of play, with other variations and such added as desired. However, the play does not end when someone plays their last card ('goes out'). Instead, the person responsible for allowing that player to go out is eliminated from the game.

The responsible player is the person who played the immediately previous card to the pile (this is not necessarily the person next to the one who went out). The responsible player must now give all of his or her cards to the player who went out. The responsible player is eliminated from the game, and the other players continue playing. This continues until only one player is left in - the winner.

So the way to win the game is never to play a card that allows the next player to go out. If you can go out yourself, so much the better, as this eliminates one of the other players, whose cards you then inherit.


Solitaire Uno

Contributed by Moonbeam (ginger_gol@yahoo.com)

All the regular rules apply, accept the player takes 20 cards to start with. They then hold the cards as a stack and go through them one by one, putting down whichever one is applicable. "Skip" and "Reverse" obviously have no use other than to conveniently change the colour. When one encounters a "Draw Two" or "Draw Four", they draw the cards and put them in their pile from the back/bottom. When they're sure that none of the cards they have will work for the next play, they start drawing cards, putting them on the top of their pile and keep drawing until they find a usable card, then continue with their own stack as before. You win the game when you use up all your cards.


Enhanced Uno

Contributed by Paul Bryant (pinkbat@tesco.net), who writes:

I believe the rules that I use are the natural evolution to the game. The new rules are simple, but make the game play much better. I know for a fact that my University of Leeds (UK) friends have spread it around the county, and even to a international Christian mission in South Africa - so who knows where it is being played now?

New Rules:

  1. You are not allowed to say "SORRY" anytime during the game ... which is an automatic response to laying a +4 on a good friend. If you say "SORRY" then you must pick up 2 cards from the draw pack (for everytime). (It is not uncommon for the British to say "I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything else" simultaneously to playing a "+4", or "0" (see later).
  2. If you have an identical card (colour and number) to that at the top of the pile you can but-in out of sequence. Also, if you have two identical cards in your hand then you can play both at the same time. This is particularly good when it is 2 (identical) penalty-cards, or 2 (identical) miss-a-go cards, 2 (identical) change direction cards, etc. (Penalties are multiplied by the number of cards played!) i.e. 2 change directions = no change. 2 miss-a-go = skip 2 players.
  3. When any "9" card is played then everyone must slam there hands on top of the played "9" card ... and the last person to do so (i.e. 'the hand at the top') must pick up 2 cards.
  4. When any one of the "0" cards are played then everyone must pass their hand to the adjacent person in the direction of play.
  5. The 4 blank "uno" cards can be anything you want - "green 0", "red 9", "+4" etc. The blank Uno card obviously can be used to but-in at anytime, or be played alongside your other (identical) card(s) at your turn - as long as they are identical. (Playing 2 "+4"s, and one "Uno" card is always funny, etc. (You have go to hope the next person doesn't change the direction and on there next go play a "0", or an "Uno" card being used as a "0"!)
  6. If you go out of sequence, lose track if it is your go, pick up too many / too few cards, THEN you must pick up 2 cards. If you claim someone has done something wrong, but they haven't THEN you must pick up 2 cards! If someone just takes too long, they have to pick up 2 cards. If you don't specify the colour when playing a "change colour" or "+4" card, then you must pick up 2 cards.
  7. You can NOT put a "green +2" on a "yellow +2" - it is not the same colour!
  8. You can NOT put a "+4" on any "+2" - it is not the same 'number'!
  9. The winner is the one who gets rid of all their cards first, and then everyone "counts" their remaining cards (as in the usual game). The game stops when the first player gets to 501, and the one with the lowest score wins!
  10. If someone wins 3 games in a row then they can subtract 50 points from their own score, OR add 50 points to any other players score.

Smith Uno

Contributed by Bryan Brady (blbrady@excite.com), who has named it after the person who taught it to him.

As in other variations, Draw Two and Draw Four cards are cumulative.
Ex: Player1 plays a Draw Two on Player2. Player2 has a Draw Two and plays it, Player3 must now draw four, unless of course they have a Draw Two also, then Player4 would draw six and so on. I have seen this bite the person who started it :) Same applies to the Draw Four cards. The last person to play the Draw Four chooses the color.

Match: If you have the exact card played, you can play it out of turn before the next person plays.
Ex: Player1 plays a Red 7, it's now Player2s turn, but Player4 has a Red 7 so he yells "MATCH" and plays it before Player2 gets the card down. If Player2 happened to have beaten Player4 to the punch Player4 gets to keep his Red 7.
This only works with the exact card, i.e. a blue 7 wouldn't be a match. There are only 2 of everything in a single deck. Obviously if you play with multiple decks this could get nasty.

0 Switch: If a player plays a 0 he can switch cards with anyone. The switchee doesn't get a vote on this one. Sometimes we play that the switchee can prevent this by playing a 0 (out of turn if necessary). As there are only 4 0s in a single deck this is rather rare.

Wild Winning: Since a wild is a lame way to win we usually play that you can't win on a wild.
Ex: If the last card in your hand is a wild, you draw a card. Simple. This adds a degree of strategy to the game.


Hold'em Uno

Contributed by Charles (darts77@yahoo.com)

Here's a variation which can make the end of a hand dramatic - if the winner of the hand goes out with a +2 or +4, the next player in turn has to pick up the 2 or 4 cards and count them towards his/her total.

With this variation, it's quite possible to nail someone with a lot of points they can't get rid of.


"House Rules Card" Uno

Contributed by Steve Beard

House Rules card

Dealer's Choice Card

This version requires using the two blank cards from your original Uno set. Draw your own design for the face of the card (same on both). I've chosen a Cartoon House, with the four standard colors splitting the house into four quarters (like a wild), with a black background (because they are Specials) and "House" written (with a tiny house shape in the four colors below it) in the top left and bottom right corners.

The way these are used is:

  • At the start of each hand the dealer nominates the rule for the House Rule Card for that hand.
  • Write the name of the House Rule (and it's action if it's hard to remember) on a piece of paper/card next to the Draw Pile. I've made a card (the same size as a regular Uno card with a list of House Rules on it and I put a coin next to the House Rule in effect for that hand.
  • Play then commences and continues as normal, but with the addition of the new rule.

House Rule Card rule choices are almost limitless, but can include:

Bounce - Plays like a Wild, allowing color change, and when played against a Draw 2 or Wild Draw 4, also makes the player who played the Draw card pick up the required number of cards instead. Play then continues on as normal. Can be used as the final card.

Big Skip - Plays like a Wild, allowing color change, and skipping everyone else, giving the player a second turn. Can be used as the last card.

Absorb - Plays like a Wild, allowing color change, and also requires the player with the least amount of cards to take one card from the player on the left, one card from the player on the right and pick up one card from deck. If two players have the same number of cards when played, the card acts like a plain Wild. Can be used as the final card.

X-Ray - Plays like a Wild, allowing color change, and also allows the person who played the card to see the hand of a player they nominate. They are not permitted to tell the rest of the competing players. Play continues on as normal. Can be used as the final card.

Reveal - Like X-Ray, except that a chosen player must reveal all of their cards to the rest of the players. Can be used as the final card.

My Turn - Plays like a Wild, allowing color change. This card can be played by the player who is being "Skip"d or "Reverse"d against. It allows the player of the card to negate the effect of the previously played card. Play then continues in the original direction as normal. Can be used as the final card.

My Turn Plus - Same as My Turn, and allows the player to have their turn also (i.e.: they play another card after the House Rule Card).

NO!- A combination of Bounce and My Turn rules, it stops the effects of Skip, Reverse, Draw 2 and Draw 4 cards, as well as being Wild. Cannot be used as the final card.

Swap Hands - Player chooses another player to swap hands with. Cannot be used as final card (think about it!). This one comes from Mattel's "Uno Attack".

Double Skip - As it says.

X - A card that can be played as any color and number. Can be used as final card.

Snap! - This card plays exactly the same as the card previously played onto the discard pile. Can be used as final card. e.g.: Snap! becomes a Green Draw 2 if played onto a Green Draw 2.

Super House Wild - The dealer chooses a combination of the rules your house currently allows for the House Rules card. The card has all the powers named by the dealer simultaneously. Cannot be used as the final card.

Feel free to invent your own rules for the House Rule Card (and let me know how yours works)

Disclaimer: I have gleaned the "Absorb" and "X-Ray" cards (They're called "SuperAbsorbancy" and Secret Recipe") from Spongebob Uno Special Edition and All New Special Edition, by Sababa Toys.

Steven Beard


Pirate Uno

Contributed by Kyle who writes: "This is my favorite game, and i want everyone to play it."

Draw cards stack.
In other words, you can play a draw card on another draw card and the effects of the cards are then added together.
When a seven of any color is played, the player of the seven may switch hands with whomever (s)he wishes.
When a zero of any color is played, all players pass hands in the direction that play is going
Players must cheat
The following are some of the methods used:
  • looking at other players' hands;
  • playing two or more cards at once to get rid of them faster;
  • hiding cards anywhere you can [we've found cards under tables, in pockets, up sleeves, in bras...]
  • playing the wrong card when no one is looking
  • not passing on cards you may want to keep (wilds...)
Players must swear
Swearing is not actually not necessary. I have played the game with my little brother, and omitted this rule.
Players must use pirate voices and say "arggh" a lot
(adds to the atmosphere)
Violence is encouraged
We don't usually get too violent, but sometimes sharp slaps on the back of someone's wrist are necessary.
Drop-ins are allowed
If someone has just played a card, and there are no other cards on top of it, if anyone has the same card, they can put it down for free, after saying 'drop-in'. This also may provoke violence.

Uno with slapping, sliding and blank cards

This version, contributed by Jonny Oakland , has the following differences from the published rules.

  1. Pick up two. Instead of picking up two cards, the next player can play another [+2]. The penalty increases by 2 cards until a player doesn’t have a [+2] card and has to receive the penalty.
  2. Black cards. You can never play a black card on a black card, but a black card (even a [+4]) can be played on any other coloured card, even if you hold a card of that colour. If follows that [+4] cards do not accumulate like [+2] cards. Also when the player before you plays a [+2] card, you cannot play a [+4] card increasing the penalty to 6. You must play a [+2] card or pick up.
  3. The following extra rules are recommended for advanced players.

  4. Deal. The dealer chooses how many cards to deal to each player (7-14) and announces it.
  5. Slapping a [9]. When a [9] is played every player must place a hand on top of it. The last player to do so must pick up two cards for being slow.
  6. Sliding one in. If you have a card in your hand that is identical in colour and number to the active card you may play it regardless of whether it is your turn or not. Play continues with the player after the one who slid in.

    Example: West plays [Green 4]; North is about to play ... but misses their turn because ... East slides in another [Green4]. Now South continues play as normal.

    Notes:

    • If it is your turn and the player before you has played a card that you can slide in on, you may slide in and then take your go.
    • If it is your turn and you have two of the same card you may play them together. If two [9]s go down together the slowest player to slap must pick up four cards. It is at the discretion of the player placing the [9]s whether they place them together or hold on to one and slide it in after this first has played, resulting in two slaps instead of one.
    • Therefore, if you slide in on the card the player before you placed and then play a pair of identical cards you could quiet legally play three cards in succession from your hand.
    • Sliding in on a miss a turn card results in the next two players after you missing their turns.
    • Sliding in on a change direction means that they direction is reversed again so the player after you plays as normal.

      Example. Play is clockwise. West plays [Yellow CD] changing to anti-clockwise. It should now be South's turn but before he or she can play East slides in another [Yellow CD] changing back to clockwise. North effectively misses a go because East's card sets the direction back to clockwise. South continues play as normal.

    • Sliding in on a [+2] results in play continuing with the player after you, obviously they must now either play a [+2] of their own, or take the cumulative penalty.
    • Obviously you cannot slide a black card on top of another black card!
  7. Blank or White Cards. White cards were introduced to give a rare chance to avoid a penalty from a black [+4]. A white card acts as invisible so the next player must deal with what ever you have avoided. If a white card is placed on top of a black change colour then the next player must still match the nominated colour. A white card passes ANY penalty onto the next player apart from a penalty for making a mistake (see Two for a mistake, below). A white card may be placed or slid in on top of another white card, this shifts the penalty onto the next player in sequence.
  8. Two for a mistake. When these advanced rules are introduced a certain time is allowed for new players to get used to them. This is decided at the start of the game (Normally one or two rounds). After this safety period, ANY mistake made by ANY player whilst playing is subject to a penalty of two cards. This includes: dealing unequal numbers of cards to different players at the start, playing when it isn’t your turn, slapping a [6], picking up too few on a penalty, picking up too many on a penalty (all cards are retained), playing a black on a black, falsely accusing another player of a mistake. If two players are at fault they receive a one card penalty each, if more than two players are involved they all receive two.
  9. Pick and Play. As usual, if you cannot or do not wish to play a card from your hand on your turn you must pick up a card from the deck. This will count as your turn unless you can play with the card you just picked up. If you were too slow to place it on your turn you must take the card into your hand as normal. Note that:
    • You cannot pick and play on a penalty.
    • You may slide in with a card picked up in a penalty but must have the full penalty in your hand before doing so. (This is a very rare and unlikely turn of events.)
  10. Zeroes! As the cards with a face value of zero are technically worth nothing at the end of the game they may all be played together. When a zero comes into play any player can place any zero in any order. Play continues from the player after the last player to place a zero with the colour of the last zero played. This player does not have to wait to see whether any more zeroes will be played - a player wishing to play a zero out of turn must do so before the next player plays.
  11. At the end of the round
    • As usual, when a player has one card left in their hand they must say Uno! Failure to say Uno before the end of the turn that the player is left with one card will result in a two card penalty for their mistake.
    • If you are left with two identical cards in your hand you must play one, say Uno, and then play the other before your turn is over to win.
    • All players with cards left must add up the value of the cards left in their hand and submit the total to a designated score keeper. Card values are as follows:
      • 0-9 are taken at face value.
      • Action cards are worth 20 each
      • Black cards are worth 60 each
      • White cards are worth a massive 125 points each.
    • The game is over when a player reaches a predetermined limit (Say 500 points). The winner is the player with the lowest score.
  12. Winning 3 rounds in a row. If a player wins three consecutive rounds then they:
    • Must deal the next round
    • Must start off with twice the number of cards in their hand
    • Must fetch a round of drinks for the other players ("...cup of tea anyone?")

Safety advice:

  • No drinks on the table due to 9 slapping!
  • No rings or watches with sharp bits on due to 9 slapping!
  • Definitely NO SMOKING during play - firstly because its nasty, secondly because holding a cigarette while trying to play cards makes you slower than the rest of the people playing, and thirdly because I once slapped a burning cigarette that was in someone's hand whilst slapping a 9 and it burned me!

Supplement: coloured blank cards

In February 2007, Johnny Oakland contributed the following modifications:

The new Uno decks contain a blank card of each colour. We have adapted our rules to accommodate these new cards:

In the "advanced" rules above, a blank card acts as a "pass the penalty" card. For example, the +2's are going down and mounting up to make you pick up and you don't have another +2, but instead you have a blank you can play the card to pass the penalty on to the next player, who may then continue play as normal by picking up, playing a +2 or playing another blank.

The coloured blanks come into play with the same rules as above but, when a blank is played, the colour is changed to the suit of that card. Blanks are playable any time on any card.

Example: Player 1 plays a green 7, Player 2 plays a blue blank, Player 3 must now play either a 7 or a blue or a blank or a black to continue play.

Coloured blanks are worth 100 at the end of the game but, if you have the blank of the suit of the card that game play finished upon, then the blank is worth 200 points!

Example: Player 1 finishes the game on a yellow 3. Player 3 has the yellow blank in his hand so instead of the normal 100 points for a blank he takes 200 instead.


Team Uno

This partnership version of Uno, contributed by Wayne Shaw is for four players in fixed partnerships, players sitting opposite their partners.

Normal Uno rules are used, but with all cards face up. Each player's hand is laid out on the table and the drawing stock is stacked face up so that the next card to be drawn can be seen. It is legal to draw a card even if you had a card in your hand of the required color that you could have played.

"Draw 2" cards can be played cumulatively: when a "draw 2" card is played, the next player can play another "draw 2" card instead of drawing, in which case the following player must draw 4 cards unless he or she can also play a "draw 2" card, requiring 6 cards to be drawn, and so on.

A team wins as soon as one member of the team runs out of cards.


Chukchi Sea UNO

This variant, contributed by Shane Traceski , was developed on a research boat returning from the Chukchi Sea.

It is based on the standard game with 7 cards dealt to each player.

During each player's turn, a player can discard as many cards as legally possible according to the following rules.

  1. In general each card must match the color or number of the previously played card.
  2. All +2, skip and reverse cards (known collectively a "face cards") must be covered by another card of the same color or type to be legally played. No face card can be left on top of the discard pile at the end of a player's turn.
  3. However a turn can end with a a plain wild card, on which as usual the player must call the color to be played next.
  4. If two number cards (not face cards) of the same number are played consecutively, it is illegal for the same player to continue with another card the same color as the top card.

Here is an example of a legal play:
Green reverse ; green +2 ; red +2 ; red skip ; red 6.
In this case the person that the game was reversed to will draw 4 cards and then be skipped.

Another example:
blue 6 ; blue 9 ; wild ; red 2 ; red 7 ; red 3 ; wild+4 ; yellow 8 ; yellow +2 ; yellow 5 ; green 5.
This forces the next player to draw 6 cards. Note that on top of the wild +4 any card can be played.

Another example: If a person has called UNO having only a +2 card, this person will need to draw from the pile next turn even if the +2 is of the same color as the top card in the discard pile, since the game cannot end with a face card on top of the pile.

Rule 4 requires some explanation. If a player plays two consecutive cards of the same number but different colors, this is known as a Traceski color change" or "wild pair". This is used to change the color being played. The bottom card of the "wild pair" must be the color as the top card in the discard pile. Three or more cards of the same number can be played so long as no 2 cards of the same color are played consecutively after the first card of the set.

  • 2 cards of the same number played consecutively are called the "wild Pair"
  • 3 cards of the same number are called a "turkey"
  • 4 Cards of the same number are called a "Top Hat"
  • 5 cards of the same number are called a "Muktuc Throw-down" or the "Omaha"

After any "wild pair" or extension of it is played, it will end the players turn because of rule 4.

For example if the top card is blue and you play blue 7, blue 4, red 4, green 4, you cannot then carry on with more green cards, though you could play another non-green 4 to create a top hat.

A "baptism" is a reverse card is followed by a Turkey of sixes. In the event of a baptism gifts are given, meaning all players attending the "baptism" will draw one card from the deck.


Evil Uno

Contributed by Linda Stahnke

Players agree on the target score to win the game, for example 500 or 1000. In addition to the basic UNO rules, the following additional rules apply:

  1. If you have a card that exactly matches the top card of the pile (same number and same color) you can lay it on top even if it is not your turn. This can be done repeatedly, after which the turn passes to the player after the last one who played a matching card. If a draw card is matched, the person who would have played next is saved from drawing. Instead the person after the player of the last matching card must accept the combined consequences.  Example:  Draw 2 – laid by 4 successive people – next player draws 8. Note: successive reverse cards reverse the direction of play back and forth, which can be confusing.
  2. Nine slapping rule. Only red 9's are slapped. Everyone must slap and the last person to do so draws 9 cards, after which there is a short courtesy pause so that this player can organize their hand.
  3. If you can’t play you must draw, and keep drawing, until you can play.
  4. If you have a “zero” – you can trade hands with someone else, but don’t have to.
  5. If you call “Uno” before the Uno holder does, they have to draw 2 cards.
  6. Mercy 200 rule. When counting up points, 200 is the maximum that a player can score in one hand.

YouKnow

Contributed by Danny Bruggeling

This is played with a standard deck of Uno cards dealt out as usual, but players must hold their cards with their backs towards them, so that all other players can see them, but no one can see the faces of their own cards.

Uno is now played by the normal rules, except that on your turn you must choose a card from someone else's hand and play it. If no one else has a playable card, the player whose turn is next must draw a card without looking at it and add it to their hand. If it is playable you must play it for them.

A draw card affects the player whose turn is next after the person who plays it (not the person after the player who held the card). As usual a wild draw 4 card can only be played if no other playable card is visible. A skip card skips the player whose turn to play would have been next after the person who plays the skip card.

A player who has only one card left must call "UNO" - if they fail to do so they are penalised as in the normal game. The game ends as usual when a player wins by having no cards in their hand at the end of a turn. This will be a pleasant surprise for the winner, since they will not have known what their last card is or whether it is playable.

Note that if you have only one card in hand and the player immediately before you plays it, you do not win if it is a draw card. Instead you have to draw cards as specified by the played card and miss your turn, and the game continues.

Last updated: 9th December 2020

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