Uno is an American card game which is played with a specially printed deck.
The game was originally developed in 1971 by Merle Robbins in Reading, Ohio, a suburb
of Cincinnati.
It has been a Mattel product since 1992.
The game's general principles put it into the Crazy Eights family of card games.
History Merle Robbins, an Ohio barbershop owner, loved
to play cards.
One day in 1971, Merle came up with the idea for UNO and introduced the game to his family.
When his family and friends began playing UNO more and more, Robbins and his family
spent $8,000 to have 5,000 games made.
At first Robbins sold UNO from his barbershop.
A few local businesses sold it as well.
Later Robbins sold the UNO rights to a funeral parlor owner and UNO fan from Joliet, Illinois,
for $50,000, plus royalties of 10 cents per game.
International Games Inc. was formed to market UNO, and sales skyrocketed.
In 1992, International Games became part of the Mattel product line.
Official rules
The deck consists of 108 cards, of which there are twenty-five of each color, each color
having two of each rank except zero.
The ranks in each color are zero to nine, "Skip", "Draw Two" and "Reverse".
In addition, the deck contains four each of "Wild" and "Wild Draw Four" cards.
To start a hand, seven cards are dealt out to each player, and the top card of the deck
is flipped over and set aside to begin the discard pile.
The player to the dealer's left plays first, unless the first card on the discard pile
is an action or Wild card.
On a player's turn, he/she must do one of the following:
play a card matching the discard in color, number or symbol
play a Wild card, or a playable Wild Draw Four card
draw the top card of the deck If a player chooses to draw the top card of
the deck, and that card is playable, then the player may immediately play that card.
Play proceeds clockwise around the table.
Action and Wild cards have the following effects: A player may draw a card from the deck even
if that player has a playable card.
If a player chooses to draw a card and the drawn card is playable, the player has the
option of either keeping it or playing it immediately.
If a player chooses to draw, the player may not play any card on that turn.
A player may play a Wild card at any time.
A player may play a Wild Draw Four card only if that player has no cards matching the current
color.
A player who plays a Wild Draw Four may be challenged.
If the entire deck is used during play, the top discard is set aside and the rest of the
pile is shuffled to create a new deck.
Play then proceeds normally.
It is illegal to trade cards of any sort with another player, including special cards such
as wild, blank, and reversal cards.
A player who plays his/her next-to-last card must call "uno" as a warning to the others.
The first player to get rid of his/her last card wins the hand and scores points for the
cards held by the other players.
Number cards count their face value, all action cards count twenty, and Wild and Wild Draw
Four cards count fifty.
If a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four card is played to go out, the next player in sequence must
draw the appropriate number of cards before the score is tallied.
The first player to reach five hundred points is the winner.
Penalties If a player lays down his/her next-to-last
card without calling "UNO" out and is caught before the next player in sequence takes a
turn, he/she must draw two cards.
If the challenge of the Wild Draw Four card is successful, the player who played the card
must draw four cards, and the player who challenged does not have to draw any.
Play resumes with the player who challenged being the next to play but if the challenge
of the Wild Draw Four card is a failure, the player who challenged must draw six cards,
and their turn is skipped.
If a person is on their last card and a wild draw four is placed and the next player puts
down another wild draw four, the person is not out, and the player must pick up and the
game carries on.
Strategies A strategy at Uno may be offensive, or defensive.
Part of the skill of playing Uno is knowing when to adopt an offensive or defensive strategy.
An offensive strategy would advise holding on to Wild and Wild Draw Four cards, because
these can be played near the end of the hand in order to go out.
However, a defensive strategy would advise getting rid of such cards early, because they
have a high point value.
A defensive strategy would advise playing a high-numbered card in order to reduce the
point value of the hand.
However, an offensive strategy would suggest playing a 0 when the player wants to continue
on the current color, because it is less likely to be matched by another 0 of a different
color.
A player holding only one card is required to call out "uno" or risk being penalized
if caught.
A player who calls "uno" risks being the target of concerted action from the other players,
who may be able to use action cards to prevent that player from having an opportunity to
go out.
Depending on the level and seriousness of play, some players may deliberately avoid
saying "uno", in the hope of avoiding detection and then going out on the next turn.
For this reason, it is useful to conceal how many cards are in your hand, and to keep track
of how many cards every other player holds.
Little has been published on the optimal strategy for the game of Uno.
Simulations of games may shed some light on the matter, but the game solution is likely
to be very complex.
This is because attempts to reduce point count in the player's hands can be "read" by other
players if too transparent.
This information can be exploited by other players, and it follows that a mixed strategy
may be more appropriate.
Some work has been done into the psychology of Uno as it relates to individual and group
behavior.
Players may exhibit physical tells, in which a subtle, often repeated, visual cue inadvertently
reveals their state of mind during a game.
Alternatively, they may change their playing style; switching from an aggressive card-shedding
strategy to a more subdued one, or vice-versa.
Card and deck styles The new 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" in 40th Anniversary sets.
The Xbox 360 version of the game uses the new English style of the cards in gameplay.
There are also language-free versions of the newer styles Uno action cards that do not
bear the word "Wild" but have the same styling.
Theme packs There are many different themes and versions
of Uno.
These theme games may come with slightly different directions and special cards.
Note: * indicates HIT Entertainment character, by which Mattel acquired HIT in 2012.
Themed video games Versions available on the Xbox 360 version
of Uno:
Themed sports teams 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.
Boston Red Sox Boston Celtics
Calgary Flames Chicago Cubs
Chicago Bears Chicago White Sox
Houston Astros Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Basketball player LeBron James Manchester United
MLB All-StarsAmerican LeagueNational League NBA All-Stars
(East and West) Auburn Tigers
New England Patriots New York Giants
New York Knicks New York Mets
New York Yankees Special Uno games
Video games
Variations Alternative Game Play
Many variations from the standard gameplay exist, such as Elimination Uno, Speed Uno,
and Pirate Uno.
Alternative Games Featuring Uno Deck
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.
References
Bibliography Current official rules, from Mattel
External links Official Mattel Uno site
Uno Rules at UnoRules.com Uno Variations at UnoVariations.blogspot.com
Uno variants at pagat.com Uno News at Wonkavator
Advanced UNO strategy at UNOtips.org Uno at BoardGameGeek