What You'll Need
Uno might be the most universally played card game on earth. It's in every dorm room, every cabin, every family game night drawer. Easy to learn in 2 minutes, endlessly replayable, and capable of destroying friendships in the best possible way.
- One Uno deck (108 cards total) — or you can improvise with standard playing cards
- 2 to 10 players (best with 3-6)
The Uno deck consists of cards in 4 colors (red, yellow, green, blue), numbered 0-9 in each color, plus action cards: Skip, Reverse, Draw Two, Wild, and Wild Draw Four.
Setup
Shuffle the Uno deck. Deal 7 cards to each player. Place the remaining cards face-down as the draw pile. Flip the top card face-up next to it to start the discard pile.
If the first card flipped is an action card, follow that card's effect immediately to start the round (if it's a Wild Draw Four, shuffle it back and flip again).
How to Play
Playing a Card
Play moves clockwise. On your turn, you must play a card that matches the top card of the discard pile by either:
- Color — play any card of the same color
- Number — play any card with the same number
- Card type — play the same action card (Skip on Skip, etc.)
If you can't play anything, draw one card from the draw pile. If the drawn card is playable, you may play it immediately. If not, your turn ends.
Action Cards
- Skip: Next player loses their turn.
- Reverse: Play direction reverses. In a 2-player game, acts like a Skip.
- Draw Two: Next player draws 2 cards and loses their turn.
- Wild: You choose the new color. Can be played on any card.
- Wild Draw Four: You choose the new color AND the next player draws 4 cards and loses their turn. Can only be legally played when you have no other playable card. (Rarely enforced, but that's the rule.)
Calling Uno
When you play your second-to-last card, you must immediately call "Uno!" If another player catches you not calling Uno before your next turn, you must draw 2 cards as a penalty.
Ending the Round
The first player to play their last card wins the round. Everyone else counts the point value of cards remaining in their hands.
Card Point Values
- Number cards (0-9): face value
- Skip, Reverse, Draw Two: 20 points each
- Wild, Wild Draw Four: 50 points each
The winner collects all those points. Play to 500 to win the game.
Winning
First player to reach 500 points (collected from opponents' hands across multiple rounds) wins. Alternatively, play single-round — first to empty their hand wins outright.
Tips & Strategy
- Save Wild Draw Fours for emergencies. They're your nuclear option. Don't waste them early unless you're in a tough spot — they're worth 50 points in your hand if you get caught.
- Pay attention to hand size. When someone gets down to 2-3 cards, start using action cards on them aggressively. Skip, Draw Two, and Reverse all become weapons.
- Change colors to ones you have many of. When you play a Wild, pick the color you have the most of — gives you more options next turn.
- 0s and 7s house rule. In many groups, playing a 0 forces everyone to pass their hand clockwise, and playing a 7 lets you swap hands with anyone. These aren't official rules but wildly popular.
- Stack Draw Twos. Official rules don't allow stacking (playing a Draw Two to pass the penalty to the next player), but almost every casual group plays this way. Know your house rules before sitting down.
Variations
House Rule: Stacking Draw Cards
If a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four is played on you, you can play your own Draw card to pass the punishment down the line. The pile stacks until someone can't respond — they draw everything accumulated.
House Rule: 0 and 7 Swaps
Playing a 0 makes all players pass their hands in the direction of play. Playing a 7 lets you choose one player to swap hands with. Dramatically changes strategy around those cards.
Progressive Uno
Also called "Stacking Uno" as an official variant. Like the house stacking rule, but only Draw Twos can stack on Draw Twos, and Wild Draw Fours can stack on Draw Twos (but not vice versa).
Drinking Uno
Draw a card = take a sip. Get hit with a Draw Two = 2 sips. Wild Draw Four = 4 sips. Forget to call Uno = 3 sips. Winner of the round assigns 5 sips. Gets surprisingly intense by round 3.
Drinking variation is intended for adults 21 and older. Please drink responsibly.