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Official Core

UNO

The original. Match a color, match a number, match a symbol — first to zero wins.

Players
2-10
Age Rating
7+
Deck Size
108 cards
Released
1971

The Story

UNO was invented in 1971 by Merle Robbins, a barber in Reading, Ohio, after a disagreement with his son Ray over the house rules of Crazy Eights. Robbins hand-drew the first deck and, with his family, mortgaged their home for about $8,000 to print 5,000 copies, which he sold out of his barbershop. In 1972 he sold the rights for $50,000 plus a 10-cent royalty per game to Robert Tezak, a funeral-home owner who founded International Games, Inc. and built UNO into a national brand with its now-iconic red packaging. Mattel acquired International Games on January 23, 1992, and has published UNO ever since. The game is a member of the Crazy Eights / shedding-game family, itself descended from the German game Mau-Mau.

Rule Twists vs. Classic UNO

Everything below is an official printed rule unless flagged otherwise.

Shedding by color, number, or symbol

On your turn you must play a card from your hand that matches the top card of the discard pile by color, number, or symbol (e.g. Skip on Skip), or play a Wild card. If you can't play, you draw one card from the draw pile; if that card is playable you may play it immediately.

Calling "UNO"

When a player plays a card that leaves them with exactly one card in hand, they must say "UNO" out loud. If another player catches them before the next player takes their turn, the offending player draws 2 penalty cards.

Scoring across hands

In the multi-round variant, when one player empties their hand, all opponents' remaining cards are tallied (number cards = face value, Skip/Reverse/Draw Two = 20 points, Wild/Wild Draw Four = 50 points) and awarded to the winner. Play continues until someone reaches 500 points.

Widely used — not an official rule

Stacking

Community

Playing a Draw Two on a Draw Two (or Wild Draw Four on Wild Draw Four) to pass the cumulative penalty to the next player. Never appeared in an official Mattel rule sheet for classic UNO.

Jump-In

Community

Any player may play an identical card (same color and number) out of turn, jumping the turn order to themselves. Popularized by regional house rules, not in the standard Mattel rulebook.

7-0 Rule

Community

Playing a 7 lets you swap hands with any player; playing a 0 rotates all hands one seat in the direction of play. This was an official variant printed on some Mattel instruction inserts as an optional rule, not part of base play.

Draw-until-you-can-play

Community

Instead of drawing exactly one card when you can't play, you draw repeatedly until you get a playable card. A common house rule; the official rule is draw exactly one and pass if it's not playable.

Special Cards & Action Rules

Tap a card to reveal its exact ruling.

Skip one per color (red, yellow, green, blue) · 8 in deck

The next player in turn order is skipped and loses their turn.

Reverse one per color · 8 in deck

Reverses the direction of play. In a 2-player game it acts as an extra Skip.

Draw Two one per color · 8 in deck

The next player must draw 2 cards from the draw pile and loses their turn.

Wild colorless · 4 in deck

Can be played on any card. The player who plays it announces the color that play must continue with.

Wild Draw Four colorless · 4 in deck

Can be played only when the player has no card matching the current color in hand. The next player must draw 4 cards and loses their turn; the player who played it names the next color. If challenged and found to have played it illegally, the player who played it draws 4 instead.

Mechanics

House Rule Resolver

For UNO

Someone at the table swears this is a rule. Here's what's actually printed vs. what's just widely played:

Stacking Not official

Playing a Draw Two on a Draw Two (or Wild Draw Four on Wild Draw Four) to pass the cumulative penalty to the next player. Never appeared in an official Mattel rule sheet for classic UNO.

Jump-In Not official

Any player may play an identical card (same color and number) out of turn, jumping the turn order to themselves. Popularized by regional house rules, not in the standard Mattel rulebook.

7-0 Rule Not official

Playing a 7 lets you swap hands with any player; playing a 0 rotates all hands one seat in the direction of play. This was an official variant printed on some Mattel instruction inserts as an optional rule, not part of base play.

Draw-until-you-can-play Not official

Instead of drawing exactly one card when you can't play, you draw repeatedly until you get a playable card. A common house rule; the official rule is draw exactly one and pass if it's not playable.