Uno (card game)


Uno is an American shedding-type card game that is played with a specially printed deck. The game's general principles put it into the Crazy Eights family of card games, and it is similar to the traditional European game Mau-Mau.
It has been a Mattel brand since 1992.

History

The game was originally developed in 1971 by Merle Robbins in Reading, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. When his family and friends began to play more and more, he spent $8,000 to have 5,000 copies of the game made. He sold it from his barbershop at first, and local businesses began to sell it as well. Robbins later sold the rights to UNO to a group of friends headed by Robert Tezak, a funeral parlor owner in Joliet, Illinois, for $50,000 plus royalties of 10 cents per game. Tezak formed International Games, Inc., to market UNO, with offices behind his funeral parlor. The games were produced by Lewis Saltzman of Saltzman Printers in Maywood, Illinois.
In 1992, International Games became part of the Mattel family of companies.

Official rules

The aim of the game is to be the first player to score 500 points, achieved by being the first to play all of one's own cards and scoring points for the cards still held by the other players.
The deck consists of 108 cards: four each of "Wild" and "Wild Draw Four," and 25 each of four different colors. Each color consists of one zero, two each of 1 through 9, and two each of "Skip," "Draw Two," and "Reverse." These last three types are known as "action cards."
To start a hand, seven cards are dealt to each player, and the top card of the remaining 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, they must do one of the following:
Cards are played by laying them face-up on top of the discard pile. Play proceeds clockwise around the table.
Action or Wild cards have the following effects:
CardEffect when played from handEffect as first discard
SkipNext player in sequence misses a turnPlayer to dealer's left misses a turn
ReverseOrder of play switches directions Dealer plays first; play proceeds counterclockwise
Draw Two Next player in sequence draws two cards and misses a turnPlayer to dealer's left draws two cards and misses a turn
WildPlayer declares the next color to be matched Player to dealer's left declares the first color to be matched and plays a card in it
Wild Draw Four/Draw Four Wild Player declares the next color to be matched; next player in sequence draws four cards and misses a turn. May be legally played only if the player has no cards of the current color.Return card to the deck, shuffle, flip top card to start discard pile

A player who plays their next-to-last-card must call "Uno" as a warning to the other players.
The first player to get rid of their 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 20, and Wild and Wild Draw Four cards count 50. If a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four card is played to go out, the next player in the sequence must draw the appropriate number of cards before the score is tallied.
The first player to score 500 points wins the game.

Penalties

In a two-player game, the Reverse card acts like a Skip card; when played, the other player misses a turn.

House rules

The following official house rules are suggested in the Uno rulebook, to alter the game:
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 be holding on to Wild and Wild Draw Four cards because they 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 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 by the other players, who may be able to use action cards to prevent that player from going 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 one's own 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. Attempts to reduce point count in a 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.

Card and deck styles

Modern 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 had letters only. Earlier English versions can be recognised by the absence of the white rim that surrounds the edge of most Uno cards.
Other versions of the game use symbols and images in both old and new designs, especially ones with Wild cards that do not bear the word "Wild". There are also language-free versions of the newer styles that do not bear the word "Wild" but have the same styling.
The 2010 "Uno Mod" edition uses symbols instead of letters or numbers.
On September 16, 2017, Mattel released UNO® ColorADD, the first game designed specifically for those suffering from color blindness.
On October 1, 2019, Mattel released a Braille version of their game, with Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said in a press release, "The fact that a blind person is now able to play a classic game of UNO straight out of the box with both blind and sighted friends or family members is a truly meaningful moment for our community."

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 ''My First Uno'' games

Card sets only have 36 cards designed for children at least 3 years of age. These sets come in several variants, based on titles for children. My First Uno versions:
Uno versions available on the Xbox 360:
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.
Many variations from standard gameplay exist, such as Elimination Uno, Speed Uno and Pirate Uno.
In 2018, Mattel released a spin-off of Uno entitled Dos; the game is differentiated primarily by having a "center row" of discard piles. where pairs of cards that add up to the sum of a card on the top of one of the piles may be discarded.
The game can be played with two decks of standard playing cards, if the jokers are marked up as the zeroes of the four suits, and the royalty treated as the special cards.

UNO: Slots

In 2002, International Gaming Technology released a video slot machine based on UNO.

UNO: The Game Show

In March 2013, it was announced that Mattel and The Gurin Company were teaming up to create a game show based on the card game, produced as a half-hour daily strip with a $100,000 cash jackpot along with a primetime version in which contestants competed for 1 million dollars. However, the idea was scrapped later on.

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.