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This article was reviewed by Ashton Wu and by wikiHow staff writer, Jessica Gibson. Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate.
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If you're looking for a fun card game to play with friends, give Uno a try! Each player gets dealt a hand of 7 cards to start. To play, you’ll match one of your cards with the card that's been dealt from the draw pile. The first player to get rid of all of their cards wins the round. Then all players tally up their scores. The game continues until one person scores 500 points. We’ll walk you through the main Uno instructions, and a few variations you can try once you get the hang of this fun card game.
Steps
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Shuffle the cards and deal 7 cards to each player. Get out a pack of Uno cards and shuffle all 108 cards. Then, make sure each person who wants to play gets 7 cards. Direct the players to keep their cards face down.[1]
- You can play Uno with 2 to 10 players. Players should be at least 7 years old.
- If you need a deck of Uno cards, you can find options for purchase here.
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Put the rest of the Uno cards in the center of the table. Keep the cards face down in a stack. These cards will make the draw pile which players will take from throughout the game.[2]Advertisement
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Turn over the top card from the draw pile to start the game. Place the top card from the draw pile next to the draw pile, but leave it facing up. You'll use this card to start the game and it will become the discard pile.[3]
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Play a card to match the color, number, or symbol on the card. The player to the left of the dealer should lay down a card from their hand if it matches the color, number, word, or symbol on the card that's lying face up in the center of the table. Direct them to put their card on top of the discard pile. The next player then looks for a card from their hand that they can play.[4]
- For example, if the top card in the discard pile is a red number 8, you could play any red card you have or a card of any color that has an 8 on it.
- The game is usually played going clockwise from the dealer.
Tip: If the player has a Wild card, they can use it at any time.
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Draw a card from the draw pile if you can't play a card. If it's your turn and you don't have any cards that match the color, number, or symbol on the top card, take a card from the draw pile to add to your hand. You can play this card immediately if it matches some aspect of the card on the table.[5]
- If you can't play the card you just drew, the player next to you can take their turn.
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Pay attention to action and Wild cards. In addition to basic Uno cards that have numbers on them, there are 4 types of action cards. If you play a Wild card, you choose the color for the next play. If you put down a Draw 2, the player next to you must take 2 cards, and their turn is skipped. If you play Skip, then the next player’s turn is skipped. If you play Reverse, you change the direction of play, so the person who went before you will then have another turn.[6]
- A Reverse card has 2 arrows that are going in opposite directions.
- If you get a Skip card, which is a card that has a circle with a slash through it, the player next to you must skip their turn.
- According to Uno rules for 2 players, Reverse works like Skip if you're playing with just 2 people. That means your opponent has to skip a turn and you get to immediately play another card.
- For 2 players, if you play a Draw 2 or Wild Draw 4 card, the other person has to draw the number of cards and then you resume play on your turn again.
Did You Know? Playing a Wild Draw 4 card is like playing a standard Wild card, but it makes the next player draw 4 cards and skip their turn as well.
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Say "Uno" if you only have 1 card left. Keep taking turns until 1 player has just 1 card left in their hand. At that point, the player must say "Uno," or they'll be penalized if another player calls them out.[7]
- If someone forgets to say "Uno," hand them 2 cards as a penalty. If no one notices that the player didn't say "Uno," there is no penalty.
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Play your last card to win the hand. Once you're down to one card (and you've already called "Uno"), wait until the gameplay goes around the table and comes back to you. If you can play your last card before anyone else goes out, you'll be the winner of the round![8]
- If you can't play your last card, draw another card and continue until someone's hand is empty.
- Try to save a Wild card as your last card, if you have one. That way, you'll know for sure that you'll be able to play it and win the round!
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Tally the points in each player's hand at the end of each round. The person who won the round gets points by adding up the cards in the remaining players' hands. Keep track of points for each round and keep playing rounds until a person scores 500 points.[9] That person is the winner of the game.
- To score a hand, give the winner of the round:[10]
- 20 points for each Draw 2, Reverse, or Skip card in an opponent's hand
- 50 points for Wild and Wild Draw 4 cards
- The face value for number cards (for example, an 8 card equals 8 points)
- You can also count the number of cards a player has after each round and have the player that reaches 100 points first win, though this isn't in the official game rules.
- To score a hand, give the winner of the round:[10]
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Play Uno online or on a gaming system. Don't worry if you can't find people to play Uno with you in person! You can easily do an internet search in order to play Uno online. If you prefer, purchase Uno to play on your PC or gaming system, such as a PS4 or Xbox One.[11]
- You can even personalize the rules to create completely unique Uno games.
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Play double cards to make the game end faster. To do a quick moving game of Uno, have every player put down 2 matches instead of 1 if they have them. This means everyone will go through cards quicker.
- For example, if there's a yellow 3 on the table, a player could put down a yellow 7 and a red 3.
- If you don't want the game to end faster, you can have the players draw 2 cards instead of 1 each time they don't have a card to play.
Tip: Since you'll go through more cards, consider making the winning score at least 1,000 points instead of 500.
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Customize your own Wild cards. If you're playing with a newer deck of Uno cards, you'll probably see 3 customizable Wild cards included. To play with these blank Wild cards, write down your own rules that everyone agrees to. Then you can play them as you would other Wild cards. For example, a customizable rule could be:[12]
- Everyone must draw 2 cards.
- The next player must sing a song or draw a card.
- Swap 1 card with the player next to you.
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Swap hands with another player if you get the Swap Hands card. This is another newer card that Uno now includes in the deck. Play the Wild Swap Hands card like a Wild card, but decide which player you'd like to swap hands with.[13]
- For example, if you have this card, wait until the game is almost over and swap hands with the player that has the fewest cards.
UNO Cheat Sheets
Community Q&A
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QuestionWhat is UNO Attack?
wikiHow Staff EditorThis answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Staff Answer
wikiHow Staff EditorStaff AnswerUNO Attack is a variation on regular UNO that includes a card shooter and special action cards. If a player gets an “attack” card, they can shoot a stream of cards at an opponent, which they must add to their deck. To play it, you’ll need to purchase the UNO Attack! game. -
QuestionCan you play UNO with regular playing cards?
wikiHow Staff EditorThis answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Staff Answer
wikiHow Staff EditorStaff AnswerYes, you can. Use the Jack as a skip or reverse card, the queen to make the next person pick up 2 cards, and the king to let you change suits. You can use the ace to change your suit and make the next person pick up 4 cards. The rest of the cards act as regular number cards. -
QuestionIf you play a Draw 2 or Draw 4 as your last card, does the next player have to draw?
Community AnswerYes, the next player draws that number of cards before adding up points.
Video
Tips
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If you run out of cards in the draw pile, shuffle the discard pile and turn them face down. Then use it as the draw pile.Thanks
Things You'll Need
- A pack of UNO cards
- Pen and paper
- Calculator (optional)
References
- ↑ https://www.unorules.com/
- ↑ https://www.unorules.com/
- ↑ https://youtu.be/_CvaIyRE1Tw?t=19
- ↑ https://youtu.be/_CvaIyRE1Tw?t=21
- ↑ https://youtu.be/_CvaIyRE1Tw?t=121
- ↑ https://www.unorules.com/
- ↑ https://youtu.be/_CvaIyRE1Tw?t=141
- ↑ https://gamerules.com/hints-and-tips-for-winning-uno/
- ↑ https://www.officialgamerules.org/uno
About This Article
To play UNO, you’ll need at least 2 players, but the more you have, the better. Start by dealing 7 cards to each player, then place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table. This is the “draw” pile. Turn the first card of the draw pile face-up and place it in a separate pile. This is the “discard” pile. The first player starts by playing a card that matches either the number, color, or type of the card on top of the discard pile. If a player wants to change the color in play for any reason, they can play a Wild card and choose a new color. If the player can't play any of their cards, they must draw a card from the draw pile. If the card drawn matches the color, number, or type of the card on top of the discard pile, they can play it. If not, the game moves onto the next player. As soon as a player is down to just one card, they must yell “Uno” before anyone else notices. If anyone else says “Uno” first, the player must draw two cards from the draw pile. The player that plays all of their cards first wins! As you play, you will notice several types of cards — a skip card, that skips the next player, a reverse card, that changes the direction of play, a draw two card, that forces that next player to draw two cards and skip their turn, and a wild draw four card, which is a combination of a wild and draw card. These cards make the game even more fun!
Reader Success Stories
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"I remembered that years ago I was watching people I know playing UNO. All I could do at that time was stand by the side and watch awkwardly. Now that I know how to play it, I do not have to be awkward any longer! Thanks so much, authors!"..." more
