Uno

Uno is a fun card game played among 2 to 10 players.

Each player is dealt 7 cards, and in turns, players attempt to play a card by matching its color, number, or symbol.

In this guide, we will show you how to play Uno, all Uno rules, the goal of the game as well as whether there are strategies that can increase our chances of winning and what they are. So let’s go!

how to play uno.
UNO

Related: Most popular card games

Objective

Each player’s aim is to empty their hands first, declaring ‘UNO’ once you are on the last card in your hand, and catch other players with cards left in theirs.

The other players will try to do the same while also trying to block your abilities to play using the power cards such as ‘miss a turn’ or ‘pick up two.’

How to play Uno

Uno is one of the easiest games to play with friends and family. You can find many variants on the internet, but most of them are based on similar gameplay.

1
Dealing cards
Each player is dealt 7 cards, and the rest is placed in the middle, face down. Players will draw additional cards from this pile during gameplay.
2
Drawing cards
The first player draws his/her cards, and the other players try and match the drawn card either by color, number, or the symbol on the card.
3
Matching
The next player then matches their card to the previous player’s card, and so on. If the player cannot play a card, they are required to pick up from the draw pile.
4
End of the game
The player with the last card in their hand declares “UNO” and other players can keep you from winning using action and wild cards. If you are caught, you will be required to take 2 cards from the draw pile and continue.

The rules

There are no stringent tiles when playing Uno.

  • In every turn, you are required to match the card played either by colour, number, or symbol.
  • If you are unable to play, you have to draw a card from the draw pile, and if still unable to play, you pass and let the next player take a turn.
  • Wild and special cards make the game more interesting since players can use these cards to keep other players from winning, and they enable you to get rid of your cards faster.

Strategy

There are several strategies you can use to win when playing Uno; these include,

Pay attention to your opponents!

The idea of the game is to lose all your cards while making others gain cards.

Thus, having an idea of how many cards your opponents or which color he/she is playing comes in handy.

Keep +2 and +4 for emergencies!

These are crucial cards that will help you later in the game, and if you play them too early, you might be left with nothing in case of an emergency later on in the game.

Keep the score of your cards low!

If you have a high number, make sure to play them fast since the lesser points you have, the lesser points your opponents can score when they win.

The same case applies to the 0 cards since these cards are not easy to get rid of.

As the game almost comes to an end, get rid of your Wild cards or any other special cards since these are worth 50 points.

See a list of other card games that you can learn →

FAQ

How many cards are used in UNO?

The Uno deck consists of 108 cards. There are four colors of cards, blue, yellow, green, and red, and each color has 25 cards. There are four “Wild” and “Wild Draw Four”. Each suit has one zero, two from 1 to 9 and two from “skip”, “draw” and “reverse” and they are called action cards.

How many players can play?

2 to 10 players can play UNO.

How many cards do you start with?

Each player starts with 7 cards in their hands.